I’ll Remember April – 1985
Dizzy Gillespie, Freddie Hubbard and Woody Shaw
A relaxed but quietly heated version of the standard with three immortal trumpeters
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At Jazzfest Berlin on November 2, 1985, trumpeter Freddie Hubbard and his quintet (with altoist Kenny Garrett, pianist Mark Templeton, bassist Ira Coleman and drummer Carl Allen) welcomed two rather special guests on “I Remember April”: Dizzy Gillespie and Woody Shaw.
Dizzy Gillespie, who was 68 at the time, brings the song in, playing muted but hot in his own way.
Garrett follows, building up his solo well, and then Freddie Hubbard on flugelhorn plays some adventurous ideas; it is fun to watch Dizzy reacting to his playing.
Woody Shaw makes a creative statement of his own, pianist Templeton gets half a chorus and then Dizzy leads the ensemble, taking the song out.
The playing is relaxed and friendly but one can imagine that Hubbard and Shaw, knowing that Dizzy was listening closely, were doing their best to play tastefully while displaying some fresh ideas of their own.
-Scott Yanow
Ella Fitzgerald