Dizzy Gillespie and Stuff Smith

Tonight's Jazz Feature is our first for 2023 and it spotlights the talents of Dizzy Gillespie and Stuff Smith. Dizzy Gillespie is of course a Jazz pioneer and the major voice of Modern Jazz trumpet. Hezekiah "Stuff" Smith is a a rarity in Jazz, a master violinist. Stuff has that raw sound derived from the blues and a deep swing and a style that is very adaptable. Producer Norman Granz was right when he brought Stuff and Dizzy together as their outgoing musical personalities meshed and they lit a fire under each other. Dizzy chose the rhythm section wisely. Pianist Wynton Kelly, bassist Paul West and swinging drummer J.C. Heard. There are only four tunes but they all allow the musicians to say their say. The first combines blues and exotica and is by Gillespie and is called "Rio Pakistan", the second is a bouncy standard familiar to all called "It's Only a Paper Moon" and the third is a minor key blues by Stuff and Dizzy called "Purple Sounds" and the last which begins with a rhapsodic intro by Stuff then launches into an up tempo swinger is Irving Berlin's "Russian Lullaby". Happy New Year from Stuff, Dizzy and company and from The Jazz Show!