To Bird with Love: Live at the Blue Note was taken from a month that
Dizzy Gillespie was featured at the Blue Note in New York, virtually at the end of his playing career, the 74-year-old trumpeter is quite erratic on this set of bop standards. However, his supporting cast (heard from in different combinations) includes such major players as altoists
Jackie McLean,
Antonio Hart and
Paquito D'Rivera and tenors
Benny Golson,
Clifford Jordan and
David Sanchez, in addition to a strong trio led by pianist
Danílo Perez. The sidemen are in generally fine form and
Bobby McFerrin literally came out of the audience to scat on "Oo Pa Pa Da." The good spirits and obvious love that these musicians had for
Gillespie make up for his technical lapses. ~ Scott Yanow