Bird Songs: The Final Recordings by Dizzy Gillespie boutiques NEUF

Performer Notes:

• Personnel: Dizzy Gillespie (trumpet); Bobby McFerrin (vocals); Jackie McLean, Paquito DRivera, Antonio Hart (alto saxophone); Clifford Jordan, Benny Golson, David Sanchez (tenor saxophone); Danilo Perez (piano); George Mraz (bass); Lewis Nash, Kenny Washington (drums).
• Recorded live at The Blue Note, New York, New York, from January 23-25, 1992.
• Includes liner notes by Donald Elfman.
• Personnel: Dizzy Gillespie (trumpet); Bobby McFerrin (vocals); Jackie McLean, Paquito DRivera, Antonio Hart (alto saxophone); Clifford Jordan, David Sanchez , Benny Golson (tenor saxophone); Danilo Prez (piano); Kenny Washington , Lewis Nash (drums).
• Liner Note Author: Donald Elfman.
• Recording information: Blue Note, New York, NY (01/23/1992-01/25/1995).
• With this CD, Telarc squeezes another package out of a month-long salute to the jazz masters 75th birthday at New Yorks Blue Note jazz club, advertising them as Dizzy Gillespies last recordings (theyre not). What it is, is a mixed blessing, an obviously heartfelt tribute to an aging legend by several of his disciples, conservative to a fault in its adherence to the basic bop language that Dizzy and the albums co-honoree Charlie Parker helped invent. Dizzys solos are like fallen swans; the chops simply werent there anymore to execute his still-potent ideas, and reviewers in Dizzys final years found his decline painful to report (many pretended not to notice). Otherwise, the excerpts here present a holiday for saxophones, with Benny Golson, David Sanchez, Clifford Jordan, Antonio Hart, Paquito DRivera and Jackie McLean taking turns on the front line, backed by the workmanlike trio of Danilo Perez on piano, George Mraz on bass and Lewis Nash or Kenny Washington on drums. Easily the best of the sax encounters is "Ornithology," where a speeding McLean and relatively relaxed DRivera engage in a high-flying dialogue, and the first part of Bobby McFerrins vocal solo is so uncannily like late-period Dizzy that one is fooled. This album and its companions might have worked better as videos, where one could still bask in Dizzys live presence and thus experience the atmosphere of this celebration more fully. ~ Richard S. Ginell

Professional Reviews: Down Beat (12/97, p.68) - 3 1/2 stars (out of 5) - "...[Gillespies] playing is relatively nimble, thoughtful and generally on target....through it all, Gillespie holds his own in blue-ribbon company....plenty of solid music by players who know what theyre doing."

Producer: John Snyder, Charles Fishman

Format: CD (1 Disc); Stereo

Country: USA

Studio/Live: Live

Guest Artist: Antonio Hart; Paquito DRivera; Bobby McFerrin; Benny Golson; David Sanchez; Danilo Perez; Clifford Jordan; Jackie McLean

Release Date: 1 August, 1997

Label: Telarc

Dimensions: 12.5 x 14.2 x 1 centimeters (0.11 kg)