Customer Reviews

Dizzy Gillespie Story

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
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2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A friend told me the latest edition of the Penguin Guide to Jazz gave this a crown recommendation, so I decided to check it out. I couldn't argue with the track selection, which does a great job covering all the highlights of Gillespie's peak years, however I was VERY disappointed by the sound quality.

In the past, Penguin has recommended some marvelous budget, import jazz collections with fantastic sound quality, but unlike the JSP CD's of Louis Armstrong or Jelly Roll Morton, or the Hep CD's of Count Basie, Benny Goodman, and Teddy Wilson, this box set from Proper is the pits. They have been poorly transferred, and poor sources may have been involved. You'll notice some tracks overlap with the Complete RCA Victor Recordings and the recent Savoy/WEA reissues; the same tracks on those CD's sound FAR, FAR better (I always thought the RCA Victor set used too much noise reduction, but it still sounds FAR better than this box set).

Very, very disappointing, someone should get the clearance necessary to compile a domestic box set with the same track listing, and then get John R. T. Davies, Ted Kendall, or Steve Hoffman to master all this properly from top notch sources. Until then, if you have the money, I think you're much better off getting the Complete RCA Victor Recordings and the Odyssey set from Savoy/WEA (if money's an issue, get the Complete RCA Victor Recordings instead for now).

[edit: Subsequent reviewers said they heard no difference, and one said I probably didn't know what to expect from 78 rpm recordings. I OWN 1,058 different 78 rpm records, half of which predate WWII, and have personally transferred a large number of recordings to DAT and CD-R for archival use - i.e. I KNOW what to expect. If you can't hear the heavy processing and noise reduction that sucks the life out of these recordings, feel free to buy this as the track selection is good. As for the packaging and liner notes, they're not spectacular. The photo reproductions aren't great, and while the liner notes are comprehensive, they don't provide any great insight or analysis.]

Most of us that love and follow the origins of modern jazz seem to know all about the early recordings of Charlie Parker, for instance, the Jay McShann recordings, the Redcross acetates, the Tiny Grimes session, and finally the Bird/Diz output of 1945 for Guild and the Comet session with Red Norvo.

This CD box covers the early years of bebop via the recordings of Dizzy Gillespie. It includes all important sessions leading up to the Bird/Diz recordings (Teddy Hill, Cab Calloway, Lionel Hampton, Coleman Hawkins), and after the split with Bird, covers his output with his big band and small groups up to 1950.

Some very rare recordings are included, such as his 1st recording of Groovin' High, with Dexter Gordon, and a session with strings of Jerome Kern's compositions, that was pulled because the estate of Kern objected to Dizzy's liberties.

I have never seen so complete a box set dealing with Dizzy Gillespie's early work. The liner notes are quite complete as well.

Highly recommended!

The breadth of Dizzy's work covered in this box set is staggering. You could easily spend 4 times the amount of money gathering these sessions together. I am a big fan of Charlie Parker, and I especially love the music in which Bird and Diz played together. I have to admit though, that while Charlier Parker contributed the phrasing and the genius that launched bebop, it was Dizzy that provided the leadership and the mentoring that kept it moving forward. The recognition of Dizzy's contributions seems to be sorely lacking, then and even now.

This box set captures Dizzy's efforts during this most crucial period that shaped what modern jazz sounds like today. It covers his early work with Cab Calloway, Lionel Hampton, Billy Eckstine, and Coleman Hawkins, and the early small group work with Bird leading up to their trip to California. It includes Dizzy's bebop big band after returning to New York, as well as his earliest Afro-Cuban recordings with Chano Pozo.

If this wasn't enough, the box set includes Bird and Diz's 1947 Carnegie Hall concert, and the famous Bird/Diz/Monk recordings from 1950, when Norman Granz got exactly what he didn't want, and we bebop fans got exactly what we did want (thank you Mr. Granz).

Dizzy's energy, power, and enthusiasm never diminish throughout these selections, and the bands, small and large, swing with incredible precision. It is so good to hear his fluttering trumpet lines soaring over the lush big band background and settling back to earth.

Finally a word about the sound quality- An early review of this box set decried the sound quality, and frankly that is what kept me from purchasing it for a long time. Having nearly worn out the CDs now, I think the sound quality is just fine. I have duplicates of many of the songs in this set, including the early small group bebop sessions and the master takes of the Bird/Diz/Monk set, and I can tell you that the sound quality is as good or better in this set than in the duplicates.

Proper Box's are meant to give an overview of a musician's career, generally during a certain time period, they are not for completists. So, while this Proper Box is an excellent primer of Dizzy's early career, it is maddening for the Dizzy collector, because it includes cuts that are rare and hard to find at reasonable prices, alongside cuts that most collectors will already have. If your looking for a good overview of Dizzy's work in the 40's, you can't get better at the price, the only caveat being that while Proper's sound quality is very listenable, it is not top echelon remastering.

The first disc is a case in point - it includes two tunes from Dizzy's days with Teddy Hill, and the famous date with Lionel Hampton "Hot Mallets," which are on the The Complete RCA Victor Recordings in much better sound. Disc one also includes "Pickin' The Cabbage," a seminal Gillespie composition and arrangement, and "Little John Special." In his autobiography Dizzy states that used "Pickin.." to create the blueprint for his blend of afro-cuban rhythms with bebop harmonies. Lucky Millender is credited with "Little John...," tho it is actually based on a backpocket riff that Dizzy used while in his band, the very same riff that Dizzy used to create "Salt Peanuts." - any Dizzy collector will want these two recording. The first disc has most of the rare stuff, early recordings of Dizzy as a sideman, the first bebop sessions fronted by Coleman Hawkins, the first recording of "Night In Tunisia" he did with Boyd Raeburn, sides he cut with his small group bebop band (including Charlie Parker) for Musicraft and Guild, a cut with the Billy Eckstein orchestra, and a rare session with Dextor Gordon. While the tunes with Dizzy as a sideman can only be found here, that I know of, all of the tunes with Dizzy as a leader can be found on the Classic CD's, but they are already out-of-print, and going for high prices, and Classics reputation for sound quality is even shakier than Proper's.

The second disc has many small group sides Dizzy cut for Dial and Savoy, and the ones without Bird are not available any where but the Classics that I know of, while Dizzy's work with Bird are collected in the Parker collections of the Dial/Savoy material. Also on this disc are all the small group recordings he did with RCA/Victor as a leader, which are on the aforementioned set. Filling out this disc is part of an early session Dizzy cut with the Johnny Richards Orchestra. These are some of the first recordings of jazz with strings, and altho Dizzy's work with Richards never achieved the fame of Bird's work with strings, they are on a par with those recordings. Richards was a fine arranger, who worked with Stan Kenton, and he had a good feel for jazz. Dizzy, for all his reputation for pyrotechnics, could play with tremendous feeling and creativity on ballads. I have not found these sides with Richards any where else but the deleted Classics.

The third disc is mostly Dizzy's big band, including many of the RCA/Victor recordings, and the five tunes from the Carnegie Hall gig where Diz played with Bird in a quintet, tho the sound is deplorable. Those same tunes can be found, with better sound on the album Diz 'N Bird at Carnegie Hall, which includes the Big Band part of the concert with Chano Pozo. By the way, of the three live recordings of this incredible band with Chano, this has the best sound (the sound isn't great, but the other two are terrible).

The third disc also includes some extremely important big band sides he did for companies other than Victor. I don't know where else to find these tune but the deleted Classics. The third and fourth discs also collect nearly all the big band tunes Dizzy did with RCA (none of the Johnny Hartman tunes are included). The fourth disc has the entire Clef quintet sessions with Parker and Monk, which one can get in far better sound on the Bird & Diz Verve Master Edition. Rounding out disc four are the rest of the Johnny Richards sides, which includes Dizzy's first recording of "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" (played strait but with afro-cuban rhythms added to the strings). These tunes, but sadly not the previous session, can also be found on Dizzy Gillespie Story. This session is also on the Classic discs, but in even worse sound. Proper (and Classics) has put everything together in chronological order, and I understand why they did that, but I wish the Dizzy/ Johnny Richards tunes were all together, and unfortunately there is no CD that collects these, like the Bird with Strings album.

Like I said, a maddening mix. Even if you have the RCA collection, the Verve, and the Parker/Gillespie Dials, you will want this box in order to get seminal tunes like "Things to Come," "Enamon," "Ray's Idea," "Our Delight," "Moody Speaks," "Congo Blues," and the hilarious "You Stole My Wife You Horse Thief," as well as Dizzy's first session as a leader, "Pickin' The Cabbage," and all the other great tunes I haven't mentioned. There is a compilation put out by Savoy Jazz, Timeless Dizzy Gillespie, that includes some of the best Dizzy did on Dial ("Things To Come," sides with Parker, Stuff Smith and Coltrane, etc). It's a great set for the car, even if you have some of these tunes elsewhere, but it's just one CD so isn't as complete as the Proper box.

I got the Proper Box from a third party seller here on Amazon, and only paid fifteen dollars, so even tho I was disappointed that there is so much repetition from other stuff I have, I was ecstatic to have rarities I desperately wanted. I can only hope that someday Dizzy will get his due, and there will be Complete Collections of his Dial/Savoy work, and his other early work, to supplement the RCA stuff.

Unfortunately, tho Dizzy gets a lot of lip service for being one of architects of bebop and helping to create latin jazz, but he doesn't truly get a lot of critical attention. Most Euro-American critics look over Dizzy, and concentrate on people like MIles Davis - where Dizzy is harmonically complex within a polyrhythmic arrangement, MIles is harmonically complex with his beautiful tone, but also, a simpler approach to rhythm, which at the time resonated more with euro-american critics and audiences, who tended toward cool jazz, often calling it "intelligent jazz" because it sounded more connected to western music theory. However, Dizzy knew music theory like no other musician, all of his improvisations are based on the harmonies and melodies that he found from his intense study of the piano, and tho he did not wander into free associative sort of pathways, he didn't need to, because he knew how to stay inventive within a melodic structure.

When euro-american audiences did catch up to Dizzy's kind of rhythm, it was through Stan Getz and "Desfinado." Ironically, Dizzy had recorded the song before Getz did, but didnt' release it. Dizzy had been on a trip to Brazil with his band, including Lalo Schrifin at the time, and had learned all these wonderful new bossa nova songs. His quintet worked up a number of them for the Monterey jazz festival, which were recorded, but Artie Shaw has advised Dizzy to keep some stuff in the vault against the ravages of old age. Schrifin tried to convince Dizzy to at least release the bossa nova stuff, which the band played with crackling energy, but he wouldn't do it. After Getz's "Jazz Samba" kindled interest in more complex rhythms, and made him rich, Dizzy went into the studio with his quintet with Quincy Jones producing, and in two sessions made some incredible bossa nova flavored jazz (which far outstrips anything Getz did), but he was accused of trying to cash in on a trend, and those albums have been slighted because of it.

There is a wonderful Mosaic box set with much of Dizzy's late 50's early 60's output that is incredible, tho it doesn't seem to be on Amazon yet.

This is a very inexpensive way to get all the key early Bebop sides in one place, plus a bunch of stuff you don't need as well. Some of these recordings are among the most important ever made. An earlier reviewer complained about the sound quality. I found nothing wrong; maybe he didn't know what to expect from magnetic recordings that have been transferred onto CD from 60-year-old 78 RPMs.

I would totally buy this box set if I were you. I compared the sound quality to the "complete RCA/victor recordings" and there was virtually no difference. It's maybe not top of the line quality, but its totally worth it, because the music is completely enjoyable still and the fuzz isn't bad at all... it's like you're actually listening to the record, instead of a small piece of plastic onto which data is written and read.

Also, Charlie Parker, my fave, appears on MANY of these tracks, including some FANTASTIC live ones that I haven't seen anywhere else. When they get together they really soar!

If you want to get into Dizzy and his pals in their prime development, ca. 1945-50, and catch a glimpse at his vitruoso playing before that, this is the set to go with. Don't worry about the sound quality.

Finally, if you like this I must recommend the inexpensive CD box-set "Bebop Spoken Here" on the same label. It contains many of the songs here but it is a selection of various artists from 1944-50, tracing the birth and development of BOP! Maybe you should start there, as it highlights this set as well as others.

I too was gravely disappointed by the sound quality. I owned many of these tracks on the Everest label years ago. In fact, I'm glad I kept those LPs because I cannot find a CD reissue that can beat them for sound quality, particularly on the sessions he did with Charlie Parker. Now, documentation--that's a different matter. But here, Proper even cut off the first two notes of Dizzy's intro to "Blue and Boogie." That's just plain shoddy, and frankly unlistenable. It was really a let down, after being so excited to finally see the Dizzy/Parker sides (Shaw 'Nuff, etc.) on one set, only to hear what they had done to them.

Proper Records is doing a wonderful job at offering affordable box sets of the early legends of jazz music, and "The Dizzy Gillespie Story 1939-1950" is certainly no exception. While I understand how a previous reviewer came to surmise the sound quality is not what it could be, I have to say personally I find the sound ample and likewise rewarding. You'll spend oodles more in cash trying to obtain what you can get on this one set, only to find you wasted precious time and money in doing so.

For casual fans of Gillespie, the most influential of early bebop trumpeters, this collection might be all you ever buy. The insert provides listeners with a wealth of material both on the specific recordings present as well as critical artist biographical info. Unless you really know what you are doing, remastering work like this can often ruin and not enhance the material in question. I am completely satisfied with the quality and am thankful they did not harm the integrity of recordings, while admittedly they appear to have done little if anything to enhance it.

Five stars for showcasing a great musician with wonderful packaging and sufficient sound, this box set is an absolute treat. Bravo to Proper Records, for knowing what fans want and delivering. So toss this one in your cart or place it on your to-buy list and prepare to be delighted!

Complete with an an informative booklet, colorfuly packaged,a lot of early band sides and "hits" a la Ken Burns style,much Savoy Groovin High period as well as some Bird and the RCA period nicely covered.
No one can say after you get this box set you were robbed..OK, they are not the Original Masters but are pretty good to my ears.The sound is pretty clean and this box remains a great overview even Penguin's Guide To Jazz says so. It is a great sampler not a composite whole in listening to the man.