Dizzy, Hubbard, Shaw, Wow

Below is a clip from the Berlin Jazz Festival with trumpeters Dizzy Gillespie, who was 68 at the time, Woody Shaw, and Freddie Hubbard. The playing is stellar, and even Dizzy’s solo is pretty darn amazing for a man who is nearly 70. What kills me about this clip is not its superb playing but the fact that at the time I had just graduated from high school and had no ideawho Woody Shaw or Freddie Hubbard were, and had only the earliest inkling of Dizzy’s work.

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Sure, I grew up on an island in Alaska in the years before the Internet, so it’s sort of understandable, but still…. All I can say is that discovering the music of these masters at any age is a great thing. Below are some links to these musicians’ catalog. Check ’em out if you haven’t heard of them before.

If you don’t know where to start exploring these artists, check out my favorite albums by these trumpeters:

Diz and Getz
Open Sesame (Hubbard)
Stepping Stones Live (Shaw).

Here’s a video clip of these three masters playing Bernie’s Tune, written by Bernie Miller and made famous by Gerry Mulligan, among others. It’s in a minor key in standard 32-bar form (AABA).

Freddie Hubbard – Trumpet, Flugelhorn
Kenny Garrett – Alto Saxophone, Flute
Mark Templeton – Piano
Ira Coleman – Double Bass
Carl Allen – Drums

+ Dizzy Gillespie & Woody Shaw – Trumpet