UMO Helsinki Jazz Orchestra pays homage to Dizzy Gillespie’s (1917–1993) vast musical heritage in this concert. The programme consists of the virtuoso trumpeter’s most famous compositions and best-loved jazz standards. The soloists of the evening are members of UMO Helsinki’s trumpet section and the orchestra is led by conductor Mikko Hassinen.

Dizzy Gillespie played with UMO as a guest star at Helsingin Kulttuuritalo (Helsinki House of Culture) in 1982. On top of the successful concert, in the press conference, Gillespie said some very kind words of the Finnish big band: “This is the best orchestra I’ve conducted for years.”

John Birks “Dizzy” Gillespie is widely considered one of the very best jazz trumpeters of all times. He played a key role in the beginnings of jazz and bebop with his contemporaries Charlie Parker, Miles Davis and John Coltrane. In addition to being a virtuoso trumpeter, Dizzy Gillespie is also regarded as a skilful big band composer and arranger. Most jazz lovers are familiar with his tunes Night in Tunisia, Manteca and Salt Peanuts.

The 1930’s were the golden age of swing jazz. Big bands and their soloists were the pop stars of the era, and big band swing entertained huge crowds of dancing people. In the 1940’s, the musicians of the North America’s East Coast aimed for transforming jazz into something else: they aspired to play and compose music that would be more ambitious in an artistic sense. Entertaining the general audience and making people dance was no longer the sole purpose of the performance. The new style of music, bebop, was fast-paced and highly expressive. It tested the musician’s abilities to the utmost and brought with it new household names for the jazz lovers to familiarize themselves with. The recordings of Gillespie and Charlie Parker’s joint bebop groups are the backbone of modern jazz. They have inspired and guided all the future generations of jazz artists.

Photo: UMO Helsinki Jazz Orchestra’s trumpeter Tero Saarti, photo by Maarit Kytöharju