Dizzy Gillespie and His Big Band - Complete Studio Sessions (1956-1957) (2011)

Dizzy Gillespie was much more than a great trumpet player: for many he epitomizes a whole chapter in the history of jazzthe 40s and 50s, when he was pre-eminent as a bop pioneer and as a leader of small groups and big bands. Dizzy had an exuberant personality, an almost endless capacity for love, and a desire to live and swing as hard as he felt. His work here, fronting his 1956-1957 big band, radiates warmth and excitement, and what the band lacks in clockwork precision is more than compensated for by the rarely matched drive inherent in its work.

The charts, funky swingers for the most part, reflect the best efforts of some of the finest writers in jazzErnie Wilkins, Tadd Dameron, Quincy Jones, Benny Golsonbut the main asset is the leader and his prowess as an instrumentalist. And there are excellent solos by Phil Woods, Joe Gordon, Ernie Henry, Lee Morgan, Billy Mitchell, Benny Golson, Al Grey, and notable contributions by Walter Davis, Wynton Kelly and Charlie Persip in the rhythm section. These outstanding recordings exhibit the almost euphoric power and fire of the band.