Groovin' High

In 1995, Eclipse Music Group put out a series of albums, The Legends of Jazz, with a volume for each of an array of jazz greats: Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, Charles Mingus, and others. Groovin' High is the installment for Dizzy Gillespie from this series. The album is relatively good, mainly by the power of Gillespie's playing. There appears to have been an attempt at making a mix of the songs, as it reprises the works in a "greatest-hits" fashion, ranging through Gillespie's afro-Cuban works on "Tin Tin Deo" and "Manteca" to lighter fare from Gershwin and Vernon Duke to Gillespie's own vocal performance on "Ooh-Shoo-Be-Doo-Bee." The only problem with the album is that it is not presented in any sort of order to speak of, as it's almost definitely not chronological, and the performances are undated. Similarly, the styles of the songs are mixed thoroughly. As it's a discount album, though (occasionally new for two dollars), it's a wonderful addition to the collection of any Gillespie fan. ~ Adam Greenberg|