All week long, there was a celebration for John Birks Gillespie at the Blue Note in Greenwich Village. The Dizzy Gillespie Alumni All-Stars consisted of: Jon Faddis on trumpet, James Moody on tenor sax and flute, Slide Hampton on trombone, and special guest Jackie McLean on alto. In the rhythm section were: Billy Childs on piano, Jon Lee on bass and Dennis Mackrel on drums.
And it was a great time!! Jackie McLean and James Moody were really the stars of the show.
What a treat to hear "Moody's Mood for Love" sung by the artist himself!
The Dizzy All-Stars started off the set with "Grooviní High," a Dizzy mainstay that the band played in unison, all except Faddis, who added a harmony line over the top of everyone else. McLean kept the bebop flame alive by grabbing the first solo, and set the standard with a groove of swinging 8th notes. Childs played his solo on piano in a relaxed manner as well, giving hints of angular ideas.
James Moody |
Dizzy Gillespie |
"Con Alma" was the next Dizzy original, and the harmonies were gorgeous. I was amazed that the music sounded like a rehearsed arrangement, even though no one had any sheet music. Dizzy would have been proud to hear this, as such consummate musicians did the composition justice. Here Moody showed off his mastery of the tenor, going into double-time smoothly, and exercising a sense of humor. He joined Dizzy's band way back in 1946! Jon Lee, who was with Dizzy's group for 10 years, backed Moody up on his fretless electric bass. Faddis put in a harmon mute, and played a tasty solo right up against the mic, pianissimo. Again, McLean tore it up on the alto, and I was thrilled to hear the song extended by a shout chorus with a haunting tag ending.
I was really impressed during "Moody's Mood for Love," as the composer gave it the best rendition I'd ever heard. He started with a joke, ended with a rap, and in between was some fantastic and memorable bebop singing and scatting.
"A Night in Tunisia" was approached in an unusual way. The opening phrase was taken at half the normal tempo, with the last two bars doubled up. With the trumpet leading the "A" section, the alto taking the bridge, and the tenor playing the interlude, each player had a chance to shine. Of course Jon Faddis jumped right on the famous Dizzy break, and played an amazing trumpet solo.
"'Round Midnight" was a feature for Jackie McLean. Improvised on the melody, he added his own inflections and reflections. Childs backed him up with some upper tension notes on the piano, and came up with some really creative ideas during his own solo. For instance, his left hand would do a continuation of a lick that the right hand started. He followed this with both hands in counterpoint.
One of my favorite tunes has always been the one Dizzy recorded with conga drummer Chano Pozo, called "Manteca." They started it off with the traditional quote "I'll never go back to Georgia," and Faddis played some incredible licks on the trumpet during the vamp before the head. I was in heaven during "Manteca," which has a call and response section in a Latin groove, followed by a swing bridge. Moody took the first solo on flute, and Mackrel got into such a funky spirit on drums, that the audience was dancing in their seats.
Vocalist
Suzanne Pittson at Chez Suzette. Chez Suzette is a cute little French restaurant that has been featuring Jazz vocalists for quite some time. It's located on 9th Avenue, right off of 46th Street, "Restaurant Row." There is no music cover, and it has a relaxed atmosphere. One night I went there to see a San Francisco singer, Suzanne Pittson (photo at left by Jim Viers). She has a new CD out, featuring the music of Freddie Hubbard. With Mark Soskin, piano; Steve LaSpina, bass and Mike Clark, drums, it was destined to be a delightful evening.
Some of the tunes on her CD include her original lyrics to "Crisis," "Jodo" and "The Intrepid Fox," along with interpretations of "Little Sunflower," "Up Jumped Spring" and "Skydive." I missed the beginning of Suzanne's set, so the first tune that I heard was the ballad "Betcha by Golly, Wow." Mark Soskin gave a nice introduction on the piano, and Suzanne sang the tune clearly and smoothly in an alto voice. I was quite surprised to hear a much bigger vocal range on the following piece, Freddie Hubbard's "Birdlike."
Suzanne wrote the lyrics and scatted extensively on "Birdlike," using the entire range of her instrument. I really could picture a trumpet soloing during her scatting. The rhythm section listened and responded impeccably. Soskin's piano solo had a lot of energy, and he has great technique.
"Take it to the Ozone" showed off Suzanneís scatting technique even further. She sang this at an extremely fast tempo, going up to some very high soprano notes. She used the microphone well, and the strong backup of the band made for some stimulating listening. Each member of the band got a chance to solo, and Mike Clark played some revitalizing licks on the drumset.
New Yorkers were upset about the Yankees losing the World Series in baseball, but they can be cheered up by all the great Jazz going on in the city. I'll continue to follow the attractions here at Jazz Now, with more "Notes from the Apple" next month.
by Lucy Galliher
Back to 
Contents Page
Jazz Now Interactive
Copyright Jazz Now, November 2003 issue, all rights reserved
jazzinfo@jazznow.com
