DIZZY GILLESPIE ALL-STAR BIG BAND Perform At Blue Note 1/12

ONE NIGHT ONLY featuring Slide Hampton, Jimmy Heath, Roy Hargrove, Claudio Roditi, Antonio Hart, Steve Davis, Roberta Gambarini, Cyrus Chestnut, John Lee, Willie Jones III & more!

WHAT: The Dizzy Gillespie^TM All-Star Big Band has long considered the Blue Note their musical home, as Dizzy did since the club's inception in 1981. The relationship has culminated in a studio recording by the All-Star Big Band on the Blue Note's in-house record label, Half Note Records, titled I'm Be-Boppin' Too. Most of the band will be featured at the Blue Note for this one night only show on January 12, but be on the look out for I'm Be-Boppin' Too - it's due for release in the Spring of 2009.

WHEN: Monday, January 12, 2009; Sets @ 8pm & 10:30pm

WITH: Slide Hampton (trombone), Jimmy Heath (saxophones), Roy Hargrove (trumpet), Claudio Roditi (trumpet), Antonio Hart (alto saxophone, flute), Steve Davis (trombone), Roberta Gambarini (vocals), Cyrus Chestnut (piano), John Lee (bass), Willie Jones III (drums), Other musicians, TBA

COST: $35 @ table / $20 @ bar

WHERE: The Blue Note; 131 W 3rd. St, New York, NY 10012

MORE: Doors open at 6pm. Set times are 8pm and 10:30pm nightly.

BIO: History has produced its share of great artists and great people. John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie was both. As a performer, he left behind an incredible record of innovation and inspiration. As a composer, a broad repository of musical masterpieces, and has a man, a legion of friends, colleagues and compatriots who remember him with the same degree of love and esteem they reserve for his work.

For Dizzy Gillespie, playing in a small combo was never enough. His artistry compelled him to seek and to create larger ensembles because as a composer and arranger, a big band was the ultimate vehicle for self-expression. Given that the majority of his career took place after 1950 when the big band era was over, it's especially notable that Dizzy Gillespie continued to create brilliant music musing the grand-scale formats of jazz big band and orchestra right up to the end of his life in 1993.

The Dizzy Gillespie All-Star Big Band is the direct descendant of these ventures and happily, the tradition lives on. Nutured by Gillespie alumni, musical director, trombonist, and award winning arranger Slide Hampton, and executive director, producer, and bassist John Lee.

The All-Star Big Band features some of Dizzy's closest compatriots: senior statesman and NEA Jazz Masters, James Moody and Jimmy Heath, and verteran Gillespie alumni Roy Hargrove, Claudio Roditi, Cyrus Chestnut, and drummer extraordinaire Lewis Nash.

The rest of the band features some of the fastest rising next generation talents in jazz today including saxophonists Antonio Hart, Mark Gross and Gary Smulyan, trombonists Steve Davis, Jason Jackson and Mike Dease, trumpet virtuosos Greg Gisbert, Frank Greene, and Grammy nominated vocal sensation Roberta Gambarini. All of them are respected band leaders, educations, and recording artists in their own right.

The small group debuted in 1996 while the Big Band debuted in 1998. Together they continue to delight audiences around the world with the enduring power and freshness of Dizzy Gillespie's music. This is the legacy the master would have wanted and a living tribute from the many extraoridnary musicians in this group who exemplify his style, range, and commitment.

Trombone virtuoso and NEA Jazz Master Slide Hampton, who first played wtih Dizzy's big band in 1957, had a long association and friendship with Dizzy. Together with the NEA Jazz Master Paquito D'Rivera, Slide served as co-musical director of Dizzy's Grammy Award winning band the United Nations Orchestra.

Similarly, executive director John Lee had a close association with Dizzy, serving as his bassist for the last decade of Dizzy's life, in his small groups as well as the United Nation Orchestra and the 70th Anniversary Big Band. Lee also originated and continues to oversee and direct "Dizzy: The Man and The Music": the official concert and clinic program celebrating The Life and work of the incomparable John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie.

Anyone familiar with John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie knows that the great saxophonist and flute master James Moody was Dizzy's closest friend, collaborator, and musical brother. Their friendship dates back to 1945 and their exploits, innovations, and bodies of work are permanently embedded into the fabric of jazz history.

The Dizzy Gillespie All-Star Big Band's musical home would have to be New York's famed Blue Note Jazz Club, which for many years was Dizzy's favorite jazz club not only in New York City but also in the world. The All-Star Big Band performs there for a week every spring, and Dizzy's birthday is celebrated for a week every October, during the week that includes the master's birthday on October 21.

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