Groovin 'high

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Groovin 'High is an early bebop title written and published by jazz musician and composer Dizzy Gillespie in 1944 . It became one of his most famous songs. The theme is held in the song form A - B - A - C. As a bebop head, it is based on the chord structure of Whispering , a standard composed by John Schonberger in 1920, and has a continuous major character. In bars 1/2, 5/6 and 9/10 of the A parts it consists only of a third motif reminiscent of the cuckoo call , but in the remaining bars of the bebop-specific eighth phrases.

In Dizzy's biography , the song is described as an "appealing medium-tempo song", which demonstrates Gillespie's ability to create interesting structures with just six instruments. The title of the song has also been used as the title of various albums or books, such as for the biography Groovin 'High: The Life of Dizzy Gillespie .

Impact history

Gillespie first recorded Groovin 'High on February 9, 1945 with Dexter Gordon on tenor saxophone, Frank Paparelli on piano, Chuck Wayne on guitar, Murray Shipinski, bass and Shelly Manne on drums. This first recording contains “a cheeky 6-bar introduction and, surprisingly, a solemn coda ”; Gordon plays a " contrapuntal counterpart" to Gillespie's melody .

In the same month two more recordings of the title were made, in which the composer was involved. The recording of February 28, 1945 is famous for jazz history because it was played alongside Gillespie by Charlie Parker , and it was the first studio recording the two played together. This time Groovin 'High was performed in unison between the two winds. This version was later also released on the Shaw Nuff album . The song is one of seven songs on the album that, according to jazz critic Scott Yanow , shocked Gillespie's contemporaries. In the book Jazz: A Regional Exploration , Yanow explained that such songs were unprecedented at the time, showing a radically different tonal language compared to contemporary swing music.

Although the fans and musician friends found the material very strange and difficult at first, Groovin 'High was quickly accepted as the jazz standard according to The Sax & Brass Book . According to Yanow, Parker's and Gillespie's solos seemed to have little relation to melody, but they were connected. It was a big step forward for jazz.

Both Gillespie and Parker recorded the piece later - Parker in 1953 with an organist, Gillespie in the late 1950s with the vocal group Les Double Six . Major cover versions of the standard are those by Cannonball Adderley / Milt Jackson , Lou Donaldson , Erroll Garner , Hampton Hawes , Bobby Timmons , George Wallington and Gerald Wilson .

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Carlo Bohländer u. a. Reclams Jazzführer Stuttgart 1970, p. 859
  2. ^ Henry Martin, Keith Waters: Jazz: The First 100 Years . Thomson Wadsworth, 2005, ISBN 0534628044 , pp. 203, 209.
  3. ^ A b c Donald L. Maggin: Dizzy: The Life and Times of John Birks Gillespie . Harper Collins, 2005, ISBN 0688170889 , p. 167.
  4. ^ Thomas Owens: Bebop: The Music and Its Players . Oxford University Press ,, ISBN 0195106512 , p. 14.
  5. ↑ a b c d portrait of the song (Jazzstandards.com)
  6. ^ A b Hans-Jürgen Schaal Jazz Standards. Das Lexikon , pp. 174f.
  7. ↑ Alyn Shipton: Groovin 'High: The Life of Dizzy Gillespie . Oxford University Press, 2001, ISBN 0195144104 .
  8. ↑ Dexter Gordon, Vol. 2 Young Dex 1944-1946
  9. ↑ The sextet also included Clyde Hart , Remo Palmieri , Slam Stewart and Cozy Cole . The recording was later released on the album of the same name on Musicraft .
  10. ↑ Groovin 'High at Allmusic (English)
  11. ^ Scott Yanow: Bebop: The Best Musicians and Recordings . Backbeat Books, 2000, ISBN 0879306084 , p. 55.
  12. ↑ a b Scott Yanow: Jazz: A regional exploration . Greenwood Publishing Group, 2005, ISBN 0313328714 , p. 111.
  13. ^ Brian Priestley, Dave Gelly, Tony Bacon, Paul Trykna: The sax & brass book: Saxophones, Trumpets and Trombones in Jazz, Rock and Pop . Backbeat Books, 2003, ISBN 0879307374 , p. 18.