Broadcast on 14-Jul-2008

Dizzy Gillespie always rose to the occasion when playing in front of a big band whether it was his own, a reunion band or like this one.....put together for a special occasion. Dizzy was selected as artist-in-residence at the 1965 edition of the Monterey Jazz Festival and this album was recorded in the studio ib June of 1965 to be sold at the Festival which was held in September. It marked a reunion with Dizzy and Walter 'Gil' Fuller. Fuller was a huge part of Dizzy's revolutionary big band of the 1940's and he wrote and arranged some of that band's tunes like "Things to Come", "One Bass Hit" etc. Fuller put together this big band called The Monterey Jazz Festival Orchestra by hiring some of the finest Jazz cum studio players in Los Angeles and wrote all of the arrangements and several of the compositions featured here. The band and the reunion with Fuller brought out the best in Dizzy and this album is now a classic.