Search - Jazz Icons: Dizzy Gillespie Live in '58 and '70 on DVD

Two views of Dizzy

Joe Sixpack -- Slipcue.com | ...in Middle America | 12/08/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This DVD features two fine European concerts, one from 1958, the other from 1970, both showing Gillespie in fine fettle. The '58 concert features Gillespie and saxophonist Sonny Stitt fronting a small combo, each radiating elegance and cool; the 1970 show has Dizzy doubling as bandleader and soloist, leading a 16-piece big band that slips from complex ensemble arrangements to brash, brassy hard bop and into funk, bluesy grooves, with Gillespie blowing each with equal ease. And he looks hella cool at all times. Great look at this master jazzman, still playing in his prime over a 12-year stretch."

Life could be so fine as mm,mm mm,mm wine!

James A. Pantano | beacon, new york United States | 12/29/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"if you dig on dizzy then you will love this dvd. two outstanding performances with outstanding audio and video. really! i dont know if the jazz icon people spent time remastering this footage or if it was really well preserved, but i was very impressed with the audio/video quality. to me its a small miracle that archival type footage such as that released by the jazz icon series is avaiable. they are to be commended. i also purchased art blakey, thelonius monk and buddy rich and although i have not watched the buddy rich dvd yet the blakey and monk dvds are also outstanding in quality and content. more please! each dvd also comes with a really nice booklet about the artist. highly recommended!"

A True Gem

Michelle Sanders | 06/08/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"My husband is a musican (saxophonist) and provided his input for this gift I gave him. Incredible music (both audio and video) especially for its age. The techs really knew what they were doing and captured the very essence of the perfomances. Lots of ego in the small group scene. Dizzy was the leader but the other musicans were the real stars. Somewhat disappointing and somewhat distracting to see Dizzy talking during Stitt's wonderful solos but demanding complete attention when he was soloing. Did he actually bump into Stitt at the beginning of Blues Walk? Nevertheless very enjoyable. Some of the best Stitt I've ever heard. Great backing from Loe Levy and Ray Brown. Good work from Gus Johnson when he wasn't being distracted. Recommended."

Calms the raging three-year-old inside you

Matthew Watters | Vietnam | 06/01/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"There's something so mesmerizing about these two performances, that even my three-year-old son is transfixed by them. The first features a quintet of Diz, Sonny Stitt, Lou Levy (piano), Ray Brown (bass) and Gus Johnson (drums) that plays it safe -- Dizzy's standard feature "On the Sunny Side of the Street" and Stitt's standard feature "Lover Man" are both included in the 30-minute set -- but whoever filmed it must have been a real jazz fan. There are long takes of Diz and Sonny's fingering, even views of Diz clearing his valve -- in short, all the physical realities of a jazz performance and all the stuff that is usually cut out of TV performances of jazz artists. It renders what could have been a pedestrian soft-bop set into something special. But in the second half of this disc, things really take off. It's an hour of Dizzy fronting the Clarke-Boland Big Band in 1970, and they are TIGHT. Big brassy, rollicking charts, including Gillespie standbys like "Manteca". And that band: not only is Art Farmer in the trumpet section (looking rather glum since he doesn't get any solos!) but so are Idrees Sulieman and Benny Bailey. And, look over there, it's Sahib Shihab on baritone sax. No wonder this band is often referred to as legendary. Grab this disc, settle in, and relax....."