"Woody 'n' You" is a 1942 jazz standard written by Dizzy Gillespie as an homage to Woody Herman. It was one of three arrangements Gillespie made for Herman's big band, although it was not used at the time; the other two were "Swing Shift" and "Down Under". It was introduced on record in 1944 by Coleman Hawkins initiated by Budd Johnson, Hawkins' musical director of his 12-man orchestra that included the bebop pioneers Oscar Pettiford, Max Roach and Gillespie. [1] [2] It is also called "Algo Bueno".
The 32-bar composition is in AABA form. [3] The A section "consists of three two-measure sequences on ii-V chords, ending on the tonic (D♭)": Gm7(♭5) – C7(♯9) – Fm7(♭5) – B♭7(♯9) – E♭m7(♭5) – A♭7(♯9) – D♭maj9. [3]
John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator and singer. He was a trumpet virtuoso and improviser, building on the virtuosic style of Roy Eldridge but adding layers of harmonic and rhythmic complexity previously unheard in jazz. His combination of musicianship, showmanship, and wit made him a leading popularizer of the new music called bebop. His beret and horn-rimmed spectacles, scat singing, bent horn, pouched cheeks, and light-hearted personality have made him an enduring icon.
Jazz standards are musical compositions that are an important part of the musical repertoire of jazz musicians, in that they are widely known, performed, and recorded by jazz musicians, and widely known by listeners. There is no definitive list of jazz standards, and the list of songs deemed to be standards changes over time. Songs included in major fake book publications and jazz reference works offer a rough guide to which songs are considered standards.
Oscar Pettiford was an American jazz double bassist, cellist and composer. He was one of the earliest musicians to work in the bebop idiom.
Cool jazz is a style of modern jazz music inspired by bebop and big band that arose in the United States after World War II. It is characterized by relaxed tempos and a lighter tone than that used in the fast and complex bebop style. Cool jazz often employs formal arrangements and incorporates elements of classical music. Broadly, the genre refers to a number of post-war jazz styles employing a more subdued approach than that of contemporaneous jazz idioms. As Paul Tanner, Maurice Gerow, and David Megill suggest, "the tonal sonorities of these conservative players could be compared to pastel colors, while the solos of [Dizzy] Gillespie and his followers could be compared to fiery red colors."
Neal Paul Hefti was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, and arranger. He wrote music for The Odd Couple movie and TV series and for the Batman TV series.
Theodore "Fats" Navarro was an American jazz trumpet player and a pioneer of the bebop style of jazz improvisation in the 1940s. A native of Key West, Florida, he toured with big bands before achieving fame as a bebop trumpeter in New York. Following a series of studio sessions with leading bebop figures including Tadd Dameron, Bud Powell, and Kenny Clarke, he became ill with tuberculosis and died at the age of 26. Despite the short duration of his career, he had a strong stylistic influence on trumpet players who rose to fame in later decades, including Clifford Brown and Lee Morgan.
Alan Warren Haig was an American jazz pianist, best known as one of the pioneers of bebop.
George Wallington was an American jazz pianist and composer. Born in Sicily, his career as a pianist began in the early 1940s, when he played with Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker and contributed to the development of bebop. Following several years as a sideman during the late 1940s, he formed his own group, experimenting with trios and a string ensemble before settling upon a permanent quintet.
Dillon "Curley" Russell was an American jazz musician, who played bass on many bebop recordings.
Adolph Stanley Levey known professionally as Stan Levey was an American jazz drummer. He was known for working with Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie in the early development of bebop during the 1940s, and in the next decade had a stint with bandleader Stan Kenton. Levey retired from music in the 1970s to work as a photographer.
"A Night in Tunisia" is a musical composition written by American trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie around 1940–1942. He wrote it while he was playing with the Benny Carter band. It has become a jazz standard. It is also known as "Interlude", and with lyrics by Raymond Leveen was recorded by Sarah Vaughan in 1944.
"I'll Remember April" is a popular song and jazz standard with music written in 1941 by Gene de Paul, and lyrics by Patricia Johnston and Don Raye. It made its debut in the 1942 Abbott and Costello comedy Ride 'Em Cowboy, being sung by Dick Foran. The lyric uses the seasons of the year metaphorically to illustrate the growth and death of a romance. The lyric also uses the ideas of the hours in a day and the flames of a fire to illustrate a relationship growing stronger and subsequently losing strength. Another interpretation is the use of spring to express the loves that were had in youth and remember them when the autumn of life arrives with affection and nostalgia, smiling: "I'll remember April and I smile". The song has been described as one which makes use of nostalgia.
Irving Sidney "Duke" Jordan was an American jazz pianist.
"All the Things You Are" is a song composed by Jerome Kern with lyrics written by Oscar Hammerstein II.
Ernest Andrew Royal was a jazz trumpeter. His older brother was clarinetist and alto saxophonist Marshal Royal, with whom he appears on the classic Ray Charles big band recording The Genius of Ray Charles (1959).
Duško Gojković was a Serbian jazz trumpeter, composer, and arranger.
"Salt Peanuts" is a bebop tune composed by Dizzy Gillespie in 1941, co-written by drummer Kenny Clarke. The song was copyrighted on October 13, 1941 and credited to both musicians. It has also been erroneously cited as Charlie Parker's. Parker himself publicly credited Gillespie as the composer on May 15, 1953, as may be heard on the Jazz at Massey Hall live recording. The original lyrics have no exophoric meaning. Instead, they are a skat/bebop vocal which matches the octave note interval played predominantly throughout the song. The Pointer Sisters subsequently included vocalese lyrics for their rendition of Salt Peanuts as recorded on their That's a Plenty album.
James Lawrence Buffington was an American jazz, studio, and classical hornist.
Allen Eager was an American jazz tenor and alto saxophonist who also competed in auto racing and took part in LSD experiments.
"Billie's Bounce" is a jazz composition written in 1945 by Charlie Parker in the form of a 12 bar F blues. Some sources claim that the song was dedicated to Dizzy Gillespie's agent, Billy Shaw, although according to Ross Russell, Shaw's "name was misspelled" accidentally. However, others claim that the song was in fact dedicated to Shaw's secretary, who was called Billie. The original recording by Charlie Parker and His Re-Boppers was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2002.