Piano Jazz

Piano Jazz (Radio Series), Dizzy Gillespie, Marian McPartland | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 29, 1993)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Jazz Alliance
• ASIN: B000005HK5
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #257,001 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Con Alma

2. In a Mellow Tone

3. On the Alamo

4. Manteca

5. For Dizzy

6. Lullaby of the Leaves

7. 'Round Midnight

8. Portrait of Diz

9. A Night in Tunisia

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Lecture/demonstration by Professor and Pianist Gillespie, September 27, 2003

By 

Toshio Fukuhara (Yokohama, Japan) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Piano Jazz (Audio CD)

Those of you who expect the duet between Marian's piano and legendary Dizzy's horn would be disappointed by this CD. Out of eight performances contained, there are only two such duets, which I can give five stars. Other duets are those of two pianos, one of which is played by, who else, Dizzy. He must be playing the piano just for kicks, not professionally, while Marian really had to support his playing while dueting. There is even one "duet" entirely by clapping.
Having only seen Dizzy playing the horn, I was surprised to hear him play the piano, though in a debatable manner. Nonetheless, his music theory with his own demonstration on the piano and with his clapping was interesting. It was also a pleasant surprise that he made a great contribution to 'Round Midnight, an undisputable jazz classic, in its intro. Without it, the master piece would have lacked a major appeal. By way of demonstration, he does the entire tune solo on the piano, while the real accomplished pianist besides him listens in composure. Does Dizzy sound like Monk? Well, yes and no.
One thing is for sure. Dizzy can express so much more with his trumpet, clapping and even his questionable piano playing than his own words (which is awfully limited). Well, I learned a lot.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Marian & Dizzy, October 28, 2007

By 

S J Buck (Kent, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Piano Jazz (Audio CD)

This recording from January 1985 is well worth getting. Marians guest is Dizzy Gillespie, one of the greatest Jazz Trumpet players. Whilst Dizzy's Trumpet playing was a little past its best by this time he could still belt it out when he wanted to. Listen to the lovely version of 'In A Mellow Tone' on this recording. There is no greater examination of a Jazz musicians skill then when they have to play solo or without bass and drums. On this track Dizzy still has it. However I suspect he could only play Trumpet for shorter periods of time by the date of this recording. So on five of these tracks Dizzy plays Piano at which he certainly competent, but I expected more Trumpet.

Marian McPartland is the perfect host. A gifted Jazz Pianist in her own right and she gets the best out of her guests. Dizzy of course is funny, and fascinating to listen to. Telling stories about a few of the greats - Monk and Ellington to name but two.

Well worth getting, just a shame there wasn't more Trumpet.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars These are treasures, January 19, 2000

By 

dmn - See all my reviews

This review is from: Piano Jazz (Audio CD)

Part of the charm of this series is the chatter between Marian and whomever. She's a treasure, and I've found each and every Piano Jazz recording to give insights that further my appreciation of "standard" recordings by her guests. Entertaining and educational, what a deal!