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Diz and Getz

Dizzy Gillespie - Diz and Getz Audio CD

A fair review of the Dizzy Gillespie "Diz and Getz" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Dizzy Gillespie reviews here, or go back to the Dizzy Gillespie tabs.

Band: Dizzy Gillespie
Title: Diz and Getz
Rating:

Release Date: 2001-06-19
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing) 2: I Let a Song Go Out of My Heart 3: Exactly Like You 4: It's the Talk of the Town 5: Impromptu 6: One Alone 7: Girl of My Dreams 8: Siboney, Pts. 1 & 2

A Jazz Neophyte Weighs In
I was led to it by a longtime love of Bossa Nova, in which Stan Getz plays a significant part. I've only started listening to mainstream Jazz in earnest since Christmas, and this is one of the first albums I bought. Much has been made in other reviews about a kind of pugilistic tone to this album, but I don't hear it. Though Diz certainly dominates the album (perhaps because the trumpet is simply a louder instrument), Getz's performance is equally wonderful in a different way. While Diz's exuberance and playfulness are certainly prominent, Getz is more precise, more seasoned, more polished. Other reviewers have noted that Getz delicately mimics Diz in a few of the riffs, which makes for some light musical comedy if you're a Jazz nerd. Every track on this album shines, from the fast-paced first and fifth tracks to the mellow and rhythmic third track, "Exactly Like You. " Love Diz? Love Getz? Take it from the Neophyte: buy this album.

The Unvarnished Truth
" On this Diz-Getz '54 recording, the presence of Oscar Peterson is a definite plus, providing the session with a bit more firepower than the aforementioned dates. This early meeting between Diz and Getz may be more satisfying than the duets with Rollins and Stitt, the meeting with both ("Sonny Side Up"), or the three-way interaction of Diz, Getz and Stitt on "For Musicians Only. This is relatively early Diz--before the bent upswept bell--but he's in peak form, and the fidelity isn't wanting. Getz sounds relaxed and ready to play Dizzy's own game, even mimicking some of the master player's licks. (The tone that the saxophonist gets when he tries to play "hard" has always sounded "roosterish" to me. Here we get the inimitable "cool" sound of Getz carrying a man's load. )

Some listeners may recoil at a program (no doubt Granz-inspired) that includes "Girl of My Dreams" and two parts of Lecuona's "Siboney. " I say good riddance to so much of the current fare that passes for "original" songwriting.

There are also some listeners who will complain that these Granz Verve sessions lack the rhythmic thrust of Van Gelder's many Blue Note dates. The difference is partly due to the music idiom and its practitioners (these are musicians more interested in the "language" of bebop than the "groove" of hard bop) but also to recording engineers. Van Gelder "enhances" the horns, boosts bass, drums, and alters the piano sound to a degree than would simply be unacceptable to an Oscar Peterson.

The Blue Notes have their place, but suffice it say that the musicians on this more "natural-sounding" Verve recording would be done a disservice by any tampering with the sound. Finally, this is relaxed but still stunning Gillespie, even down to his "funky" solo on the quirky inclusion of a Gillespie original ("One Alone") that features an entirely different rhythm section along with tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley! (Far too little--likely to make any listener with ears go crazy looking for a complete session featuring this pair. )

[Some previous reviews have recently led me to discover "Bop Session," a Swedish-produced meeting between Diz and Stitt that is somewhat of a revelation: who among us realized just how much horn the then-iconic Gillespie was playing as late as 1975 ? Max Roach insisted that the album not be under Gillespie's name, but no Diz fan should let this one go by unnoticed. Stitt's sound is also beautifully captured. ].

Great Getz and Diz
One that should be heard by all jazz fans. This is a classic recording. The ignorant notion that Stan Getz got wiped out by Dizzy is preposterous. Both musicians play their hearts out. Of course Dizzy plays great here - he was at the top of his game. But Stan TOTALLY keeps up with Diz. One wishes that the producers/engineers hadn't made Diz play with the cup mute so much. Listen to Stan's amazing facility, clean articulation, and fleet fingers on the incredibly up-tempo "Don't Mean A Thing. " Stan also plays beautifully on the ballad "Talk of the Town". For top musicians like these two, it was all about furthering the music. The game of "who won the jazz boxing match" is left to half informed non-musicians who don't know how difficult it is to play on the level of these two superb gentlemen. .

"Dizzy Out for Blood"
The song selection is classic and leaves plenty of blowing room, the best workout being the Ellington tune "It Don't Mean a Thing. Excellent record, among Diz's finest outings on Verve. . . ", in which Diz lights a fire so hot it seems like the rest of the band is playing out of sheer terror. On this track you'll hear what may well be Getz's most frenetic solo, along with one of Oscar Peterson's best. But there are a number of ballads as well, more conducive to Getz's cool, cooing tone, to relax things a bit.

In the liner notes OP recounts how Diz came into this session wanting "a piece of Stan Getz, bad. . . he wanted to take advantage of someone, and i decided it wasn't going to be me. " Diz again succeeds in drawing incredible performances out of his band, getting them to play beyond themselves. Top shelf stuff.

Also, if you like this one, get "Sonny Side of the Street" with Diz, Sony Rollins and Sonny Stitt. It's another case of the bandleader challenging his band, and evoking incredible performances.

Splendid
Sure, everybody is entitled to his opinion, but these reviews are not screened and a review from someone totally ignorant (which I believe is the case here) may affect the sales of a very good product and therefore correction is needed. Inexplicably this disc has two different entries and on the other one I gave it 5 stars without much comment, but referring to the other reviewer for this entry who gave it 3 stars. I can hardly resist the temptation to make more fun of the reviewer; in my other review I wondered where he had his (or her) ears (I now believe he is a male); this time I would like to suggest he wears lighter pants. Once again, this is top level music. Importantly, it joined a black and a white musical giant made at a time when the white and black sounds (and to a certain extent musical ideas) were clearly distinct. Stan must have been something like "the great white hope" in those days and Diz (an avid boxing fan) according to the booklet felt in a fighting mood. Yet Gillespie's charm must have been such that even the extremely volatile Getz was subdued and the result was a competitive camaraderie.
Like all great records, this one gets better everytime one listens to it. (If it doesn't, question your first judgment. ) With regard to the sidemen, substantial praise goes to the superb Max Roach and the indomitable Oscar Peterson, who was termed by Getz to a common Danish friend as "a big music machine". But the machine turns out a real quality product.

You can see a complete list of all Dizzy Gillespie discography, or go back to the Dizzy Gillespie tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.