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DIZZY GILLESPIE & SONNY ROLLINS The Legendary Sessions American Jazz Classics 99096

CD1

1. Wheatleigh Hall

2. Sumphin’

3. Con Alma

4. Haute Mon’

5. Anythin’

6. Con Alma

7. On the Sunny Side of the Street

Dizzy Gillespie – Trumpet, vocals

Sonny Rollins – Tenor sax (tracks 1, 2, 7)

Sonny Stitt – Alto sax, tenor sax (tracks 3-7)

Ray Bryant – Piano

Tommy Bryant – Bass

Charlie Persip - Drums

CD2

1. The Eternal Triangle

2. After Hours

3. I Know That You Know

4. Tour de Force

5. Dizzy meets Sonny

6. Ballad Medley: Old Folks/What’s New?/How Deep is the Ocean?

7. Mean to Me

8. Blues for Bird

Dizzy Gillespie – Trumpet

Sonny Rollins – Tenor sax (tracks 1-3)

Sonny Stitt – Alto sax, tenor sax

Ray Bryant – Piano (tracks 1-3)

John Lewis – Piano (tracks 4-8)

Skeeter Best – Guitar (tracks 4-8)

Tommy Bryant – Bass (tracks 1-3)

Percy Heath – Bass (tracks 4-8)

Charlie Persip - Drums

Perhaps surprisingly, two great giants of jazz only recorded together twice – on two days in December 1957, when Dizzy Gillespie and Sonny Rollins laid down enough tracks for two LPs. The LPs were released as Dizzy Gillespie Duets and Sonny Side Up. This double CD contains all the tracks from those sessions, plus some bonuses recorded by Dizzy Gillespie with Sonny Stitt, who also appears on some of the tracks with Sonny Rollins.

The first CD opens with hustling drums from Charlie Persip introducing an up-tempo workout featuring Sonny Rollins soloing as if he never needs to breathe, followed by Dizzy Gillespie producing a similarly high number of notes per minute. Although Dizzy could still reach the heights with his trumpet, he seemed to be dispensing with some of his old bebop clichés and generally plays with more restraint. The zenith of this gentler style was the 1959 album Have Trumpet, Will Excite. Pianist Ray Bryant (brother of Tommy Bryant, the bassist on the session) displays his ability to displace the beat and use riffs to leap across bar-lines. After Ray’s solo, Dizzy creates counter-melodies which Rollins picks up.

There are two takes of Con Alma and Stitt is very eloquent on the first one. Many tracks on this album are blues, and Sumphin’ is a tantalizing blues at a slow tempo. Ray Bryant exhibits his feeling for the blues; Sonny Rollins makes the most of his wonderfully deep tone; and the uninhibited Dizzy doubles the tempo. Rollins withdraws for the next four tracks, and Sonny Stitt enters. Stitt mainly plays the tenor sax but he brings in the alto for Anythin’, a slow blues on which Stitt interacts perfectly with Gillespie. Sonny strongly resembles Charlie Parker here. The contrast between Sonny Stitt and Sonny Rollins is interesting: the former smooth and tending to improvise on the chords; the latter with a gruffer tone and attempting to find a theme in every solo, as well as quoting liberally from other tunes.

Gillespie does a witty vocal in On the Sunny Side of the Street, mangling the lyrics as only he could. On the second CD, The Eternal Triangle features some strong exchanges between Rollins and Stitt on two tenors. After Hours is a smoky blues which gives opportunities to Bryant, Gillespie and Rollins for some late-night solos. I Know That You Know races along cheerfully, with Dizzy setting off multiple fireworks.

The remaining five tracks are from a 1956 LP called The Modern Jazz Sextet. The title is an obvious reference to the fact that the personnel includes two members of the Modern Jazz Quartet – John Lewis and Percy Heath. The mood here is more restrained than on the previous tracks. The sparing, precise solos of John Lewis and guitarist Skeeter Best make a notable contrast to the more extrovert playing of Gillespie and Stitt. This extroversion is clear in Dizzy Meets Sonny, a hair-raisingly fast composition by Dizzy which suits Stitt’s fluency and Gillespie’s dexterity.

In the ballad medley, Stitt performs Old Folks, Lewis takes What’s New, and Gillespie plays How Deep is the Ocean? Dizzy and Sonny collaborated on the closing Blues for Bird, which has some bluesy piano from Ray Bryant, thoughtful guitar by Skeeter Best, typically hot trumpet from Dizzy Gillespie, and wailing saxophone by Sonny Stitt. Altogether this is a delightful album, with relaxed playing from musicians who clearly enjoy one another’s company.

Tony Augarde

www.augardebooks.co.uk

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