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Dizzy Gillespie

A Witness To History: Guest DJ Arturo O'Farrill

Arturo O'Farrill conducts during recording sessions in Havana last winter. David Garten/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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David Garten/Courtesy of the artist

Alt.Latino

A Witness To History: Guest DJ Arturo O'Farrill

Alt.Latino talks to a bandleader with deep roots in Cuban music and a role in current events. O'Farrill just released a new album called Cuba: The Conversation Continues.

A Witness To History: Guest DJ Arturo O'Farrill

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In Memoriam: Jazz Elegies

Wynton Marsalis leads a group of musicians through upper Manhattan's Riverside Church for the New Orleans-style funeral of vibraphonist Lionel Hampton in 2002. Doug Kanter/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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Doug Kanter/AFP/Getty Images

A Blog Supreme

In Memoriam: Jazz Elegies

WFIU

Around 1945, jazz's traditional funeral rites manifested in a more modern form of tribute. Now, some of the music's most powerful tunes are written in memory of late colleagues. Hear five examples.

The First Five: One Man's Introduction To Jazz

A collage of records. Christopher Toothman/NPR hide caption

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Christopher Toothman/NPR

Take Five: A Jazz Sampler

The First Five: One Man's Introduction To Jazz

At the record store, Tom Cole spent most of his time warding off scornful looks as he toted Mothers of Invention LPs around. One day, he decided he needed to learn about jazz. A clerk at Discount Records and Books in Washington, D.C., suggested these five records. No standards; just his absolute favorites.

Hear Tom Cole's Interview With Michel Martin

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Toast Of The Nation

Dizzy Gillespie All-Stars, New York Voices In Concert

WBGO

Alumni of Gillespie's many different bands still get together to ensure that his dazzling songwriting gets heard with the power and verve it demands. The Dizzy Gillespie All-Stars (the big-band edition) played a special celebration with the vocal quartet New York Voices, live from the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., to ring in 2009.

Dizzy Gillespie All Stars in Concert at the Kennedy Center 12/31/08

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Monterey Jazz Festival

Reflecting on 50 Years of Monterey Jazz

The Monterey Jazz Festival celebrates 50 years of great music this weekend. Musician David Was reflects on the festival and reviews a new set of archival Monterey CDs featuring Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis and Dizzy Gillespie.

Reflecting on 50 Years of Monterey Jazz

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Music

Dizzy Gillespie's Cold War Jazz Diplomacy

In the midst of the Cold War, legendary jazz musician Dizzy Gillespie toured political hot-spots in 1956 as a cultural ambassador for the United States. USC recently marked the anniversary of that trip with a small reunion concert.

Dizzy Gillespie's Cold War Jazz Diplomacy

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Review

Music Lists

Jazz 2005: Kevin Whitehead's Top 10

Fresh Air

For lovers of jazz music, the year 2005 brought a wealth of reissues by critical artists from Jelly Roll Morton to John Coltrane. The music, the result of exhaustive archival and restoration work, adds new details to one of America's richest musical traditions.

Jazz 2005: Kevin Whitehead's Top 10

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Music

The Lasting Impact of Dizzy Gillespie

A jazz legend's influence on the genre is detailed in Donald Maggin's book Dizzy: The Life and Times of John Birks Gillespie. Dizzy Gillespie's contributions to jazz included the flavor of Afro-Cuban rhythms and be-bop.

The Lasting Impact of Dizzy Gillespie

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For The Love Of James Moody: Five Tributes

Clarinet and saxophone player Paquito D'Rivera wore a James Moody T-shirt during a recent recording session in Brazil. Jorge Rosenberg/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Jorge Rosenberg/Courtesy of the artist

A Blog Supreme

For The Love Of James Moody: Five Tributes

WBGO

Reedman Paquito D'Rivera called him "the most beloved jazz musician in the world." Naturally, a lot of fellow musicians are lining up to pay tribute to the man during a jazz festival named in Moody's honor. Here's a chance to explore their connections to the great saxophonist.

Days With Dizzy: Arturo Sandoval On His Trumpet Mentor

Arturo Sandoval and Dizzy Gillespie on tour in Europe in 1991. Sandoval's new album, Dear Diz (Every Day I Think of You), is a tribute to his friend and mentor. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Courtesy of the artist

Music Interviews

Days With Dizzy: Arturo Sandoval On His Trumpet Mentor

The Cuban trumpeter first met Dizzy Gillespie in 1977, when the American jazzman came to Havana to play a concert. It was the start of a friendship that would last until Gillespie's death in 1993.

Days With Dizzy: Arturo Sandoval On His Trumpet Mentor

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Review

Basic Jazz Record Library

Various Artists: 'The Original Mambo Kings: An Introduction To Afro-Cubop 1948-1954'

In the 1940s and 1950s, some of the greatest jazz and Latin musicians performed together in New York and Havana. This festive album, The Original Mambo Kings: An Introduction to Afro-Cubop 1948-1954, features Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Bebo Valdes and many others who capture the spirit of the era.

Various Artists: 'The Original Mambo Kings: An Introduction To Afro-Cubop 1948-1954'

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Review

Basic Jazz Record Library

Dizzy Gillespie: 'Roy and Diz'

Dizzy Gillespie once said that he heard Roy Eldridge playing trumpet and uttered, "That's the job I want." Later, the two musicians were bitter rivals, but eventually agreed to produce a record. The result was 1954's Roy and Diz, a classic repertoire of dueling trumpets.

Dizzy Gillespie: 'Roy and Diz'

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Review

Basic Jazz Record Library

Dizzy Gillespie: 'The Complete RCA Victor Recordings'

"A Night in Tunisia" is frequently called Dizzy Gillespie's greatest composition. The Complete RCA Victor Recordings has two versions of it, as well as titles such as "Hey Pete! Let's Eat More Meat" that capture the playful humor of Dizzy Gillespie's Big Band. The album tracks Gillespie's development from 1937-1949, when he rose from an experimental soloist to a jazz legend.

Dizzy Gillespie: 'The Complete RCA Victor Recordings'

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Mambo! Afro-Cuban Takes On Jazz Classics

Conguero Poncho Sanchez gave Frank Foster's swing classic, "Shiny Stockings," a new identity as a mambo. Charley Gallay/Getty Images Entertainment hide caption

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Charley Gallay/Getty Images Entertainment

Take Five: A Jazz Sampler

Mambo! Afro-Cuban Takes On Jazz Classics

Jazz musicians have long mined Broadway, the Great American Songbook, and even pop music for material. Here are five Latin interpretations of songs written by jazz musicians, a process that isn't as easy as playing the chords of a jazz composition over a mambo rhythm.

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