It's impossible to grasp the complete scope of trumpeter, bandleader, composer, and showman
Dizzy Gillespie's influence on jazz. However, this companion release to
Ken Burns' PBS documentary Jazz is an admirable attempt, providing a brief glimpse of
Dizzy's pioneering bebop and Afro-Cuban jazz brilliance on a single 16-track disc. The disc captures his early sideman career with
Cab Calloway's orchestra in 1940 and four years later with
Coleman Hawkins' orchestra. The remaining tracks showcase
Dizzy coming into his own on classic bebop compositions "Salt Peanuts," "A Night in Tunisia," "Dizzy Atmosphere," "Groovin' High," "Manteca," and "Bloomdido." Also included is "The Eternal Triangle," a 1957 blowing date with
Sonny Rollins and
Sonny Stitt on Verve. The disc concludes in 1967 with
Dizzy hamming it up on "Swing Low, Sweet Cadillac," the humorous take on "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot." While
Dizzy Gillespie's history can't be summed up on a single disc, the highlights on
Ken Burns Jazz should make the novice listener interested enough to continue searching out more material. But this series includes nothing that the aficionado doesn't already have. ~ Al Campbell