History has produced its share of great artists and great people— John Birks "Dizzy” Gillespie was both.
As a performer, he left behind an incredible record of innovation and inspiration; as a composer, a broad repository of musical masterpieces; and as a man, a legion of colleagues and compatriots who continue to remember him with the same degree of esteem they reserve for his work.
The Dizzy Gillespie All-Stars are a showcase for the extraordinary scope of this great artist’s enduring musical legacy. Dizzy was one of the founding fathers of bebop, the revolutionary music he created with the great Charlie Parker in the early to mid-1940s. Bebop was a turning point in jazz, expanding the creative possibilities of the music and demanding a new level of virtuosity from the musicians who play it.
Throughout his travels, Dizzy developed a great love of world music—which he successfully fused with American jazz over the course of his career. His vast repertoire includes compositions that were inspired by his admiration for the African, Argentinian, Brazilian, Caribbean, Cuban, and Spanish musical cultures. In particolar, Dizzy's fusion of Afro-Cuban rhythms with jazz was ground breaking. Many decades later, the melodies of "Manteca” and  Tin Tin Deo" remain an important part of jazz vernacular.
Dizzy Gillespie was also the first American musician to recognize the genius of the great Brazilian composer, Antonio Carlos Jobim. His classic recordings of "No More Blues” and "Desafinado” from the album Dizzy on the Rivera are as fresh today as when they were recorded in 1957. His well-known collaborations with the great Argentinian pianist & composer, Lalo Schifrin (who Dizzy discovered in Buenos Aries during a 1956 tour), also produced a host of memorable compositions and arrangements.
This ensemble features Dizzy Gillespie’s longtime bassist, musical director John Lee, trumpet master Charlie Porter, saxophonist Erena Terakubo, Brazilian pianist & vocalist Abelita Mateus, percussionist Roger Squitero, and another Dizzy alumnus, drummer Tommy Campbell.
The Dizzy Gillespie All-Stars have performed at major concert halls and music festivals in North America and around the world including Angola, Australia, Austria, Aruba, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Curaçao, England, Finland, France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Latvia, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Monaco, Montenegro, Morocco, Norway, Portugal, Russia, Scotland, Serbia, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, and Turkey.