Song:Night In Tunisia
Album:Greatest Hits
Of course trumpeter John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie is one of the all time greats of jazz and one of the inventors of bebop. I've featured Dizzy's Verve recordings from the 50s but this comp is a good intro to his RCA big band recordings of the late 40s. 1945 was the breakthrough year for Dizzy Gillespie and that's when most folks first heard jazz classics like Salt Peanuts & Night In Tunisia. Dizzy went to Cuba and brought back many Cuban musical styles to integrate into his bebop style. He also brought percussionist Chano Pozo with him. By 1947, the Big Band Era is dead and major record companies are trying to figure out what to do next. RCA had a lot of success with Glenn Miller and the Dorseys. So they approached Dizzy about putting together a big band. Dizzy was smart enough to take their money and he put together a Cubana Bebop big band. Of course Pozo was a big part of the band along with young musicians like Milt Jackson, John Lewis, Ray Brown, Kenny Clarke, James Moody & John Coltrane. Pozo was murdered in 1948 so he's only on a few of the recordings. Of course the bebop fad was over by 1950 and it wasn't long after that Dizzy signed with Verve. This Greatest Hits comp is a perfect intro to the RCA recordings for newcomers. And as I said, these are different from Dizzy's Verve recordings so there won't be any duplication. RCA has released this exact comp in 1998 as part of their Planet Jazz series. The only thing different is the cover. And you can get all of Dizzy's big band recordings on the 2CD comp The Complete RCA Victor Recordings 1947-49. Regardless, these are essential to anyone interested in jazz. Here's Dizzy Gillespie performing Night In Tunisia with an all star band in the 80s including dueling trumpets with Jon "Dizzy Jr." Faddis. The tenor sax solo is by Frank Foster.
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