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Dizzy Reece
Reece was born January 5, 1931 in Kingston, Jamaica, the son of a silent film pianist. He attended the Alpha Boys School (famed in Jamaica for its musical alumni), switching from baritone to trumpet at 14. A full-time musician from age 16, he moved to London in 1948 and spent the 1950s working in Europe, much of that time in Paris. He played with Don Byas, Kenny Clarke, Frank Foster and Thad Jones, among others. Winning praise from the likes of Miles Davis and Sonny Rollins, he emigrated to New York City in 1959, but found New York in the 1960s a struggle. Too little heard-from in the intervening years, he had a reissue on Mosaic in 2004 that gave fans hope of a comeback.
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Dizzy Reece: Star Bright – 1959
by Marc Davis
In the 1950s and '60s, there were two jazz trumpeters named Dizzy. One was famous. This is the other guy. Dizzy Reece is a pretty obscure name, even among Blue Note fans. He was a young hard bop trumpeter from Jamaica who spent most of the 1950s playing in Europe, recorded four very good records as a leader from 1958 to 1962, mostly in America, then vanished for 20 years. Fortunately, some of Reece's best work ...
read moreDizzy Reece: From In to Out
by Clifford Allen
Born January 5, 1931, in Kingston, Jamaica, trumpeter Alphonso Son Dizzy" Reece moved to England in 1948 to continue his jazz studies, as his countrymen alto saxophonist Joe Harriott and tenor man Ken Terroade would also do. Following some time in Paris, Reece recorded with Ronnie Scott, Victor Feldman and Tubby Hayes for the Tempo and Savoy labels before making his Blue Note debut in 1958. Reece moved to New York the following year on the recommendation of Miles Davis, ...
read moreDizzy Reece
by Clifford Allen
To grasp the art and life's work of trumpeter-composer-philosopher (not necessarily in that order) Alphonso Son Dizzy Reece, a short biographical sketch and recording data, though not thrown completely out the window in terms of relevance, are only relevant insofar as one gets an idea of the artist as a whole. Facts of his birthplace (Kingston, Jamaica, 1931) and relocations to London (1948) and New York (1959) and the collection of recordings for Tempo, Savoy, Blue Note, Prestige, Futura, Beehive ...
read moreMosaic Select 11: Dizzy Reece
by C. Andrew Hovan
Dizzy Reece Mosaic Select 11 Mosaic Records
During the '50s and '60s there were any number of minor jazz legends recording actively for such independent labels as Prestige, Riverside, Savoy, and Blue Note. As far as trumpeters go, the names Richard Williams, Blue Mitchell, Carmell Jones , Booker Little, and Dizzy Reece come to mind. In the case of Reece, he might have fared much better with a different moniker. Oddly enough his own individual style ...
read moreHank Mobley: The Flip
by Germein Linares
Leonard Feather once hailed Hank Mobley as the middleweight champion of the tenor saxophone." Mobley was better than that. An exquisite soul messenger, Mobley was criticized for not being as aggressive, voluminous, or trailblazing as his contemporaries. Indeed, he was not. Instead, his music was steeped in care, precision and nuances. In Mobley's hands, such treatment often dazzled, as on his latest Blue Note reissue, The Flip.
Recorded in 1969 at Studio Barclay in Paris, this album would be Mobley's ...
read moreTrumpter Dizzy Reece for Holy Trinity Cathedral Benefit
Source:
Bluprint Media
Trumpeter Dizzy Reece, who's been based in the US for many years, heads home to Jamaica to perform in a concert to benefit the restoration of Kingston, Jamaica landmark the Holy Trinity Cathedral. The concert takes place on Sunday April 13 at the residence of the Roman Catholic Archbishop in Kingston (21 Hopefield Avenue). Also set to perform are Jamaican trumpet maestro Mickey Hanson, and drummer Desi Jones with his band, Skool. Reece has distinguished himself on the international jazz ...
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