Jazz From Lincoln Center

Jazz From Lincoln Center

Gillespiana and More

written by Joseph Hooper

1) Music: Panamericana (Schifrin) (begin @ :20[bass] or :25[full band])

2) Vox: Lalo Schifrin (LS int. 5/23/00 at :50)

"To me, it was kind of a Cinderella dream because I come to this country

from Argentina and the first thing I do for a giant like Dizzy Gillespie

becomes a big, big hit //I always say as a joke that my career started

at the top and there was nowhere to go but downhill. "

Rob Gibson (RG int. 1/22/00 at 12:30)

"To me the great thing about Gillespiana is the fact that it's still

around and after almost forty years later, it still sounds pretty fresh.

It's a very interesting work."

3) Bradley:

IN 1960, TRUMPETER DIZZY GILLESPIE ASKED THE YOUNG ARGENTINE PIANIST LALO SCHIFRIN TO COMPOSE A PIECE FOR HIM. THOUGH HE WAS AN OUTSIDER IN BOTH THE WORLDS OF NORTH AMERICAN AND AFRO-CUBAN JAZZ , SCHIFRIN WAS ABLE TO FUSE THESE MUSICAL TRADITIONS IN ONE AMBITIOUS EXTENDED COMPOSITION. IN A SINGLE STROKE, HE JOINED A SELECT COMPOSERS CIRCLE THAT INCLUDED CHICO O'FARRILL, MACHITO AND DIZZY GILLESPIE HIMSELF. THE WORK WAS CALLED "GILLESPIANA"AND ITS SUCCESS, BOTH ARTISTIC AND COMMERCIAL, EXCEEDED ANYBODY'S EXPECTATIONS.

4) Bradley (cont):

FORTY YEARS AFTER ITS PREMIERE, VIRTUOSO SAXOPHONIST AND CLARINETIST PAQUITO D'RIVERA LEADS THE LINCOLN CENTER JAZZ ORCHESTRA THROUGH THIS HISTORIC COMPOSITION. IT’S "GILLESPIANA AND MORE" -- ON THIS EDITION OF JAZZ FROM LINCOLN CENTER. I'M ED BRADLEY.

5) Bradley:

PAQUITO D'RIVERA CAME TO NEW YORK FROM CUBA IN THE LATE 1970s AND BECAME A STAR IN DIZZY GILLESPIE'S LAST BIG BAND. SHORTLY AFTER GILLESPIE’S DEATH IN 1993, D’RIVERA COMPOSED A PIECE IN HONOR OF OF THE TRUMPETER.

6) Vox: Paquito d'Rivera (PR int. 1/22/00 at 23:40)

"I was very depressed //.

"I was in my piano playing and the first part came very //

spontaneously . Boom like that in a bossa nova tempo because you know

Dizzy loved that music, // Latin American rhythms and all that. And then

I have a big picture of Dizzy in my studio and then, no way I can play

the bridge, no bridge// and then I look at him and I say, 'will you

please help me write this thing here' and it sound like he say, 'all

right' because I went to the frig and when I came back, the bridge was

already there. // (optional close) I wrote the bridge in nothing, in

//twenty minutes or something like that."

7) Bradley:

THROUGHOUT THE PIECE, WE CAN HEAR ECHOES OF SOME OF DIZZY’S MOST FAMOUS THEMES LIKE "A NIGHT IN TUNISIA" AND "CON ALMA." FROM A LINCOLN CENTER JAZZ ORCHESTRA PERFORMANCE AT HERBERT LEHMAN COLLEGE IN THE BRONX, HERE IS PAQUITO D'RIVERA LEADING THE ORCHESTRA WITH HIS COMPOSITION, "I REMEMBER DIZ."

8) Music: I Remember Diz (D'Rivera) (6:47) (1/21/00 concert)

(Paquito outro: "We will always remember Dizzy, the one and only Dizzy

Gillespie.")

9) Bradley:

THAT WAS THE LINCOLN CENTER JAZZ ORCHESTRA WITH PAQUITO D'RIVERA'S "I REMEMBER DIZ." D'RIVERA SOLOED ON CLARINET, RYAN KISOR ON TRUMPET.

THIS IS JAZZ FROM LINCOLN CENTER. I'M ED BRADLEY.

10) Bradley (cont):

IN 1956, THE U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT SPONSORED A GILLESPIE BIG BAND TOUR OF SOUTH AMERICA. ONE OF ITS STOPS WAS BUENOS AIRES, WHERE DIZZY MET THE 24-YEAR-OLD PIANIST LALO SCHIFRIN. SCHIFRIN WAS ALREADY A MUSICAL COSMOPOLITAN. HE HAD CLASSICAL TRAINING WITH THE GREAT FRENCH COMPOSER OLIVIER MESSIAEN (MEH-see-en) IN PARIS. THERE, HE ALSO LEARNED THE AFRO-CUBAN JAZZ STYLE, ARRANGING THE COMMERCIAL MAMBO MUSIC THAT WAS THEN SWEEPING THE CITY.

BUT DIZZY WAS MOST TAKEN WITH THE YOUNG MAN'S SKILLS AS A JAZZ COMPOSER AND ARRANGER, AND HE ENCOURAGED HIM TO COME TO THE STATES. IN 1958, SCHIFRIN DID JUST THAT, AND TWO YEARS LATER, JOINED GILLESPIE’S QUINTET AS PIANIST.

11) Vox: Lalo Schifrin (LS int. at 7:15)

"I remember when Dizzy asked me, 'write something for me'//."

12) Bradley:

LALO SCHIFRIN

13) Vox: Lalo Schifrin (LS int. at 7:20)

"It was a Friday evening in New York so during the weekend I came up

with the themes and the idea. // He said, 'how do you want to

orchestrate it?' I say, 'well I hear a brass band, four trumpets, four

trombones, four French horns and one tuba. // And a Latin percussion and

rhythm section of course and a jazz quintet in front//. So he

immediately called Norman Granz who at that time was still owning the

record company Verve// and he asked me, 'how long is it going to take

you to orchestrate it' and I said, 'maybe three weeks.' So he told

Norman, a month from now book two sessions and we did it. (snort)

So I mean, // it's as simple as that. Sometimes I think that panic is my

biggest inspiration. But in this case also it was a work of love."

14) Bradley:

CONDUCTOR PAQUITO D'RIVERA AND THE LINCOLN CENTER JAZZ ORCHESTRA USE LALO SCHIFRIN’S ORIGINAL ORCHESTRATIONS FOR THIS SEMINAL PIECE. FROM LEHMAN COLLEGE IN THE BRONX, HERE’S THE "PRELUDE" TO "GILLESPIANA."

15) Music: Prelude from Gillespiana (Schifrin) (6:39)

16) Bradley:

"PRELUDE," THE OPENING MOVEMENT OF "GILLESPIANA," LALO SCHIFRIN'S HOMAGE TO DIZZY GILLESPIE. PAQUITO D'RIVERA IS CONDUCTING THE LINCOLN CENTER JAZZ ORCHESTRA. THE SOLOISTS WERE WYNTON MARSALIS ON TRUMPET, WESS ANDERSON ON ALTO SAXOPHONE AND FARID BARRON ON PIANO. RODNEY WHITTAKER WAS ON BASS, HERLIN RILEY AT THE DRUMS.

17) Vox: Lalo Schifrin (LS int. at 4:00)

"I didn't think in terms of formula, of doing a Latin and jazz//I was

doing a musical portrait of Dizzy Gillespie."

18) Bradley:

THE COMPOSER LALO SCHIFRIN

19) Vox: Lalo Schifrin (LS int. at 4:00)

"The first movement, Prelude, is strictly jazz because he was a jazz

musician and the second movement is called Blues because he was born in

Cheraw, South Carolina in the country of the blues and then the third

movement is Panamericana. Yes, there is where I really use the Latin

rhythm because of his love and his curiosity for Latin American//. //

Then Africana is his roots, his ancestry and then finally the Toccata is

a synthesis// of all the previous four // movements."

20) Bradley:

A JAZZ COMPOSER WRITING A LONG PIECE WILL OFTEN TURN TO THE CLASSICAL TRADITION. IN "GILLESPIANA," LALO SCHIFRIN BORROWED BOTH THE SUITE FORM AND THE 18TH CENTURY"CONCERTO GROSSO" -- WHERE A SMALLER GROUP, IN THIS CASE, A JAZZ QUINTET, WORKS WITHIN A LARGER ORCHESTRA. FRENCH HORNS TAKE THE PLACE OF SAXOPHONES, AND THE INSTRUMENTATION IS PURE CONCERT HALL.

21) Vox: Lalo Schifrin (LS int. at 23:30)

"So the French horns and tuba add some kind of majestic sound. And

sometimes can be very wild. //The French horns playing in unison in the

high register is // a sound unlike anything else a saxophone can do."

22) Bradley:

IRONICALLY, IT'S THE SECTION ENTITLED "BLUES" THAT PROBABLY HAS THE MOST FORMAL, CLASSICAL FEELING. BUT IN THIS SECOND MOVEMENT OF

"GILLEPIANA," THE COMPOSER LEAVES ROOM FOR BLOWING THE BLUES.

CONDUCTOR AND CLARINETIST PAQUITO D'RIVERA.

23) Vox: Paquito d'Rivera (PR int. 1/22/00 at 9:30)

"And I liked that section so much that I decided to take a clarinet

solo//. It's not written, the clarinet solo. I say, 'I am going to play,

you let me play.' They say, 'OK, OK boss, you do it.'"

24) Bradley:

FROM LEHMAN COLLEGE, PAQUITO D'RIVERA AND THE LINCOLN CENTER JAZZ ORCHESTRA WITH "BLUES."

25) Music: Blues from Gillespiana (Schifrin) (10:33)

26) Bradley:

THAT WAS "BLUES," THE SECOND MOVEMENT OF LALO SCHIFRIN'S "GILLESPIANA" SUITE. TRUMPETER WYNTON MARSALIS, CLARINETIST PAQUITO D'RIVERA, FLUTIST TED NASH AND PIANIST FARID BARRON ALL TOOK SOLOS. JOHN CLARK, FRED GRIFFEN, CHRIS KOMER (KOH-mer) AND ROBERT ROUTCH (ROOCH) WERE ON FRENCH HORN, ROBERT STEWART ON TUBA, AARON JOHNSON ON BASS TROMBONE.

27) Mid. Music: Senor Blues (H. Silver) - [start at :10, :15, :35 or Wess solo]

28) Bradley:

SUPPORT FOR JAZZ FROM LINCOLN CENTER COMES FROM THE LILA WALLACE-READER'S DIGEST FUND, SEEKING TO ENRICH COMMUNITY LIFE THROUGH SUPPORT OF EDUCATION, THE ARTS AND CULTURE. ADDITIONAL SUPPORT COME FROM N-P-R STATIONS AND THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS.

29) Bradley (cont):

FOR MORE ABOUT DIZZY GILLESPIE , CHECK OUR WEBSITE AT WWW.JAZZRADIO.ORG. YOU CAN E-MAIL TO RADIO@JAZZATLINCOLNCENTER.ORG , OR WRITE TO US AT JAZZ FROM LINCOLN CENTER, NEW YORK CITY 10023.

YOU'RE LISTENING TO JAZZ FROM LINCOLN CENTER. I'M ED BRADLEY.

[Midbreak @ tk -- (incl. :10 as bed for local stations ID's)]

[music fades to actuality]

30) Vox: Paquito d'Rivera (PR int. 1/21/00 at 17:40)

"Dizzy was a very special person in all senses. He was one of the

pioneers, giving an ear to all these rhythms, all these musics, all

these musicians. So working with him // was a treat, was something

incredibly encouraging for me. //Dizzy was, Dizzy is a very important

person for us and he will live forever in our hearts."

31) Bradley:

WITH THE CURRENT EXCITEMENT ABOUT LATIN JAZZ, DIZZY GILLESPIE’S FUSION OF BEBOP WITH LATIN RHYTHMS SEEMS MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVER. LALO SCHIFRIN’S SUITE "GILLESPIANA" IS ONE OF THE HIGHLIGHTS OF THAT TRADITION.

32) Bradley (cont):

ALTHOUGH SCHIFRIN MOVED ON AFTER A THREE-YEAR STINT WITH DIZZY'S BAND, "GILLESPIANA" TOOK ON A LIFE OF ITS OWN. THE INDIVIDUAL

SECTIONS BECAME MAINSTAYS OF GILLESPIE'S REPERTOIRE. SCHIFRIN HIMSELF RECORDED A COMPLETE AND REVISED VERSION IN 1996 WITH GILLESPIE PROTEGE, TRUMPETER JON FADDIS.

THROUGHOUT THE DECADES, THE PIECE'S REPUTATION AS AN IMPORTANT WORK OF LATIN JAZZ FUSION HAS RESTED MOSTLY ON ITS THIRD MOVEMENT, ENTITLED "PANAMERICANA."

LALO SCHIFRIN

33) Vox: Lalo Schifrin (LS int. at 24:00)

"Well that's the one I use Latin American rhythms and again it

has interludes, oh I remember // I introduced ostinato which the Cubans call

montuno and in jazz we call it riffs. It's an ostinato that keeps

growing growing and growing until I think the reexposition of the theme.

//It came out quite alright.

34) Bradley:

THE LINCOLN CENTER JAZZ ORCHESTRA PERFORMS THE THIRD MOVEMENT OF "GILLESPIANA" - "PANAMERICANA."

35) Music: Panamericana from Gillespiana (Schifrin) (5:04)

36) Bradley:

THAT WAS "PANAMERICANA" FROM "GILLESPIANA." THE SOLOS WERE BY RYAN KISOR ON TRUMPET, WESS ANDERSON ON ALTO SAXOPHONE AND FARID BARRON ON PIANO. MARCUS PRINTUP, SENECA BLACK AND JAMES ZOLLER WERE ON TRUMPET, WYCLIFFE GORDON, RON WESTRAY AND ANDRE HAYWARD ON TROMBONE. THE LATIN RHTYM SECTION INCLUDES THOMAS "CHUCKY" LOPEZ, MILTON CARDONA AND RALPH IRRIZARY ON TIMBALES.

THE FOURTH SECTION OF THE SUITE, "AFRICANA," LEAVES THE TRADITIONAL LATIN GROOVE BEHIND. IT'S AN EVOCATION OF DIZZY GILLESPIE'S AFRICAN ROOTS, BUT IT MAY REMIND YOU OF DUKE ELLINGTON'S EASTERN-DERIVED PIECES LIKE "CARAVAN." CONDUCTOR PAQUITO D'RIVERA EVEN HEARS AN ECHO OF ANDEAN FOLK MUSIC.

37) Vox: Paquito d'Rivera (PQ int. 1/21/00 at 12:40)

"Lalo is from Argentina so maybe some music from the Andes is around his

blood. It's the feeling I have. // On the bridge, the French horns play

that wonderful unison accompanied by the // trombones and then the flute

solo is very mysterious. // That rhythm in 3, I never heard that rhythm,

it is not such a thing I know in Afro-Cuban music. (scats) They have to

invent that rhythm in the back, you know, // Milton Cardona and those

guys,// they had to create it."

38) Bradley:

FROM LEHMAN COLLEGE IN THE BRONX, PAQUITO D'RIVERA LEADS THE LINCOLN CENTER JAZZ ORCHESTRA IN THE FOURTH MOVEMENT OF LALO SCHIFRIN'S "GILLESPIANA" -- "AFRICANA."

39) Music: Africana from Gillespiana (Schifrin) (6:47)

40) Bradley:

"AFRICANA," FROM THE "GILLESPIANA" SUITE. TED NASH SOLOED ON FLUTE AND MARCUS PRINTUP ON TRUMPET. THE SAXOPHONISTS WERE WESS ANDERSON, VICTOR GOINES, WALTER BLANDING JR. AND JOE TEMPERLEY. THIS IS JAZZ FROM LINCOLN CENTER. I'M ED BRADLEY.

IN THE CLASSICAL TRADITION, A "TOCCATA" IS USUALLY AN EXCITING,

TECHNICALLY DEMANDING PIECE. "TOCCATA," THE LONG, FINAL SECTION OF

"GILLESPIANA," IS ALL THAT AND A SUMMING UP OF WHAT'S COME BEFORE.

41) Bradley (cont):

THE COMPOSER MAKES ALLUSIONS TO THE CHOPPY SOUNDS OF 18TH CENTURY ORGAN TOCCATAS, AS WELL AS STRAVINSKY'S HARD-NOSED RHYTHMS IN THE 20TH CENTURY. OTHER LISTENERS MAY PICK UP BITS AND PIECES OF THE HIP, BRASSY THEMES THAT SCHIFRIN, JUST A FEW YEARS LATER, WOULD WRITE FOR TV SHOWS LIKE "MANNIX" AND "MISSION IMPOSSIBLE." BUT FOR THE MUSICIANS, SHIFTING GEARS FROM A 6/4 LATIN RHYTHM TO 4/4 JAZZ SWING PRESENTED A CHALLENGE.

42) Vox: Paquito D'Rivera (PR int. 1/21/00 at 13:50)

//It is very dangerous // movement. // But thank god, // nobody got

hurt. (laugh) // Some things are hard for nothing. And after you play

it, you say, why did I learn all these notes, they sound horrible. But

this thing is very hard to play, very complicated, but it is beautiful.

And that is what encouraged us to do it right. I think we got it right.

You have to ask // Lalo what he thinks about it. "

43) Bradley:

HERE’S THE LINCOLN CENTER JAZZ ORCHESTRA WITH THE FINAL MOVEMENT OF "GILLESPIANA" - "TOCCATA."

44) Music: Toccata from Gillespiana (Schifrin) (11:11)

45) Bradley:

"TOCCATA," THE CONCLUDING SECTION OF LALO SCHIFRIN'S "GILLESPIANA" SUITE. PAQUITO D’RIVERA CONDUCTED THE LINCOLN CENTER JAZZ ORCHESTRA AT LEHMAN COLLEGE AUDITORIUM.

WE'LL CLOSE OUT OUR PROGRAM WITH A RECENT COMPOSITION FROM THE CONDUCTOR. AND AS WE’LL HEAR, THE PIECE ECHOS AND EXTENDS THE LATIN JAZZ INNOVATIONS OF DIZZY GILLESPIE AND THE "GILLESPIANA" SUITE.

THIS IS "TROPICANA NIGHTS."

46) Music: Tropicana Nights (D'Rivera) (5:10) (1/21/00 concert)

47) Bradley:

"TROPICANA NIGHTS," BY PAQUITO D’RIVERA, FROM LEHMAN COLLEGE IN THE BRONX.

48) Bradley: (Credits)

THE LINCOLN CENTER JAZZ ORCHESTRA WAS LED BY GUEST CONDUCTOR PAQUITO D'RIVERA. SPECIAL GUESTS INCLUDED THOMAS "CHUCKY" LOPEZ ON BONGOS; MILTON CARDONA ON CONGAS; RALPH IRIZARRY ON TIMBALES; AARON JOHNSON ON BASS TROMBONE; JOHN CLARK, FRED GRIFFEN, CHRIS KOMER (KOH-mer) AND ROBERT ROUTCH (ROOCH) ON FRENCH HORN; JAMES ZOLLAR ON TRUMPET; AND ROBERT STEWART ON TUBA.

THE LINCOLN CENTER JAZZ ORCHESTRA INCLUDED ARTISTIC DIRECTOR WYNTON MARSALIS, RYAN KISOR, MARCUS PRINTUP AND SENECA BLACK ON TRUMPETS; WYCLIFFE GORDON, RON WESTRAY AND ANDRE HAYWARD ON TROMBONES; WESS "WARMDADDY" ANDERSON ON ALTO AND SOPRANINO SAXOPHONES; VICTOR GOINES ON TENOR SAXOPHONE AND CLARINET; TED NASH ON ALTO SAXOPHONE, CLARINET AND FLUTE; WALTER BLANDING, JR. ON TENOR AND SOPRANO SAXOPHONES, AND JOE TEMPERLEY ON BARITONE SAXOPHONE. FARID BARRON PLAYED PIANO, WITH RODNEY WHITTAKER ON BASS AND HERLIN RILEY AT THE DRUMS.

JAZZ FROM LINCOLN CENTER IS PRODUCED BY JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER AND MURRAY STREET ENTERPRISE NEW YORK. THIS PROGRAM WAS WRITTEN BY JOSEPH HOOPER AND EDITED BY LAUREN KRENZEL. OUR SENIOR PRODUCER IS STEVE RATHE.

THE RECORDINGS WERE MIXED BY SAUNDRA PALMER-GRASSI WITH REMOTE RECORDING FACILITIES BY STEVE REMOTE AND AURASONIC. DIGITAL POST PRODUCTION BY DAVID GOREN AT STEVEN ERICKSON'S.

OUR ASSOCIATE PRODUCERS ARE AVE CARRILLO AND JOSHUA JACKSON.

THE PRODUCTION TEAM INCLUDES GWENDOLYN DEAN, TRACEY SCHUTTY, AND PETER ZANGER.

THANKS TO SUSAN RADIN, CHRISTA TETER AND THE JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER ROAD CREW.

WE’D ALSO LIKE TO THANK SHAWN MEBANE (MEE-BAIN) , LOU MARIANO, JACK GLOBENFELT AND THEIR CREWS FOR HELP AT LEHMAN COLLEGE.

THE EXECUTIVE PRODUCER AND DIRECTOR OF JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER IS ROB GIBSON.

THE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR IS WYNTON MARSALIS.