Dizzy Gillespie’s Dream Band “Manteca“

Recorded in 1981 at Lincoln Center, captures legendary jazz trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie performing with his Dream Band, consisting of a wide array of jazz music’s finest musicians, many of whom worked with Gillespie during the evolutionary era of the early-’40s bebop period. It includes an all-star cast highlighted by pyrotechnic drum wizard Max Roach (Grady Tate on this set), Gillespie’s protégé trumpeter Jon Faddis, and Modern Jazz Quartet cofounders John Lewis (piano) and Milt Jackson (vibraphone). The leader’s crowd-pleasing persona, trademark puffy cheeks, and no-nonsense trumpet solos steal the show. Selections range from Gillespie’s Afro-Cubop favorites “Manteca“.