Album review: Dizzy Gillespie - Soul and Salvation (Liberation Hall)

Dizzy Gillespie, Joe Newman (trumpet); Garnett Brown, Benny Powell (trombone); James Moody, Joe Farrell, Seldon Powell, Eddie Pazani, Jerome Richardson (reeds); Al Williams, Ernie Hayes (piano/organ); Cornell Dupree, Billy Butler, Carl Lynch, Wally Richardson (guitar); Jimmy Tyrell (bass); Ray Lucas (drums); George Devens (perc); Ed Bland (composer/arranger) + unknown vocal group.

Whilst it's always exciting to hear Dizzy and Moody this reissue leaves me slightly underwhelmed and that's being polite.

Recorded circa 1969 and released on the Pye label as Souled Out it seems to have been an attempt to cash in on the then current vogue for soul and, in the process, probably alienated fans of both Dizzy and, say, Ray Charles. I doubt if many of those fans forked out the asking price of £1.45 when they could have bought a Ray Charles' album for not much more or The Young Lions featuring Lee Morgan, Wayne Shorter, Frank Strozier, Bobby Timmons, Bob Cranshaw and 'Tootie' Heath for £1.30 and still have enough left for a pint of bitter.

Despite the above, this isn't a criticism of Dizzy who more or less rises above the dross, his technique as breathtaking as ever. The fault lies in the pseudo-soul arrangements, the monotonous rhythms and the doo-wop girl vocal group that stifle the main man.

Perhaps the original title was changed in case they thought that original title was misspelt and that the new one would bring salvation. It didn't! Lance

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