A Night in Havana: A 90th Birthday Tribute to Dizzy Gillespie.
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Featuring Jon Faddis, James Moody, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Ignacio Berroa, Giovanni Hidalgo and Peter Washington.
GREAT MUSIC FOR A GREAT CAUSE!
Our fifith annual gala and concert were a rousing success, and we thank everyone who attended in support of the Jazz Institute of Chicago.
At the reception the Walter Dyett Lifetime Achievement Award was bestowed upon Chicago's President of Jazz, Mr. Von Freeman, who accepted it with his usual grace and humble acknowledgement that his success was due to the support of all of his fans. At age almost-85, Von Freeman remains at the top of his game; continuing to hold forth every Tuesdy night at the Velvet Lounge and appearing in other venues throughout the city.
The packed-house concert at the Harris Theater was preceeded by two more awards presented to the recipients of the Timuel Black Community Service Award: Amina Dickerson, Director of Corporate Contributions for Kraft Foods, which funds our Jazz Links program, and Diane Ellis, jazz teacher at Dixon Elementary School.
When the musicians took the stage they clearly came to honor their musical mentor and friend, Dizzy Gillespie. Said Howard Reich in a review of the concertin the Chicago Tribune:
"Without a doubt, Faddis outdid himself, turning in the best solos he has given Chicago since he became director of the Chicago Jazz Ensemble three years ago. That's quite a feat, in light of the long-established stature of his work.
But Faddis' shrieking, crying, piercing solo on 'Night inTunisia' and his thrillingly mercurial gestures and unbelievable velocity in 'Tin Tin Deo' were the products of a world-cass trumpeter at the peak of his art. Listeners have known for decades that Faddis commands phenomenal technique, but in these solos, and in an encore reading of 'Manteca', Faddis produced profound content and startlingly unpredictable turns of phrase as well.
So, too, in Gillespie's 'Con Alma', which Faddis dispatched with a tonal delicacy for which he is not noted--but should now be."
Suffice to say, the audience went home with fully satisfied ears. Our only probelm now is to figure out how to come up with something for next year that will top this one!
