Product Description

Jazz Icons: Dizzy Gillespie features two historic concerts from one of the founding fathers of bebop. Filmed 12 years apart, the 1958 concert features Dizzy working eloquently within the small combo structure of a quintet including such infl uential musicians as sax player Sonny Stitt and bassist Ray Brown. The second show focuses on a completely different side of Dizzy, fronting the legendary Kenny Clarke-Francy Boland Big Band. With a 16-piece big band to conduct, including two drummers, his Latin infl uences are revealed on Â"Con AlmaÂ" and Â"Manteca.Â"

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #24036 in DVD
• Released on: 2006-09-26
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Color, DVD, Live, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 85 minutes

Amazon.com
Two very distinct sides of Dizzy Gillespie are on display in Live in '58 and '70, and it's a measure of the trumpeter's versatility that neither has a whole lot to do with his most famous contribution to the jazz artform--that being his "invention" (with Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, and others) of bebop. Recorded in Belgium, the '58 gig finds Diz leading a quintet that also includes the redoubtable bassist Ray Brown, saxophonist Sonny Stitt, and pianist Lou Levy. The repertoire is utterly hip, with a swinging version of Benny Golson's "Blues After Dark," Clifford Brown's burning "Blues Walk," the big band standard "Cocktails for Two" (played as a ballad and sounding not a bit like the more familiar Spike Jones arrangement), and the haunting "Lover Man," most closely associated with Billie Holiday (and a feature for Stitt, who spins out the speedy, fluid lines that often resulted in his being labeled a Parker clone); there's also "On the Sunny Side of the Street," in which Gillespie, always an amusing performer, substitutes his own lyrics as he and Stitt share vocal duties ("Life could be so fine/Fine as Manishewitz wine…"). A dozen years later, Dizzy's in Denmark, fronting a big band led by French pianist Francy Boland and drummer Kenny Clarke. Here we get a taste of the Afro-Cuban sounds that Gillespie first explored in the 1940s and '50s, including two of his own compositions, the lovely "Con Alma" and the classic "Manteca"; there's also the deep gospel-soul of bassist Jimmy Woode's "Now Hear My Meanin'" and the absolutely smoking "Things Are Here," performed at a pace that suggests big band bebop. And then there's Diz the emcee; whether thanking the bemused audience for their "profound ebullience" or picking up a noisy infant and gently admonishing him to shut up (a move that would probably earn him a child abuse citation nowadays but causes nary a ripple here), the guy knew he was there to entertain, not just play. Quite simply, there is nothing on this 85-minute disc--and that includes the astonishingly crisp sound a clear visuals, a hallmark of the Jazz Icons series--not to like. --Sam Graham

Jazz Times
"Jazz Icons is doing for jazz what the Criterion Collection has done for classic and important films".

From the Director
JAZZ ICONS(tm) is an ongoing DVD series featuring full-length concerts and in-studio performances by the greatest legends of jazz, filmed all over the world from the 1950s through the 1970s. Beautifully transferred from the riginal masters, none of these concerts has ever been officially released on home video, and in many cases, the material was never broadcast. Each DVD is produced with the full support and cooperation of the artists or their estates. JAZZ ICONS(tm) comes to you from Reelin' In The Years Productions, GRAMMY Nominated producers of the American Folk Blues Festival DVDs 1962 - 1966.

Customer Reviews

Two views of Dizzy
This DVD features two fine European concerts, one from 1958, the other from 1970, both showing Gillespie in fine fettle. The '58 concert features Gillespie and saxophonist Sonny Stitt fronting a small combo, each radiating elegance and cool; the 1970 show has Dizzy doubling as bandleader and soloist, leading a 16-piece big band that slips from complex ensemble arrangements to brash, brassy hard bop and into funk, bluesy grooves, with Gillespie blowing each with equal ease. And he looks hella cool at all times. Great look at this master jazzman, still playing in his prime over a 12-year stretch.

life could be so fine as mm,mm mm,mm wine!
if you dig on dizzy then you will love this dvd. two outstanding performances with outstanding audio and video. really! i dont know if the jazz icon people spent time remastering this footage or if it was really well preserved, but i was very impressed with the audio/video quality. to me its a small miracle that archival type footage such as that released by the jazz icon series is avaiable. they are to be commended. i also purchased art blakey, thelonius monk and buddy rich and although i have not watched the buddy rich dvd yet the blakey and monk dvds are also outstanding in quality and content. more please! each dvd also comes with a really nice booklet about the artist. highly recommended!

Great to see a master in his prime
Dizzy... what can you say? The bigggest treat for me besides the killer big band he leads during the second part of this DVD, is seeing one of my favorite tenors, Sonny Stitt, in action.

Now where's Sonny with Don Patterson and Billy James DVD?! :D