Dizzy Gillespie: A Real Jazz 'Superman'

I am thinking today about one of my favorite men of jazz...the magnificent Dizzy Gillespie. I remember the first time I heard his wild and so starkly original bop jazz music it truly startled me. His revolutionary bop jazz style was so exciting and intensely engaging. Dizzy Gillespie's work along with another jazz superman, Charlie Parker on alto saxophone was brilliant in its acute jazz improvisatory insight. The performance of Dizzy's that really had a major impact on me was his wild work on the surging jazz lyricism of the huge jazz tune called 'Night in Tunisia.' I listened to that one again this afternoon and once again I was transported into a vivacious and so energetic world of sparkling, so-strong jazz music. I think the idea that really pops into my brain when I hear the gigantic music of Mr. Gillespie is the fact that the man's musical ideas are so tremendously exciting. His trumpet can hit your soul like a slamming firebrand. Another really superb work of the man, Mr. G., is the clever jazz composition that is entitled 'Salt Peanuts.' That number has plenty of sparkling style. This is a fascinating Sunday filled with terrific sounds of the mighty music...JAZZ.

Theodore 'Fats' Navarro: Jazz Great One!

Profound, high-impact jazz trumpet can prove so engaging because of its raw, powerhouse intensity. Such is the case with the sensational trumpet style of Fats Navarro, a powerhouse trumpet artist coming out of the 1940s era. The sound of Navarro is a smashing sound of passion coming from the fact he packed a wallop with his South Florida roots shining strong in his visceral trumpet big sound with his cracklin' and sensuous BeBop jazz innovations that encapsulate the Jack Kerouac style of prose-oriented modern music that made the late 1940s and early 1950s virile jazz so persuasive and vibrant. The Fats Navarro wonderfulness was heavily influenced by the exciting trumpet of Roy Eldridge and also by the great brass man, Charlie Shavers, who could cut some good jazz music his mighty self. The intrigue of the Fats Navarro sound is so unique with his interpretation of tasty ballads. One of my favorite tunes in this genre is the innovative work on the song, 'The Things We Did Last Summer.' It is a song filled with a shiny romanticism that sweeps the listener in, beautifully. Working with great ones like the highly imaginative Tadd Dameron, Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie and Wardell Gray helped bring the luminary one, the noted Fats Navarro even more recognition. I feel the jazz trumpet sound of Fats Navarro is truly remarkable just like that of the immortal Dizzy Gillespie.

Dizzy Gillespie, Terry Gibbs: Jazz Heroes

Dizzy Gillespie and Terry Gibbs are two jazzmen who produce fantastic jazz excitement. The trumpet genius, Dizzy, has an uncanny ability to come up with improvisatory lines that just sleekly soar out into the far reaches of outer space. The drivin' and vigorous pulsating vibes jazz music of the masterful Terry Gibbs just enthralls me. The sounds I heard today with the greatness of Gillespie and Gibbs were sensational. I especially delighted in the Dizzy Gillespie work (along with Terry and his band) on a feisty composition called 'Smoke em up.' The clever, vigorous solo work of the jazz icons was so fresh and so vividly explosive. Another fine rendition I heard today was the so-engaging giant jazz classic, 'A Night in Tunisia.' This number sends me into total joy every time I hear it. The thing has so much, beautifully visceral punch that it is a vast, remarkable and so freshly contemporary experience. The thrill of jazz music is when it comes so brilliantly alive with gigantic excitement. That's the sum total of listening to Dizzy Gillespie and Terry Gibbs. Their music is kind of like reading good tough fiction from the master, Elmore Leonard. The fun of fine jazz is very similar to the delight a person gets in reading great E. Leonard, like maybe that superb book of Mr. Leonard's....'Out of Sight.' The vibrant, kickin' strong JAZZ MUSIC of Mr. Dizzy Gillespie and Mr. Terry Gibbs packed my Tuesday with so much CRACKLING JOY today!

Charlie Christian's 1941 jazz is so pulsating

The musical culture in this country has changed dramatically in the last decade or so. It is rather interesting how new music forms keep popping up and yet grand, cultural mainstays like jazz, classical, country and yes rock music continue to excite so many of us. In jazz it is good to go back and listen to more traditional-oriented jazz people. One of the most elegant and smooth guitar players I have ever had the pleasure of digging is the very suave Charlie Christian. I enjoy so much a particular Charlie Christian set, 'Live Sessions at Minton's Playhouse New York--May 1941. My word, this sophisticated 1941 melange of super sounds is thrilling and gets my creativity quotient beautifully elevated. On this set that I listened to today Charlie Christian is joined by some modern jazz pioneers like Dizzy Gillespie,(trumpet) Thelonious Monk (piano) and Kenny Clarke on drums. Also there is virile so passionate work on tenor saxophone by a fabulous saxophone guy, Don Byas. The musical pulsating panorama of Charlie Christian and his group just enthralls me. It is so grand to dig as many brands of great American music as one can because it brings so much good, tasty flavor to one's life. I used to be so amused because some friends said don't use words like "tasty" but really the word "tasty" so intrinsically brings home the spiced up zest of Charlie Christian's music and with the having a great time help of Dizzy, Monk and friends this form of listening experience is a really good brand of fun.

Earl 'Fatha' Hines: Poetic Man of the Piano

Polished classic jazz from the '4os has always been one of my large interests. I figure the timeless piano style of the great Earl 'Fatha' Hines has huge appeal. When you listen to how the man cuts into a classic blues rendition then it is a fabulous feeling, indeed. Another thing: the big band efforts of Earl 'Fatha' Hines have such a tremendous joye de vivre also. Many years ago friends all told me to listen only to the supra-modern big band of Dizzy Gillespie. I love Gillespie's work but Earl Hines has a delightful ability to find just the right notes and just the right chords. But I still believe I get into the high-flyin' work of one Mr. Dizzy Gillespie, also. In truth if you people out there give a man named Earl Hines a try you will love it, I'm sure.

Remembering a superior music man

Music has always been a gigantic part of my life. When I was eleven I started playing tenor saxophone. (I had already had about four years of piano.) My teacher there in Cairo, Georgia was William T. Verran, a tough, old-style discipline man who just scared the daylights out of my young, skinny form. But one day, despite all his emphasis on technique with all the scales and arpeggios and his constant harping on trying to get a good tone, it suddenly hit me that this little old fellow with the harsh command voice really knew what he was talking about. He respected talents like Dizzy Gillespie and Harry James and Gene Krupa just as many big names as he could tell us kids about. I got in the high school band when I was thirteen. It was tough but it became a lot of fun a little later on. I realized later when I went into theater productions and extemporaneous speaking that having in my life a wonderful discipline man of music, this guy called William T. Verran was a magnificent thing. All of us in the town of Cairo Georgia nicknamed 'Billy Verran' 'Major.' He had never been an officer in the United States Army but he sure acted like one. In this season of memories I look back now on the man who really got me fascinated with the thrilling world of music and I am forever grateful to the guy who helped me appreciate folks like Dizzy Gillespie, Harry James and Gene Krupa.