Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Manteca
2. Anthropology [Take 2]
3. King Porter Stomp - Dizzy Gillespie,
4. Yours and Mine - Dizzy Gillespie,
5. Blue Rhythm Fantasy - Dizzy Gillespie,
6. Hot Mallets - Dizzy Gillespie, Lionel Hampton
7. 52nd Street Theme [Take 1]
8. 52nd Street Theme [Take 2]
9. Night in Tunisia [Take 1]
10. Night in Tunisia [Incomplete Take]
11. Ol' Man Rebop
12. Anthropology [Take 1]
13. Ow!
14. Oop-Pop-A-Da
15. Two Bass Hit
16. Stay on It
17. Algo Bueno (Woody 'N' You)
18. Cool Breeze
19. Cubana Be
20. Cubana Bop
21. Ool-Ya-Koo
22. Minor Walk

Disc 2:

1. Good Bait
2. Guarachi Guaro
3. Duff Capers
4. Lover, Come Back to Me
5. I'm Be Boppin' Too [Take 1]
6. Swedish Suite
7. St. Louis Blues
8. I Should Care
9. That Old Black Magic
10. You Go to My Head
11. Jump Di-Le-Ba
12. Dizzier and Dizzier
13. I'm Be Boppin' Too [Take 2]
14. Hey Pete! Let's Eat More Meat
15. Jumpin' With Symphony Sid
16. If Love Is Trouble
17. In the Land of Oo-Bla-Dee
18. Overtime [Shorter Take] - Dizzy Gillespie, The Metronome All-Stars
19. Overtime [Longer Take] - Dizzy Gillespie, The Metronome All-Stars
20. Victory Ball [Shorter Take] - Dizzy Gillespie, The Metronome All-Stars
21. Victory Ball [Longer Take] - Dizzy Gillespie, The Metronome All-Stars

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #25690 in Music
• Released on: 1995-01-24
• Number of discs: 2

Amazon.com
These two Diz discs bookend two-years'-worth of late-'40s Gillespie orchestra recordings with some earlier Teddy Hill Orchestra and Lionel Hampton Orchestra sides. Actually, the '40s Gillespie-helmed recordings of "Manteca" and "Anthropology" begin the first disc, but that's kind of a sequencing quirk. Also included here are later Metronome All-Stars baubles. Here's a generous and savory taste of Gillespie ascending. --Steven Stolder

Customer Reviews

Can we have a remaster?
Of course this is a fine collection. Of course Dizzy's big band in the forties made some fantastic music. Of course this is an indispensible part of jazz history. But oh, the sound...

Previous issues of this music on both CD and vinyl far surpass this one in terms of sound quality. The dreaded nineties-era noise reduction technology is all over this music, taking great hunks of sonic elements away from these vital performances. Since Bluebird corrected similar problems by issuing the Blanton/Webster sides by Duke Ellington, should they not do the same for these great records?

Oop-Bob-Sh-BAM!!
From the first time I heard Dizzy's big band, on a now-defunct RCA Vintage LP ("The Bebop Era"), I was hooked...then I found out that my father had heard the band for FREE when he worked at the Metropole in NYC on 52nd Street...and HATED it because Dizzy didn't play like Sammy Kaye (his favorite band)!! How I envied and disliked him for that!!

These innovative Gil Fuller arrangements, in which the entire trumpet section swung like five Dizzies, are simply staggering. The music swirls and eddies, jumps and dives like a hyperactive jazz dancer. And all the soloists are fabulous: inventive, original, highly swinging. The jam sessions at the Metronome All-Star sessions are also very historic, with a trumpet section of Dizzy, Miles Davis and Fats Navarro, all trying to sound like Dizzy in their solos (and succeeding!), as well as scintillating piano solos by the brilliant but anti-social Lennie Tristano. All in all, an exciting and important album that no jazz lover should be without.

Simply Smokin'!
Here it is, the best Dizzy Gillespie set out there. This music is distinct from the Parker/Gillespie Quintet, as it features Dizzy's ultra-pwerful big band and the founding tunes of Afro-Cuban jazz, with the great Chano Pozo. The sheer exuberance of Dizzy's personality is all over these recordings, from the opening seconds of 'Manteca,' to the fascinating pre-bop recordings with Teddy Hill and Lionel Hampton, where Dizzy umistakbly shines. The good humor of the vocal tracks is irrepressable too! This is an essential part of a jazz fans library, and you'll love every cut.