Birk's Works: Verve Big Band Sessions
Birk's Works: Verve Big Band Sessions
ASIN: B0000046ZO
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Dizzy Gillespie was many things--a great bop trumpeter, superbly prescient vocalist, awesome bandleader, international ambassador, crowd-pleasing humorist, the ultimate master of ceremonies--all sides of his massive talent amply displayed in this cornucopia of Gillespie big bands. The set collects three individual albums from 1956-57--"Birks Works," "Dizzy In Greece" and "World Statesman"--some alternate takes, and a fascinating sequence of attempts at "Left Hand Corner" that shows the band's dedication to perfection. Some of the great players on these sessions include Phil Woods and Ernie Henry on alto saxophones, Lee Morgan and Quincy Jones on trumpets, Al Grey on trombone, Walter Davis Jr., and Wynton Kelly on piano with Charli Persip on drums. And, of course, since it's Dizzy's band, everybody sings. --John Swenson
Birk's Works: Verve Big Band Sessions,Dizzy Gillespie,Polygram Records,Afro-Cuban Jazz,Big Band,Bop,Jazz,Jazz Music,Mainstream Jazz,Pop
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Birk's Works: Verve Big Band Sessions
Dizzy Gillespie Manufacturer: Polygram Records ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD  General
| Latin Music
| Styles
| Music
Bebop General
| Bebop
| Jazz
| Styles
| Music
General
| Jazz
| Styles
| Music
Latin Jazz
| Jazz
| Styles
| Music
Classic Big Band
| Swing Jazz
| Jazz
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Contemporary Big Band
| Swing Jazz
| Jazz
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ASIN: B0000046ZO Release Date: 1995-08-22 |
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Amazon.com
Dizzy Gillespie was many things--a great bop trumpeter, superbly prescient vocalist, awesome bandleader, international ambassador, crowd-pleasing humorist, the ultimate master of ceremonies--all sides of his massive talent amply displayed in this cornucopia of Gillespie big bands. The set collects three individual albums from 1956-57--"Birks Works," "Dizzy In Greece" and "World Statesman"--some alternate takes, and a fascinating sequence of attempts at "Left Hand Corner" that shows the band's dedication to perfection. Some of the great players on these sessions include Phil Woods and Ernie Henry on alto saxophones, Lee Morgan and Quincy Jones on trumpets, Al Grey on trombone, Walter Davis Jr., and Wynton Kelly on piano with Charli Persip on drums. And, of course, since it's Dizzy's band, everybody sings. --John SwensonCustomer Reviews:
Be-bop big band magic.......2006-07-19
A Real Legend.......2005-11-03
Magnificent.......2004-01-28
This 2CD represents enormous value in terms
of music (minutes played), and also, in terms
of quality of sound, clarity in the various
instruments, etc.
The big band sound, is slightly reminiscent
of Duke Ellington's Newport, or Thelonious
Monk's Big Band CD (orchestrated by Oliver
Nelson, I believe, called Plays the Blues),
for example.
There's several numbers with vocals accompanying
the music, and they are well thought out and
interesting in their own right, both male
and female voices.
As I said in the title...magnificent.
Great material...some strange studio anomalies, though.......2003-08-29
Dizzy's last big band.......2000-07-29
OK, so what of the music? Well, it's hard-hitting big band material, with charts by Ernie Wilkins, Benny Golson, Quincy Jones, Melba Liston & others. Surprisingly there's little material showing the interest in Afro-Cuban fusion which Gillespie elsewhere showed. There's a certain amount of throwaway material--silly nonsense songs like "Umbrella Man", or the disappointing "The Champ" which after a terrific Gillespie scat intro becomes a long drum solo for Charlie Persip. Melba Liston inexplicably provides the umpteenth jazz reorchestration of Grieg's "Anitra's Dance" and Debussy's "Reverie". But the rest is prime Gillespiana--often revisiting past tunes like "A Night in Tunisia" but also providing first hearing to important material like Golson's "Whisper Not" and "Stablemates". The man himself solos mightily, & the rest of the band is superb too.
One caveat, however: there are two serious remastering problems with the release. First: the previously unreleased take of "Whisper Not" is afflicted with bad reverb, to the point of unlistenability. Second: the master take of "Whisper Not" has several odd volume fluctuations, including a strange moment where the rhythm section triples in volume for a second. One wishes that record companies paid closer attention to the products they released--in every other respect this CD is a model reissue.
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