Dizzy Reece

No, not that Dizzy....

Anyone who does not realize his potential jazz greatness can have NO feeling for jazz the way it was meant to sound.

- Tony Hall, British music executive

One of my favorite Sun Ra albums is Nuits de la Fondation Maeght Vol 2. It was recorded in August 1970 during a live show at the amazing Fondation Maeght Museum on the Colline des Gardettes, a hill overlooking Saint-Paul de Vence in southeast France near Nice.

This show marked the first time the Arkestra played for a European audience. A couple of months later, they returned to Europe a second time. On October 17, in Donaueschingen, West Germany they recorded another album, It’s After the End of the World for the German MPS label. You can learn more about this fascinating label here:

MPS-Music Production Schwarzwald

The next day they departed Germany for a show in The Netherlands at the Paradiso in Amsterdam. Then, on October 23 while the Arkestra was in Paris, John Gilmore recorded an interesting album called From In To Out for the independent French Futura label. The leader for this live session was Jamaican-born Dizzy Reece. I have often wondered about the connection that brought together John Gilmore and Reece.

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Alphonso Son “Dizzy” Reece was born on January 5, 1931, in Kingston, Jamaica. He was sent to Alpha Boys School “because I was bad. I used to run the streets during the revolution and such, so I was wayward in that sense.” However, he was also an industrious boy. He explains another reason for going to Alpha Boys School, “My thing was to get a trumpet.” The Alpha Boys School had trumpets.

Reece was classmates with Wilton “Bogey” Gaynair and Joe Harriott (we’ll cover both on next week’s journey) as well as several members of the legendary Skatalites. He attended Alpha Boys School for two and a half years, leaving in 1945. In 1947, at age 16, he was a full-time musician in Jamaica and played with Jack Brown’s Swing Stars in Kingston. Reece’s mother quickly recognized her son’s musical talent. Hoping for better opportunities, in 1948 she put him on a ship and sent him to England.

He performed across Europe for the next decade, working mostly in Paris with American jazz musicians including Don Byas, Kenny Clarke, Thad Jones, and others. By 1956, he was making a name for himself as a rising star and recording under his name for the sneaky good British Tempo label. For example, Reece’s Progress Report is a lost classic:

From this album here is the Reece composition Chorous with some fine guitar work by Dave Goldberg:

This is an interesting album with Dave Goldberg on guitar, Victor Feldman on piano, and Ronnie Scott on tenor. It’s no wonder in 1958 Reece was asked to compose the music for the British crime film Nowhere to Go, directed by Seth Holt in his directorial debut.

The film features the Dizzy Reece Quartet - a nice pianoless quartet with Tubby Hayes on horns, Lloyd Thompson on bass, and Phil Seamen on drums. Here they are playing a Reece composition The Main Title:

Reece’s style impressed Miles Davis, who started to recommend him to anyone who would listen. Sonny Rollins was also a fan, and with these two titans supporting Reece it was only a matter of time before Blue Note signed him. Reece was the first British jazz star to be signed exclusively by an American record company.

His first Blue Note album was Blues in Trinity:

The album was produced by Tony Hall and recorded at Decca Studios in London. Blue Note released it in 1959. From the album here is another Reece composition Shepherd’s Serenade:

Based on the success of Blues in Trinity, Reece moved back to New York in the fall of 1959. In November of that year, he recorded Star Bright at Rudy Van Gelder Studio in New Jersey. Hank Mobley joins him on tenor along with a fantastic rhythm section of Wynton Kelly on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and Art Taylor on drums. He followed that with Comin’ On, another quintet session recorded in 1960.

His last Blue Note recording Soundin’ Off was also recorded in 1960. I find this the most interesting in that it features a quartet format with Walter Bishop Jr. on piano. Bishop recorded this session well before he went west, joined Gene Russell’s Black Jazz record label, and recorded the excellent Coral Keys. You can read more about that here:

Black Jazz, Part 1

From Soundin’ Off, here is his quartet playing the Reece composition Blue Streak:

In 1962, after his short run with Blue Note, Reece recorded Asia Minor on Prestige’s New Jazz label.

I find this a compelling session with a solid rhythm section of Hank Jones on piano, Ron Carter on bass, and Charlie Persip on drums. This was also recorded at Van Gelder Studio, and I find it on par with his earlier Blue Note sessions. Along with Cecil Payne’s baritone, Joe Farrell handles the saxophone duties. I think Farrell played on some of Reece’s best albums.

Interestingly, I first heard Joe Farrell on Santana’s Welcome when I was a kid. It was in my brother’s record collection. I had heard Santana on the car radio - probably Black Magic Woman - so I played it. However, I was not prepared for the music I heard. It completely opened my mind to something I would later understand as jazz or for the moment jazz fusion. I found Farrell’s flute solo on When I Look Into Your Eyes unexpectedly awesome.

I continue to run across Farrell’s music from time to time along my jazz journey, and he is a musician deserving of wider recognition. For starters, I highly recommend Phil Freeman’s nice Burning Ambulance article covering Farrell’s album Skate Board Park, released on Xanadu Records in 1979.

From Reece’s Asia Minor, here is Spiritus Parkus (Parker’s Spiritus), a nice tune written by baritone player Cecil Payne:

Here’s one more for the road. In November 1969, Reece recorded on Andrew Hill’s Passing Ships:

For some reason, after Blue Note recorded the album, it was not released and stayed in the vault for 34 years. According to reissue producer Michael Cuscuna’s liner notes, he was disappointed with Passing Ships, “…sounded like a train wreck.” It turned out to be a rough trial tape mix of the 1969 session, with some instruments heard only through the echo return. Revisiting the vault, at Hill’s suggestion, Cuscuna located the original master tape and released it in 2003.

You can read more about Andrew Hill here:

Andrew Hill

I often think about the uniqueness of each person’s jazz journey. For example, many people rave about Andrew Hill’s first four Blue Note releases, Black Fire, Smoke Stack, Judgment!, or Point of Departure, but I prefer his later releases, like Passing Ships. Those early albums just don’t move me as much. I can’t hear them like I hear Passing Ships, with that terrific score and Ron Carter’s unbelievable bass playing.

From the Blue Note classic Passing Ships, here is Noon Tide, with a Latin rhythm right down Reece’s alley and Joe Farrell again on flute:

When someone says, “Have you heard of Dizzy, the trumpet player?” Most people respond, “Oh yeah, Dizzy Gillespie.” My hope is now, or perhaps soon, the response will be, “Do you mean Dizzy Gillespie or Dizzy Reece?” That would be a fitting tribute to this amazing trumpeter and composer. Here’s to you Dizzy Reece.

Next week on that Big River called Jazz, we’ll dig our paddles into the waters of two more Jamaican jazz greats and Alpha Boys School graduates Wilton “Bogey” Gaynair and Joe Harriott.

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Until then, keep on walking….