RIP James Moody. After picking up the clarinet, Moody was the first sax player who inspired me to pick up the sax as well. His music will live on forever. His solo on this video says more than any words about the way he was able to play and move people! We love and miss you, Moody!
Great performances by the masters of this music. I'm deeply pleased that Mr. Tate who lived on my corner from my home on the Upper East Side in NYC came to visit and do an interview for my show. with his manager from Brooklyn who name escapes me, unfortunately. We laughed and talked for hours about his career. I'm deeply grateful. Thank you, my friend.
I got play with James Moody many years ago when I was a student at The University of Alabama in Steve Sample's Jazz Ensemble. He is one hell of a player. What a joy!
This makes me think of hearing this tune at the Cape May jazz festival just a few years ago. Even at 78,his solo brought down the house.Moody is a national treasure,for his music ,warmth and humor.God Bless him!!
James Moody is the greatest and harmonically modern tenor player of all times....fantastic chorus. What a life accomplishment he has....and such a nice person too!
Yea Dizzy was having some troubles playing like he uses to do, in his late year he layed off the trumpet a bit to band-lead and offered us some of the best live music show ever, like he did with the United Nation Orchestra. Dizzy was and will always be one of the true grandmaster of that world. And I gotta admit that I like when he play full out of scale like he did on some solo in the Redondo Beach 1986 show.
I'll try to post more... can't believe this one got 32'000 views in a year.. those guys are amazing... oh and let's not even talk about god (gene harris) hehe
How can anyone say Dizzy or any of the artists on this video were bad? These were some of the greatest people who ever made music! What a blessing it is for us to have such greats to look up to and to enjoy. It's a sad commentary on people today when Dizzy's cheeks are noticed more than the fact that he taught himself to play. I feel truly blessed to be able to enjoy what Dizzy Gillespie produced!
Grady Tate was the first musician that I am aware of who could play his HiHat on 1-2-3-4 and get a little click in between. Most guys would play the HiHat on 1 & 3 making a little swing thing. Grady changed all that! Thanks Mr. Tate!!! You taught us all so much
Remember that those cheeks are like his trumpet. They made him who he was. They made him stand out in a crowd of very talented trumpet players in that era.
I love at the beginning of Moody's solo how the microphone's in the wrong position. Most people would be phased by this and panic, but not Moody. He retains composure, casually moves it into position and then rips out one of the tastiest solo entries I've ever heard. That's how you do it.
I mean some may say that Dizzy's technique wasn't perfect due to the way he puffed his cheeks but it worked for him... just like the 45 degree bell. Everyone's entitled to their opinion, but all these guys are masters
@Saxation1 I really agree with you. I think he's the best bebop player, and when I listen some old records like Bird & Dizz I enjoy so much, noone can make me more excited. But it's true that wen he became older he played so noising and dirty, like in the recorded concert with Arturo Sandoval
Please, let's keep it clean on here! Some people may have heard Dizzy on a lot of records, but are surprised by his cheeks. No need for insults. But the same goes for people that actually are surprised - don't "attack" Dizzy for his look on this video, he is a MASTER! He is THE MASTER actually. So no more "poor musicianship" comments and such absolutely unfounded comments. Read up on Dizzy before you comment, if you don't already know that he is probably the most important figure in jazz!
the drummer's name, grady tate, is and has been up there all the time! There's limited space in the title, that's why his name isn't in there, but it's been in the info all the time.
the cheeks have nothing to do with the special trumpet he had made. He just learned blowing the "wrong" way and started to feel comfortable, as you said. The "special trumpet" is another story...
Plus the cheek puffing was not an active choice. It was an uncontrollable condition. Plus with trumpet playing, we care about two things: Placement and stability of the lips and movement of air. Dizzy perfected both of those things.
@annointedpianoman funny isn't how musical genius can compensate for someone's lack of good musicianship, discipline and technique. But having those things will never compensate for not having musical genius. I personally think he had all those things in abundance. Just my personal opinion.
Dizzy has puffy cheeks b/c of yrs of playing! They have just relaxed. I know of a guy who plays (supa lowery bros ) and his neck swells up on one side when he blows trumpet. That guy is gonna be great too.
@annointedpianoman I wouldn't use the term "poor musicianship" in the same sentence as the name Dizzy Gillespie ;) However, it is true - like I wrote earlier - that the cheeks come from his unusual ("wrong") blowing technique he taught himself early on.
Classic case of 'new knowlegde'... in 1985 Yanigasawa was nowhere NEAR the model you mention, and when they did their direct legendary predecessor and obvious inspiration was the King Super 20!
nevermind ow it should be wow thats a lot of bop giants on one stage.my man ray walking hard behind the solos.these guys dine at the top table of bop.as for the kids its good teachers that get the best results.many thanks.
@lininho I honestly don't know how one can pick out a single "most important figure" in jazz and, much as Diz enjoyed himself I don't think he'd have been willing to accept that mantle if you tried to start such a discussion with him. That said, there is NO reasonable argument that he wasn't one of the most pivotal figures in the development of the music in the 20th Century, along with being a damned tasty player and one cool cat. He made any room he was in a hipper place, just by being there.
man i'm sorry, i love dizzy, i really do, but his solos towards the end of his life just really suck. was his embouchure ruined or something? drugs caught up to him?
dude his cheeks go beyond the norm. it's a bit scary. i heard somewhere that it's a medical condition, but i could be wrong about that. something called Gillespie Pouches
Dizzy never was really into drugs unlike some of his peers who were *really* into them (I mean just think about Charlie Parker for example...) I remember reading something once, that his wife wouldn't "let" him get into drugs ;-) I believe that due to his blowing technique, he wasn't able to control his playing so much anymore when he got older. I remember him jokingly saying something like now that he is more famous than ever, his playing is worse than ever or something like that....
Unfortunately for you, your taste is your mouth. Justine Beiber is not a musician and uses autotune. Lady Gaga is a classically trained pianist, but she caters to those who have money. She would be a great jazz pianist and singer.
In reading these comments, I'm convinced that the majority of people on RU-vid are pimply teenagers who listen to metal and hip-hop and rap, but check out the jazz clips as a novelty-- Kiddies: Educate yourself about jazz before you post your stupid comments! I've been a jazz musician for 35 years and I NEVER heard anyone make fun of Dizzy's cheeks before today-- I am SHOCKED.. Today's generation is LOST and PATHETIC... You should all go back to kindergarten and start again.