Artist:Dizzy Gillespie
Song:Caravan
Album:Dizzy:The Music Of John Birks Gillespie
Of course John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie was one of the founders of bebop and one of the most important musicians of the 20th century. He was born Oct. 21, 1917 in Cheraw, SC. The nickname Dizzy was given to him because he liked to fool around on stage in the 30s. Gillespie's legacy was enhanced by his interest in teaching the next generation about jazz. He was also a major proponent of Afro-Cuban Jazz long before it was fashionable. And that brings me to this 1954 version of Duke Ellington's Caravan. This 2005 comp Dizzy is OK but one disc isn't adequate to even sample Gillespie's music. This is also on the 3CD comp Dizzy's Diamonds. It's actually from the 1954 Norgran release Afro. Norgran was a Verve offshoot. It pairs Gillespie with arranger Chico O'Farrill. Half the album is a big band and the other half is a smaller Latin jazz band featuring flutist Gilberto Valdes. Verve rereleased Afro in 2002 but I think it's out of print now. Gillespie continued to experiment with Afro-Cuban jazz throughout his career. Dizzy Gillespie is another jazz great that can't be covered in one song. I'll look at him again in the future. Here's Dizzy Gillespie in a 1956 animated short called A Date For Dizzy directed by John Hubley.
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