Great innovative jazz an' a piece of history...
This collection may seem a lil' overwhelming if you're a firsttime listener, an' its definitely too broad for a thorough straight through listen, as many'a the takes appear a few times in different incarnations. But if your a fan'a bebop an' of the early years of jazz music, then you'll more than likely eat this up. Dizzy was indisputably one'a the innovators an' had one'a the longest an' most profilic careers of all jazz legends.
With forty-three tracks total, there isn't much sense in tryin'ta list highlights, but I will say that 'A Night in Tunisia' is one'a my favorite jazz recordings ever (though I admit I have an affinity for Parker's version from the Dial Years) and this early interpretation of 'That Old Black Magic' is priceless. All in all, there is nothing not worth a listen on here, an' the different and unfinished takes reinforce the feeling that we're gettin' in on a decade's worth of brilliant, exciting musical evolution. Highly recommended for the already-initiated.
Can we have a remaster?
Of course this is a fine collection. Of course Dizzy's big band in the forties made some fantastic music. Of course this is an indispensible part of jazz history. But oh, the sound...
Previous issues of this music on both CD and vinyl far surpass this one in terms of sound quality. The dreaded nineties-era noise reduction technology is all over this music, taking great hunks of sonic elements away from these vital performances. Since Bluebird corrected similar problems by issuing the Blanton/Webster sides by Duke Ellington, should they not do the same for these great records?
Oop-Bob-Sh-BAM!!
From the first time I heard Dizzy's big band, on a now-defunct RCA Vintage LP ("The Bebop Era"), I was hooked...then I found out that my father had heard the band for FREE when he worked at the Metropole in NYC on 52nd Street...and HATED it because Dizzy didn't play like Sammy Kaye (his favorite band)!! How I envied and disliked him for that!!
These innovative Gil Fuller arrangements, in which the entire trumpet section swung like five Dizzies, are simply staggering. The music swirls and eddies, jumps and dives like a hyperactive jazz dancer. And all the soloists are fabulous: inventive, original, highly swinging. The jam sessions at the Metronome All-Star sessions are also very historic, with a trumpet section of Dizzy, Miles Davis and Fats Navarro, all trying to sound like Dizzy in their solos (and succeeding!), as well as scintillating piano solos by the brilliant but anti-social Lennie Tristano. All in all, an exciting and important album that no jazz lover should be without.
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