{"id":7481,"date":"2016-04-21T16:43:36","date_gmt":"2016-04-21T23:43:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/?p=7481"},"modified":"2016-04-21T16:43:36","modified_gmt":"2016-04-21T23:43:36","slug":"stan-levey-and-bebop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/2016\/04\/stan-levey-and-bebop\/","title":{"rendered":"Stan Levey And “Bebop”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Several readers who responded to Monday\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Stan Levey book recommendation”\u00a0<\/a> singled out his work on \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Bebop\u00e2\u20ac\u009d as one of the greatest modern jazz drum performances. They will get no argument here. Samples:<\/p>\n

I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m thrilled every time I hear Stan Levey!—David Robinson<\/p>\n

He was a jazz giant!—Bruce Howard<\/p>\n

I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m sure I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have to tell you what a colorful character he was and , of course, one of the greatest of all bebop drummers.— Charlie Shoemake (by email)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Dizzy Gillespie based \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Bebop\u00e2\u20ac\u009d on the Gershwins\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I Got Rhythm,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d the harmonic source for\u00e2\u20ac\u201dat last count\u00e2\u20ac\u201d1,532″\u00a0 jazz \u00e2\u20ac\u0153originals.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d It is impossible to know whether any band ever played the piece faster than the all-star group nominally led by Gillespie for a recording session that Norman Granz put together for his Verve label. It seems unlikely. In the book, Levey is quoted a couple of times on the long enmity between him and Sonny Stitt, but the For Musicians Only<\/em> album has no evidence of it. .<\/p>\n

Levey, drums; Stitt, alto saxophone; Gillespie, trumpet; Stan Getz, tenor saxophone; John Lewis, piano; Ray Brown, bass; Herb Ellis, guitar. October 16, 1956.<\/p>\n

\n