Afro (album)

Last updated

Afro
Afro (album).jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedNovember 1954 (1954-11)
RecordedMay 24 and June 3, 1954
New York City
Genre Afro-Cuban jazz, bebop
Length33:05
Label Norgran
MGN 1003
Producer Norman Granz
Dizzy Gillespie chronology
Diz and Getz
(1953)
Afro
(1954)
Dizzy and Strings
(1954)

Afro is a studio album by the jazz trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie. It was released in November 1954 through Norgran Records. [1] Gillespie worked with many Cuban musicians on the album. [2]

Contents

Reception

The AllMusic review states "Pairing Dizzy Gillespie with Cuban arranger/composer Chico O'Farrill produced a stunning session which originally made up the first half of a Norgran LP... A later small-group session features the trumpeter with an all-Latin rhythm section and flutist Gilberto Valdes... it is well worth acquiring." [3]

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [3]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [4]

Track listing

  1. "Manteca Theme" (Gil Fuller, Dizzy Gillespie, Chano Pozo) - 4:10
  2. "Contraste" (Gillespie, Chico O'Farrill, Pozo) - 2:45
  3. "Jungla" (Gillespie, O'Farrill, Pozo) - 4:44
  4. "Rhumba Finale" (Gillespie, O'Farrill, Pozo) - 4:43
  5. "A Night in Tunisia" (Gillespie, Frank Paparelli) - 4:19
  6. "Con Alma" (Gillespie) - 5:05
  7. "Caravan" (Duke Ellington, Irving Mills, Juan Tizol) - 7:19

Personnel

References

  1. Littleford, R.S. Jr, ed. (November 27, 1954). "Clef to Issue 4 Successful Albums in EP". The Billboard . Cincinnati: The Billboard Publishing Co. p. 11.
  2. Njoroge, Njoroge M. (June 16, 2016). Chocolate Surrealism: Music, Movement, Memory, and History in the Circum-Caribbean. Univ. Press of Mississippi. ISBN   9781496806925 via Google Books.
  3. 1 2 Dryden, K. Allmusic Review accessed March 28, 2012
  4. Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 553. ISBN   978-0-141-03401-0.