IN THE LAND OF OO LÀ LÀ! DIZZY IN PARIS
I told you how, as a schoolboy, I was turned around by an early 50s Dizzy Gillespie EP. I followed up by seeking out what he had done in Paris in 1952 and 53.
He had actually taken his wild, revolutionary be-bop big band to Europe in 1948. It was a risky venture dealing with unreliable promoters and an unready public in Scandinavia but the young Paris audience was up for it and dug the crazy new arrangements with the added exoticism of Chano Pozo on conga drum.
Back in the States and pretty broke, he had to break up the big band in 1950 and go back to working with smaller groups. He founded his own label Dee Gee records to help with sales.
His next trip to France and Paris was in March and April 52.
While there , he recorded for the Vogue and Blue Star labels and linked up with expatriate saxophonist Don Byas. The Blue Star sides are for the most part lush and undemanding on the ear (think jazz on the “Light Programme”) and some sessions feature a large string section playing ridiculously pretentious arrangements with violins in the stratosphere. A far cry from the excellent album with the Johnny Richards orchestra Dizzy had previously made in the States.
Now. February 1953. The third time in Paris. This is the one that really grabbed my adolescent attention. Because I heard a recording of the concert at the Salle Pleyel on February 9th.
It’s a hip little quintet with Dizzy on trumpet, conga and vocals, the funky, fluent Bill Graham on baritone sax, and a very young, swinging, rhythm section of Wade Legge (piano), Lou Hackney (bass) and Al Jones (drums). They are joined on several numbers by hip vocalist Joe Carroll.
The programme is fascinating. It varies from pure high quality be-bop (The champ, Good bait, Birks’ works, Tin Tin Deo) to virtually unashamed rhythm’n’blues (The bluest blues, Oo-shoo-bee-doo-bee, School days. Swing low sweet Cadillac) to a handful of tasteful ballads.
The record I fell in love with. A good view of Dizzy’s riveted Chinese ride cymbal which he carried around and wanted all his drummer to play
It’s such fun. I just love it. So did the Parisians. Dizzy was in his element and played superbly. When challenged about the stylistic “lowest common denominator”, he would say “I’m not interested in going down in history. I just want to eat!”
When he got back to the States, Dizzy kept this nifty rhythm section for a while – we hear them at Birdland in April. And I want to close by saying something separate about pianist Wade Legge.
POST SCRIPT – the short but stellar career of WADE LEGGE
Wade was 18 years old when Milt Jackson heard him playing bass and recommended him to Dizzy. Dizzy auditioned him but caught him playing some unusual hip chords on piano and told him that, if he would switch to piano, and he would hire him!
While they were still in Paris on the 1953 trip, Wade was given the opportunity to make a trio record under his own name. I am the proud owner of the original 10” Vogue LP and of a subsequent CD reissue with many extra tracks. It’s beautiful stuff in the Bud Powell school but with a little extra bluesy spice.
Wade stayed with Dizzy on and off until 1955. Later on, he worked with the Gigi Gryce/Donald Byrd Jazz Lab, also among others with Charlie Mingus and with Sonny Rollins.
He eventually returned to his home town where he died of a bleeding stomach ulcer in 1963 at the age of TWENTY NINE!
Another talented young black jazz musician to go way before his time. If you haven’t heard his work, please check him out.
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