Two Great Jazz Releases: Remastered albums do Dizzy Gillespie justice

By jazzman • Sep 8th, 2008 • Category: Artists, Popular Products, jazz artists

This summer, the jazz community saw the re-release of
two great Dizzy Gillespie albums. Having been digitally
remastered, the audience can step back over 50 years
and hear the best of “Dizzy” in its true, almost live-sounding
quality.

The 1st of these two albums is Showtime at the Spotlite,
an album that was initially released in 1946
after being recorded at a live show on 52nd
Street in New York City. This 2-disc recording
features the following tracks:

Disc 1:
1. Shaw ‘Nuff / I Waited For You
2. Our Delight
3. Groovin’ High
4. The Man I Love
5. Ray’s Idea
6. Cool Breeze
7. Oo Bop Sh’Bam
8. ‘Round Midnight
9. Second Balcony Jump
10. Day By Day
11. Convulsions
12. Woody ‘n You
13. Lazy Mood
14. One Bass Hit
15. Things To Come
16. I Waited For You

Showtime At
The Spotlite

(Get at Amazon.com)

Disc 2:
1. Shaw ‘Nuff / I Waited For You
2. Our Delight
3. Second Balcony Jump
4. Things To Come
5. The Man I Love (Incomplete)
6. Intermission: Don’t Blame Me
7. Grosvenor Square
8. One Bass Hit
9. Things To Come
10. I Waited For You

This rare recording represents the 1st generation of Dizzy Gillespie’s Big Band legacy. It features an all-star cast, including Thelonious Monk, Ray Brown, Kenny Clarke,James Moody and Milt Jackson to name a few. SHOWTIME AT THE SPOTLITE is a priceless documentation of great musical genius at a special moment, superbly captured in live performance. Both innovative and a lot of fun, this is Dizzy Gillespie straight-on telling the world where it’s at. The album was re-released Sept. 1st, 2008.

The 2nd album was re-released August 5th this year and offers a digital remastering of The Cool World Of Dizzy Gillespie. The original album was released back in April of 1964 and features the trumpeter’s interpretations of the score of the obscure film “The Cool World” - although these tracks were not heard in the film. This album, in particular, has music historians thinking twice and digging deeper to see what else can be found among Dizzy’s “buried stash.”

Tracks included on this album:

1. Theme From The Cool World
2. The Pushers
3. Enter, Priest
4. Duke’s Awakening
5. Duke On The Run
6. Street Music
7. Bonnie’s Blues
8. Coney Island
9. Duke’s Fantasy
10. Coolie
11. Duke’s Last Soliloquy

Both of these albums are “winners” and would accent any collection. It is great that these two labels found these works and decided to give them the attention they deserve. Showtime At The Spotlite was remastered by Uptown Label, and The Cool World Of Dizzy Gillespie was produced by Verve. A blast into the past, these rare albums should be at the top of the list for Gillespie fans!

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