Art Blakey: Drums
Al McKibbon: Bass
Thelonious Monk: Piano
Sonny Stitt: Alto Saxophone
Kai Winding: Trombone
Dizzy Gillespie: Trumpet
Berlin, Philharmonie, November 4, 1971
1. Blue `n` Boogie (Dizzy Gillespie)
2. `Round midnight (Thelonious Monk)
3. Lover Man (Roger "Ram" Ramirez)
4. Tin Tin Deo (Dizzy Gillespie)
5. Tour de force (Dizzy Gillespie)
6. A Night In Tunesia (Dizzy Gillespie)
"When George Wein managed to assemble this musical "dream team" in 1972, it received little publicity. After all, Jazz at the Philharmonic was long gone and Wein's Newport Jazz Festival had practically been brought to a halt by destructive young vandals at its original site in Rhode Island. The American public's ears were increasingly attuned to, on the one hand, rock, and, for those a bit older, country and western music. And the few remaining jazz fans were following Miles and "Bitches Brew" into fusion territory. As a result, the bona fide giants of the music, the masters who had been responsible for the bebop revolution of the late '40s, were struggling for audiences and recording contracts. Even Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers ("No fusion for us," Art said. "Jazz is acoustic, and traditional or modern, we're all about mainstream swing.") As a result, all of Art's '70s recordings were made outside the U.S. and few of them were digitalized and released on disc.
To his credit, Wein sensed an opportunity to pry these American masters away from their respective groups and individual commitments and, for at least two years, had them touring before ecstatic, receptive audiences throughout the world (with the exception of their native U.S.).
To his credit, Wein sensed an opportunity to pry these American masters away from their respective groups and individual commitments and, for at least two years, had them touring before ecstatic, receptive audiences throughout the world (with the exception of their native U.S.).
So these are giants in a land of giants--before they became extinct. The entire concert is a joy from start to finish, almost a painful reminder of the beauty we once took for granted."
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