Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 14, 1990 TAG: 9003143023
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: E-9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: TRACY WIMMER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The 22-year follower of the Bahai religion said he was fasting during daylight hours as an act of faith.
But no one in his sold-out audience at Roanoke College's Olin Hall went home hungry. Dizzy and his quintet served up a feast of be-bop, blues and Latin-inspired jazz that could have fed an army.
And he had a good time.
"Control yourself," he ordered a woman laughing wildly in the first row before the show even began. That set the pace for the evening.
Since the mid-1940s, Dizzy (a nickname that describes his playing style) has been a virtual icon of modern jazz. He was no less during his Salem performance.
The concert was informal - to say the least - but not offensively so. Throughout the night Dizzy and the boys did sounds checks. Twice, the icon emptied his trumpet of his spit onstage - giving creedence to the fact that back-row seats aren't always bad.
At 72, he hasn't lost his genius for substituting and extending chords in an unorthodox way in unexpected places. He stops his notes on a dime, curves them around and shoots them back at the listeners before they know what hit them.
Dizzy's goatee is a little gray but his trumpet is still upturned (a 1953 accident that worked into a trademark) and his cheeks still puff like circus balloons (a trademark that was caused by his work.)
His humor is infectious - slamming his hometown of Cheraw, S.C., and later Roanoke.
Dizzy also proved to be an incredibly generous performer showcasing his entire quintet: Ron Holloway on sax, Ed Cherry on guitar, John Lee on base and Igancio Berroa on drums.
Holloway gave a haunting and inspired performance on tenor sax of Thelonius Monk's "Round Midnight."
Listening to him play and not being able to move would be a real test of willpower for some people. Not this audience.
It's hard to picture a more stagnant group until it was time to applaud - which spoke more to their age. (There were a lot of senior citizens in this crowd.)
But Dizzy didn't mind. A showman for sure, he often seemed like some invisible comedian - looking out into the audience and laughing to himself.
And while be-bop gave Dizzy a position in American music, his Latin-jazz experiments only made it more distinct. Almost everything he performed had real international flavor.
While he appeared to be tight with all of his quintet, Dizzy appeared to have a special affection for his Cuban drummer, who shined throughout the night on solo performances - especially on "Manteca."
Dizzy finished the concert the 90-minute concert with his famous Latin-tinged tune, "A Night in Tunisia."
There is no doubt the audience saw a different performer than the one who use to jam all night at Minton's Playhouse and on the roof of the Cotton Club in New York.
Dizzy's music is no longer radical, but he is without question an iconoclast few artist could ever hope to match note for note.
by CNB