Customer Reviews

Dizzy's Big 4

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I have to say that this is probably the finest thing I've got of Dizzy's on cd. Of all the Bebop, Cubop and big band recordings I own, this is the best example of what this man can do. Small group combos bring the best outta Diz, and he is in the greatist of company. He takes a standard like 'Russian Lullaby' and transports it into Bebop heaven! 'Frelimo' rides the latin/funk train, Bebop and Birks works never sounded better. Pass, Roker and Brown shine here, who needs anyone else when this quartet gets cookin?! September song melts my heart each time. The engineering on the recording is fantastic, you can hear a pin drop. Every nuance is captured. Pushing 60 when this was recorded, I dont think the timbre and excecution ever sounded better from Diz. One of my all time favourite Jazz discs.

This is a great album. Mickey Roker's drumming is funky yet cool, Ray Brown is solid as always, and Joe Pass plays like you never thought he could. Dizzy is, of course, in fine form.

Interesting note, however, my cd lists track 1 as "Frelimo" not "Tanga." Also, it's on the "Oriigal Jazz Classics" series of Fantasy, Inc. This is probably one of those rare records that has been in and out of print many times.

Also of note, this same band appears with Milt Jackson replacing Dizzy Gillespie on an album called "Quadrant" with Joe Pass in the leader's chair. It is also quite amazing.

... is that it's short! It's only 45 minutes, and I could listen to a performance twice as long with growing pleasure. Notice, however, that it's also inexpensive, so you will get your money's worth! It's also a studio recording, made in 1975, so the sound quality is far cleaner and more present than much of what 'we' put up with from the great jazz players of the bebop generation.

And Dizzy Gillespie was one of the greats, the definer of bebop and post-bepop trumpet technique and style. With his goofy bent-bell trumpet soaring into the stratospheric range of Bach trumpeters, Dizzy was appreciated most widely for his 'chops', his virtuosity, just the physical excitement of his playing. His best known performances were with fairly large ensembles - bebop big bands, if you will. He played musical hackensack with all the great saxophonists. He was the "hottest Mister Cool" in the jazz world.

This CD is something different, Dizzy playing with a quartet, and an unconventional quartet at that: Ray Brown on bass, Joe Pass on electric guitar, and Mickey Roker on drums. Passa nd Roker are younger, post-bebop musicians with 'cool jazz' instincts. Ray Brown is the absolute bassists' bass, a musician sensitive to any melodic and harmonic forms around him. The surprise on this CD will be hearing Dizzy playing in a ballad vein - a thoughtful, melodically exploratory Gillespie, using a mute on his trumpet, blending and bending rather than exploding. The zoot-suit fireworks Dizzy is fine, don't get me wrong, but more enjoyable in a club or concert setting than on a recording. This is the CD I want to hear when I want to hear Dizzy the musician.

What more can you ask for? One of the greatest jazz guitarists of our time, Joe Pass; one of the greatest jazz bassists of our time and one of the greatest jazz drummers of out time. And they are accompanying the legend, Dizzy Gillespie. Their chemistry is spectacular. Never a dull moment with these four. An awesome piece of jazz history.

I first heard of the "Big 4" Pass recording when I was perusing Rolling Stones' Record Guide for the "5 star" records. I bought it back in 1982 and have since bought it again as a CD. I am writing this while I am searching for Joe's other recordings, believe me, you will enjoy this recording immensely, as I have for the last 15 years!