This set features two sizzling horns mingling in a decidedly frenetic dance contest. These songs hop and bounce with enduring vitality. A definite coolness exists within the searing solos of the two trumpet kings as they empty their lungs, executing mind-spinning, scale-like passages and high notes, and there's a palpable sense of competition as they take turns performing their acrobatic brass-work. They can both propel notes from their horns like nobody's business, yet their tonal and stylistic differences create two distinct elements within the music. Bassist Ray Brown's tempos provide a cool structure for the flurries of notes the trumpets cast forth. Some of the most poetic moments from these 1954 recordings are when their collaboration intertwines them within the passages, but their supercharged blowing naturally finds a subtler ground and tact when they come together in a musical braid work that's no less affecting than their solos.

This unusual session consists of a complex six-movement suite by J.J. Johnson featuring Dizzy Gillespie's trumpet over a brass choir (six trumpets, two trombones, two bass trombones, four French horns and two tubas), bass, drums, percussion and two harps. Often reminiscent of classical music, Johnson's writing allows plenty of room for Gillespie to improvise. The result is a rather unique set of music that is well worth searching for.

“Ornithology: The Best of Bird” is a new collection bringing together 11 cuts from legendary jazz saxophonist Charlie Parker. It covers the legendary artists prime Savoy Records years between 1945 and 1953, with cuts including “Ko-Ko,” “Billie’s Bounce,” and “Groovin’ High”. Featuring Dizzy Gillespie (piano and trumpet), Curley Russell (bass), Max Roach (drums), Miles Davis (trumpet), Bud Powell (piano), Kenny Dorham (trumpet), Charles Mingus (bass) and more!

This release presents all existing live recordings by the legendary mid-fifties Dizzy Gillespie big Band made during their 1956 South American tour. The short-lived group featured such talents as Quincy Jones, Lee Morgan, Joe Gordon, Melba Liston, Al Grey, Phil Woods, Benny Golson and Wynton Kelly. Also included here are two sambas recorded in Rio de Janeiro by the trumpeter with a Brazilian orchestra, as well as four amazing tracks featuring Diz in Buenos Aires with the tango orchestra of Osvaldo Fresedo.

On Nov 24th, 1980, Dizzy Gillespie invited 5 jazz legends - Milt Jackson, James Moody, Hank Jones, Ray Brown & Philly Joe Jones - to join him onstage in Montreal to play tribute to the legendary Charlie Parker. A limited quantity bootleg LP of the concert soon appeared and then disappeared from the marketplace and the tapes lay dormant for over 30 years. The pristinely restored “Concert of the Century” is now available on audiophile 180 gram 2LP vinyl and CD via the Justin Time Essentials Collection.

All of the music on this CD was recorded by trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie in Paris during a one-month period in 1952. The first half of the set teams Gillespie with tenor saxophonist Don Byas, who had moved to Europe from the U.S. six years earlier. The sextet alternates swing standards with some boppish originals and Afro-Cuban jazz pieces. The performances are pretty concise, and one wishes that Gillespie and Byas had had opportunities to really stretch out and inspire each other. The final dozen selections mostly feature the trumpeter backed by a string orchestra with arrangements from Jo Boyer or Daniel White. The repertoire is comprised of swing tunes, but Dizzy's melodic statements are still pretty adventurous…

What you see is what you get, an excellent little compilation of the various faces of soul-jazz as presented by the Verve label with their amazing array of artists from Hugh Masekela to Willie Bobo and Herbie Mann on the one hand, and Dizzy Gillespie, Jon Hendricks (in an outstanding reading of Herbie Hancock's "Watermelon Man") the Heath Brothers, and Teddy Edwards on the other. The track list is wonderfully varied, too: there's a smoking version of Hancock's "Cantaloupe Island" by Masekela, a pair by Jimmy Smith, and a big band – a new entry by the acid jazz group the James Taylor Quartet, but they get it deep; and Wynton Kelly goes deep into soul and blues with "Escapade." Anyway you cut it, it comes out great.

In the summer of 1956, the famed Harlem congressman Adam Clayton Powell arranged for Dizzy Gillespie to embark on a worldwide goodwill-ambassador tour sponsored by the State Department. Gillespie and an all-star big band featuring trumpeter Quincy Jones, the late trombonist Melba Liston, alto saxophonist Phil Woods, and tenor saxophonist Benny Golson performed in Ecuador, Argentina, Uruguay, and Brazil to frenzied, beret-wearing fans. Recordings were made but they weren't commercially available and were played only for a select group of musicians before Gillespie's death in 1993. Now the sides have been released, showcasing Dizzy at his bebopping best.