Jazz Live in Italy: The Giants of Jazz in Milano (1971)

At the beginning of the 70s the producer George Wein had the opportunity to put together some of the main stars of the Bebop era: Dizzy Gillespie, Sonny Stitt, Kay Winding, Thelonious Monk, Al McKibbon and Art Blakey. The group was named The Giants of Jazz  and for about one year had a successful tournée around the world. 

On 1971, october 20, played at Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi in Milano. 

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Personnel

Dizzy Gillespie (tr)

Kay Winding (tbn)

Sonny Stitt (sax a)

Thelonious Monk (piano)

Al McKibbon (bs)

Art Blakey (drm)

tracks

01. I Mean You (T. Monk)  11'48

02. 'Round Midnight (T. Monk) 08'05

03. Tour de Force (D. Gillespie) 13'22

04. Tin Tin Teo (Chano Pozo-Gil Fuller) 09'58

05. Lover Man (Ramirez-Davis-Sherman) 04'29

06. Woody'n You (D. Gillespie) 9'36

07. Don't Blame Me (Jimmy McHugh-Dorothy Fields) 03'39

08. Night in Tunisia (D. Gillespie-F. Paparelli) 7'47

The following video was taken in Holland during the same tournée 

Jazz Live in Italy: Duke Ellington orchestra & Ella Fitzgerald trio in Milan (1966)

Forty-five years ago, in January 1966, Duke Ellington, in tournée in Europe, had some concerts in Italy with his orchestra, including some of the most famous "ellingtonians", as you can see in the line-up below.

These very rare recordings were taken during the afternoon concert at Teatro Lirico in Milan January 30, 1966.

The performance of the orchestra was followed by a set of Ella Fitzgerald and her trio and was closed by a meeting of Ella and the orchestra in Cotton Tail with a very exciting duet between the "scat" of Ella and the sax of Paul Gonsalves.

Duke Ellington and His Orchestra

Cootie Williams, Cat Anderson, Herbie Jones, Mercer Ellington (tp)

Lawrence Brown, Chuck Connors, Buster Cooper (tbn)

Paul Gonsalves, Johnny Hodges, Harry Carney, Jimmy Hamilton, Russell Procope (saxes)

Duke Ellington (pn)

John Lamb (bs)

Skeets Marsh, Elvin Jones (drm)

01. Theme: Take the "A" Train (B. Strayhorn) 0'43

02. Medley:

a) Black and Tan Fantasy (Ellington - Miley) 2'15

b) Creole Love Call (Ellington - Miley - Jackson) 2'02

c) The Mouche (Ellington - Mills) 5'36

03. Soul Call (L. Bellson) 2'27

04. Chelsea Bridge (B. Strayhorn) 3'44

05. El Viti (D. Ellington) 3'42

06. The Opener (C. Williams) 2'35

07. Sophisticated Lady (Ellington - Parish - Mills) 3'39

08. Take the "A" Train (B. Strayhorn) 6'04

09. Passion Flower (B. Strayhorn) 4'27

10. Things Ain't What They Used to Be (M. Ellington)

11. Wings and things (J. Hodges) 2'31

12. Jam with Sam (D. Ellington) 3'20

Ella Fitzgerald and her trio

Jimmy Jones (pn), John Confort (bs), Gus Johnson (drm)

13. Norman Granz's Introduction 0'46

14. How High the Moon (Lewis - Hamilton) 6'36

15. Lover Man (Davis - Ramirez - Sherman) 4'48

16. Mack the Knife (Weill - Blizstein) 2'55

Ella Fitzgerald and orchestra

17. Cotton Tail (D. Ellington) 4'47

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Rare Jazz Live in Europe: Dizzy Gillespie in Milan 1952

The first italian tour of Dizzy Gillespie was in april 1952 and had four dates: 6 in Bergamo, 7 and 8 in Milan and 9 in Turin.

He was coming from Paris (France) and the band was essentially french save for Don Byas (sax t) and Bill Tamper (tbn). The french musicians are: Hubert Fol (sax a), Raymond Fol (p), Pierre Michelot (bs), Pierre Lamarchand (drm).

The concert in Milan on april 8 of Teatro Nuovo, the only recorded, was issued more than 30 years after and never reissued.

I parte [flac]
II parte [flac]

1. Good Bait
2. Perdido
3. I Can't Get Started
4. Oo-Shoo-Bee-Doo-Bee
5. Yesterdays
6. School Days
7. Groovin' High
8. Birk's Works
9. Oh Lady Be Good
10. Oo-Pop-a-Da

Here you can listen to a great performance of Gillespie and Byas supported by an enthusiastic audience.