Trumpeter
Arturo Sandoval's 2012 tribute to legendary jazz trumpeter
Dizzy Gillespie,
Dear Diz (Every Day I Think of You) is a big-band Latin and Afro-Cuban jazz tour de force. Showcasing
Sandoval's long-storied titan bop trumpet chops,
Dear Diz frames the Cuban-born virtuoso with layered big-band arrangements on many of
Gillespie's best-known compositions. Produced by
Gregg Field and
Sandoval, the album also features a bevy of name jazz musicians, including Hammond B-3 master
Joey DeFrancesco, vibraphonist
Gary Burton, tenor saxophonist
Bob Mintzer, clarinetist
Eddie Daniels, and many more. Included here, among others, are such
Gillespie songs as "Salt Peanuts!," "Birks Works," "Con Alma," and, of course,
Gillespie's trademark theme, "A Night in Tunisia."
Gillespie was
Sandoval's biggest musical influence and, after the two met during
Gillespie's tour of Cuba in 1977, he became one of
Sandoval's most ardent champions, mentors, and friends. In that sense,
Dear Diz is clearly a labor of love, a sentiment that permeates this joyously exuberant album. ~ Matt Collar