Florian Arbenz
This is a wonderful album! Dave Douglas is one of my heroes. He's more than a great musician. He has a vision for the music and a feeling for putting together a group which is unique. So, beside Joey Baron (another heavyweight and one of my absolute favourite drummers) he invited some young cats to this session. They play just great and make sure that this music sounds totally fresh, whilst at the same time being deeply rooted in the jazz tradition.
Favorite track: Pickin' The Cabbage.
Join
now to receive all the new
music
Greenleaf Music releases,
including this album
and 79 back-catalog items,
delivered instantly to you via the Bandcamp app for iOS and Android.
You’ll also get access to
supporter-only
exclusives.
Learn more.
When Dizzy Gillespie put his hat in the ring for President of the United States in 1964, he also offered to be the first African-American astronaut, just in case they couldn’t find anyone else. In making Dizzy Atmosphere, Dave Douglas’s tribute to the great trumpeter, composer and humanist, Douglas said he wanted to explore Dizzy’s experimental and wide open mind as well as the influence of his music.
This album shines a light on the whole legacy of Gillespie, one of America’s finest artists. The original music Douglas wrote swings and shimmers with a grace reminiscent of the great man. Dizzy Atmosphere also contains several imaginative arrangements of Gillespie compositions, including reinterpretations of two key Gillespie tunes “Manteca” and “Pickin’ the Cabbage.” Douglas’s band is also remarkable, featuring fellow trumpeter Dave Adewumi, recent winner of the Carmine Caruso Competition, along with pianist Fabian Almazan, guitarist Matt Stevens, bassist Carmen Rothwell, and drummer Joey Baron.
Like his previous explorations of the influential music of Mary Lou Williams, Wayne Shorter, and Booker Little, this album is sure to inspire listeners to hear the music of Dizzy Gillespie in a new and interesting ways.
credits
released May 1, 2020
Personnel:
Dave Douglas, Dave Adewumi, trumpets
Matthew Stevens, guitar
Fabian Almazan, piano
Carmen Rothwell, bass
Joey Baron, drums
Production Credits:
Producer: Dave Douglas
Recorded at The Bunker Studios, Brooklyn, NY on September 2, 2019.
Recorded, mixed, and mastered by Tyler McDiarmid
Design by Lukas Frei
Photography by Anna Yatskevich
Compositions by Dave Douglas (Dave Douglas Music / BMI), except
“Manteca” composed by John “Dizzy” Gillespie, Gil Fuller, and Chano Pozo (Music Sale Corp. / ASCAP)
“Pickin’ The Cabbage” composed by John “Dizzy” Gillespie (Universal Music Corp. / ASCAP
Sheet music is available that includes all seven of the Douglas compositions on this album. Purchase the scores as PDFs here:
bit.ly/SM_DizzyAtmosphere