Gettin' Dizzy Wit' It: Guest Blogger Castro Salutes Dizzy Gillespie

Rock Turtleneck is honored to present the third of four tributes to Cuba-related music by Guest Blogger Fidel Castro

"One of the perks of dictatorship is you get to meet anyone you want, or they face punishment of death. And Dizzy Gillespie was just about the coolest cat I ever met.

"During the early days of my triumphant rule, Dizzy and his bandmates would come down to Cuba on a bogus artist visa. We would sit on my veranda under the hot Cuban sun and throw back a couple dozen mojitos, smoke some Macanudos and maybe a "jazz cigarette" or two. Then he'd pull out that funny looking trumpet of his and start blowing away – his cheeks would expand faster than a captialist pig free-market economy!

"Dizzy was a sponge & he soaked up the music and people of Cuba and regurgitated it into a new type of Fidel-flavored bebop called Afro-Cuban Jazz or Cubop. Even in my old age, it still gets my good hip shaking. Here are a few clips from Talkin’ Verve, a fantastic CD that collects many of Dizzy's most funkiest moments."

mp3: Dizzy Gillespie, "Bang Bang"
mp3: Dizzy Gillespie, "Jambo"
mp3: Dizzy Gillespie, "Swing Low, Sweet Cadillac"

YouTube: Dizzy Gillespie, "Manteca" (Finland, 1982)