Like Duke Ellington's Sacred Concerts (1965, '68 and '73) and Chico O'Farrill's Second Afro-Cuban Suite (1954), Lalo Schifrin's Gillespiana is a jazz masterwork. Now, SteepleChase Records in Denmark has released Dizzy Gillespie Quintet: Gillespiana in Concert, recorded in Copenhagen on November 20, 1961.
Gillespiana was a work originally written by Lalo for Gillespie's 16-piece orchestra and first recorded in 1960 (go here). As he told me during a Wall Street Journal interview at his home in Beverly Hills in 2012, he composed the suite as a valentine to Gillespie, an artist he cherished and admired deeply.
And for good reason. In 1952, Lalo was accepted at the Paris Conservatoire on a music scholarship. But Juan Perón's secret police summoned him to find out why he sought to study abroad.
"At headquarters, during my interview, they easily could have made me disappear," he said during our chat. "I could hear the tango playing below to mask the screams of those they were torturing. I told the inspector that my acceptance was an honor for Argentina. He stamped my exit visa and let me go." [Photo above of Dizzy Gillespie and Lalo Schifrin]
In Paris, Lalo played piano in jazz clubs but was nearly deported for playing without a work permit. "A diplomat at the Argentine Embassy told me to play at a recital attended by the French Minister of Education. Afterward, the minister gave me a card to see the Minister of Labor, who granted me a work permit."
In 1956, a year after the Perón regime fell, Lalo returned to Buenos Aires as a professional jazz musician—much to his parents' dismay. "They feared I wouldn't be able to earn a living," he said. When Dizzy Gillespie performed in Buenos Aires later that year, Lalo attended his concerts and played for him at a reception.
"Dizzy asked me to come to the U.S., but I didn't receive my green card until 1958," Lalo said. Once in New York, he had to wait another year for a work permit from the musicians union. "During this time, Dizzy asked me to write a piece for him. So over a weekend, I composed a draft of 'Gillespiana,' an orchestral jazz suite."
After Gillespiana was recorded in 1960 and released, Lalo became an overnight sensation among jazz musicians, and Gillespie invited him to join his quintet on a European tour. Included on that tour was a stop at the Falkoner Centret in Copenhagen, where the quintet performed the intricate Gillespiana Suite. [Photo above of Leo Wright]
The quintet:
- Dizzy Gillespie (trumpet)
- Leo Wright (alto saxophone, flute)
- Lalo Schifrin (piano)
- Bob Cunningham (bass)
- Mel Lewis (drums)
The tracks:
- Gillespiana Suite (Lalo Schifrin)
- Prelude
- Blues
- Panamericana
- Africana
- Toccata
2. Kush (Dizzy Gillespie)
This quintet recording newly unearthed by Nils Winther of SteepleChase Records is outstanding. The sound is terrific, Gillespie is in his prime; Leo Wright plays with enormous energy and fluidity; and Lalo, Cunningham and Lewis make for a terrific, percussive trio. Lalo's heart is in his playing, Cunningham's bass is pronounced and Mel Lewis is a driving force. Of particular note is his extraordinary solo on Toccata.
For my interview with Nils, go here. For my WSJ interview with Lalo, go here.
JazzWax tracks: You'll find Dizzy Gillespie Quintet: Gillespiana in Concert (SteepleChase) here.
JazzWax clip: Here's Panamericana...
