If you binge watch a season of Bosch or Bosch: Legacy, there’s always a scene or two where Harry Bosch is either digging through the bins at a record store or putting the needle on a jazz album. But there’s more to listening to the music. Sometimes you have to watch. So many of the great masters of jazz have passed on, but there’s concert footage that shows how they took the stage and captivated the audience. There are details that you can’t hear or even truly see from an album cover photo. Do you truly grasp Dizzy Gillespie by merely using your ears? While the Bebop legend sounds so joyful on vinyl, watching him play doubles the experience. When Dizzy inhaled, his cheeks ballooned out so it seems like he could play three times as long as a mortal trumpeter. Adding to that was his horn was angled upward. It felt like he hit higher notes than anyone on the stage. Norman Granz’ Jazz In Montreux presents Dizzy Gillespie Big 7 ’75 captures him at the Montreux Jazz Festival on July 16th, 1975.
Dizzy shows up on stage ready to impress the crowd by packing his band with an all-star lineup. First is Milt Jackson on vibes. He was part of the Modern Jazz Quartet. Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis besides having a flourishing solo career had been with Louis Armstrong and Count Basie. A second tenor sax was played by Johnny Griffin who had previous supported Thelonious Monk, and Art Blakey. Davis and Griffin give each other the right amount of space. Pianist Tommy Flanagan played with Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins and Ella Fitzgerald. Drummer Mickey Roker kept the beat for it appears to be everybody in jazz during the 20th Century. Niels Henning Oersted Pedersen made his name on bass playing with American jazz musicians who needed someone for European tours. You’d have a rather huge album collection if you tracked down everything these seven musicians played on over the decades.
The set for this evening consists of four songs: “Lover, Come Back To Me,” “I’ll Remember April,” “What’s New?” and “Cherokee.” The times range between 11 minutes to nearly 17 minutes so each man has their time to shine during the show. Being the mid-70’s, they’re not all wearing matching suits and ties. I really appreciate Johnny Griffin’s green dashiki. Milt Jackson has a powder blue leisure suit that looks extremely stylish. Although nothing tops the sight of when Dizzy inhales and soars. Norman Granz’ Jazz In Montreux presents Dizzy Gillespie Big 7 ’75 is a DVD that Harry Bosch needs to have in his collection so he can see it all.
The Video is 1.33:1 full frame. The front of the box mentions the original standard definition video has been remastered with A.I. It’s a probably a program to clean up the issues with vintage video. Things look good as the performers take over the Swiss stage. You can see a touch of the waviness that probably dominated the raw tape before processing. The detail is good enough that you can see Johnny Griffin’s name inscribed on his sax horn. The Audio is Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo. This was released as an album so they aren’t depending on the videotape for the music. It’s all instrumental so there’s no subtitles.
Portrait of Norman Granz (4:22) is narrated by legendary writer Nat Henfoff. He knew Granz and considered him as honest, stubborn and principled. Granz had so much respect for the jazz artists.
Portraits by David Stone Martin (3:08) are a series of drawings of jazz performers.
Pictures by George Braunschweig (1:16) includes photos of Benny Carter, Clark Terry, Dizzy Gillispie, Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis and Roy Eldridge.
MVDvisual presents Norman Granz’ Jazz In Montreux presents Dizzy Gillespie Big 7 ’75. Starring Dizzy Gillespie, Milt Jackson & Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis. Running Time: 57 minutes. Rating: Unrated. Release Date: July 5, 2024.
