Dizzy Gillespie Big Band with Monk Part 2

Описание: Dizzy Gillespie (tp), Dave Burns (tp), Elmon Wright (tp), Johnny Lynch (tp), Talib Dawud (tp), Alton “Slim” Moore (tb), Leon Comegys (tb), Gordon Thomas (tb), Howard Johnson (as), John Brown (as), James Moody (ts), Ray Abrams (ts), Sol Moore (bari sax), Thelonious Monk (p), Milt Jackson (vi), Ray Brown (b), Kenny Clarke (dr) So much of the time, people think of the Bebop movement as being deeply based in virtuoso soloists.  One friend of mine saw the rise of Bop tied to smaller bands, which meant the musicians were not duty bound to elaborate charts, like one would hear played by a big band.  In other words, the Bop bands did not have the heavy lifting of playing tightly with many people. Instead, they could play tightly in a small band, and more time was left to showcase  fabulous soloists. But actually, it was Dizzy Gillespie’s big dream to have a big band.  He’d played in so many big bands during his “apprenticeship” with Cab Calloway, Lucky Millinder, Teddy Hill, Edgar Hayes, and Billy Eckstine, that it was a natural fit to adapt his more modern ideas to that format. And in the 1940s, he got a band which was most famously recorded by Victor. Just as Billy Eckstine benefited by the singer’s romantic draw, and Dizzy was also a great entertainer and funny MC, the music was too new and too soon. What they were playing was too hip for the service men returning home from WW II. Many of them came home and started families, and had less time to frequent nightclubs. So, the timing was bad to hold together a band, and pay a large payroll. That said, some miracles did happen, and some of this music was made, and some it was recorded.  Yes, Eckstine’s big band was under-recorded. And then there was this extraordinary recording of Dizzy’s band in full force, with many of his usual band mates like Milt Jackson and James Moody, but we are rewarded with the magical/mystifying presence of none other than Thelonious Monk.  I never thought I would hear Monk playing with THIS band.  But there he is. Thank God for the live shows and radio air checks of wonderful bands that were not commonly heard elsewhere.