In the 1990s, Verve had several CD reissue programs going on simultaneously. "Talkin' Verve" was one of their more eccentric series, and some of those releases did not have much of a plot or purpose. This particular set draws its material from a wide variety of
Dizzy Gillespie recordings (most readily available in more coherent fashion elsewhere), focusing on some of his more danceable performances (sort of). Certainly the lightweight renditions of "Theme From the Cool World," "Walk On the Wild Side," "Kush," "Bang, Bang" and "Swing Low, Sweet Cadillac" are far from classics, either as bebop or Afro-Cuban jazz. So overall, this is a rather frivolous and forgettable reissue. ~ Scott Yanow