Analysis of Dizzy Gillespie's 1958 Belgium recordings
This is a series of responses to various jazz pieces. IN each one, the role portrayed by the drum, horn, bass, and piano is explained. Also, one solo from each piece is highlighted and explored further. Finally there is an emotional response to both the four individual pieces and then the concert as a whole cohesive unit.
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¶ … Listening
"Blues After Dark."
Belgium 1958 ~ Dizzy Gillespie (trumpet), Sonny Stitt (tenor and alto sax), Lou Levy (piano), Ray Brown (bass), and Gus Johnson (drums)
Style of the Piece: Jazz blues (Early Jazz)
Role(s) of piano: The piano is heard in the background, against the horn. The piano player Lou Levy has a solo towards the end of the song but it is brief.
Role(s) of bass: The bass provides a deep sound to counter the loud horns and intermittent piano sound.
Role(s) of drums (including sticks or brushes or mallets): The drum is barely audible, seeming present to serve the rhythm more than anything. He uses sticks on both the drum and cymbals.
Role(s) of horn players: The horn player is the first sound that is heard in the piece and is the most audible. Gillespie uses a mute on his horn for this piece.
In Greater Detail:
For your selected solo within this song:
Identify the Solo: The solo is performed by Dizzy Gillespie from about the 2-minute mark to the 4. He is playing the horn.
How did the solo progress from beginning to end?
The solo begins soft and then builds to a crescendo, slowly becoming louder and more profound until the horn speaks alone among the many instruments.
Was the solo successful? Why or why not?
The solo was extremely successful because it drew attention to Gillespie and seemed to drown out the other players.
What was your emotional response to it?
While listening to the piece, it seemed that at first the horn player was trying to find a voice, representing someone who was not heard in society. Then as he got louder it was like he was forcing people to hear him. It was very powerful to me.
2. "On the Sunny Side of the Street."
Belgium 1958 ~ Dizzy Gillespie (trumpet), Sonny Stitt (tenor and alto sax), Lou Levy (piano), Ray Brown (bass), and Gus Johnson (drums)
What was your emotional response to it?
Whereas the rest of the song has a sort of melancholy cheerfulness to it, the solo is sad and somber making it seem disconnected to the rest of the piece.
3. "Lover Man"
Belgium 1958 ~ Dizzy Gillespie (trumpet), Sonny Stitt (tenor and alto sax), Lou Levy (piano), Ray Brown (bass), and Gus Johnson (drums)
Style(s) of the piece: Blues or torch song (Ballad)
Role(s) of piano: Piano serves as keeping tempo and tune for headliner instruments.
Role(s) of bass: The bass serves to provide a deep baseline, keeping the overall sound downbeat and somber.
Role(s) of drums (including sticks or brushes or mallets): Use of brushes at beginning creates a very light sound as the sax plays.
Role(s) of horn players: The alto saxophone is the primary instrument in this piece. Much of the time, the other players are not even touching their instruments in fact.
In Greater Detail:
For your selected solo within this song:
Identify the Solo: Saxophone played by Sonny Stitt
How did the solo progress from beginning to end?
The solo begins the song with a downbeat, torch song sound to it, picking up tempo to the point where it is a series of runs before the song ends.
Was the solo successful? Why or why not?
The solo was not successful because it took up the entirety of the song and did not allow for the real emotion to carry through, although it was successful at the start of the song.
What was your emotional response to it?
The beginning of the song was emotional in that it carried a deep, depressing sound to it. It seemed that the player was missing someone or lacking something but then when the sax player continued into his runs, that feeling of sadness disappeared into a complex series of notes which confused the emotion.
4. "Blues Walk"
Belgium 1958 ~ Dizzy Gillespie (trumpet), Sonny Stitt (tenor and alto sax), Lou Levy (piano), Ray Brown (bass), and Gus Johnson (drums)
Style(s) of the piece: blues; upbeat jazz (Afro-Cuban Jazz)
Role(s) of piano: It is hard to make out the piano amid the other more powerful sounds, indicating that its function is to create a rainbow of musical textures until the point of his own solo.
Role(s) of bass: The bass keeps the upbeat tempo and serves to dovetail the prevailing drum.
Role(s) of drums (including sticks or brushes or mallets): The drum is very prevalent in this song, setting the tempo and elevating it to a jubilant song.
Role(s) of horn players: The horn and sax perform the function of the vocals of the piece, singing with their instruments.
In Greater Detail:
For your selected solo within this song:
Identify the Solo:
How did the solo progress from beginning to end?
Which soloist(s) heard in class did it remind you of?
Was the solo successful? Why or why not?
What was your emotional response to it?
Conclusion: Emotional Response to the overall performance: Was it pleasing to you? Why or why not?
In the overall performance of Dizzy Gillespie and his ensemble, the musicians play their instruments with real power and true emotion. Consequently, the person listening to the pieces has no choice but to feel what the musicians are experiencing. When the music is sad, the audience is sad. When the music is joyous, so is the audience. This is the case for any truly beautiful music.
Works Cited:
"Loverman." YouTube. YouTube, 15 Jan. 2011. Web. 14 Nov. 2012.
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Unterhose132. "Dizzy Gillespie - Blues After Dark." YouTube. YouTube, 17 Feb. 2012. Web. 13
Nov. 2012. .
YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web. 14 Nov. 2012.
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YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web. 14 Nov. 2012.
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