To celebrate the late trumpeter
Dizzy Gillespie's 80th birthday (he had made it to 75), trumpeter
Jon Faddis heads a tribute to
Gillespie.
Faddis,
Dizzy's greatest protégé, can sound just like
Gillespie (no mean feat), but actually has a much wider range and can play stratospheric high notes perfectly in tune. Joined by either altoist
Antonio Hart or the little-known but talented tenorman
Andres Boiarsky, pianist
Cyrus Chestnut, bassist John Lee, drummer
Ignacio Berroa and occasionally
Duduka Da Fonesca and Gabriel Machado on percussion,
Faddis performs 11 songs either composed or co-written by
Gillespie, plus two other pieces that
Dizzy recorded (including "Blues from Gillespiana"). The arrangements are often close to the ones that
Gillespie used, but are full of life and never sound like stale re-creations.
Jon Faddis is such an exciting and enthusiastic player that this 1997 performance stands apart from
Dizzy Gillespie Alumni All-Stars' recordings. Never mind that the only
Gillespie alumni on the recording are
Faddis,
Chestnut, Lee and
Berroa. The spirit and joy of
Dizzy Gillespie's music is certainly felt on such numbers as "Salt Peanuts," "A Night In Tunisia," "Con Alma" and even the humorous calypso "Poor Joe." A gem. ~ Scott Yanow