Dizzy Gillespie | Closer To The Source

Trumpet virtuoso and bop revolutionary whose desire to innovate helped invent and define the musical vocabulary for an entire genre. 
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AllMusic Review by Scott Yanow

It was an open secret that by the 1980s, Dizzy Gillespie was well past his playing prime. A very likable and humorous entertainer and still an expert scat singer, his trumpet playing had unfortunately greatly declined, and in 1984, at the time of this misfire, he was soon to turn age 67. This set of commercial material (with guest spots by Stevie Wonder, tenor saxophonist Branford Marsalis and bassist Marcus Miller) is quite forgettable -- throwaway funk tunes with the parts of the sidemen sounding as if they were phoned in.

Dizzy Gillespie
Closer To The Source
1985


Dizzy Gillespie - trumpet
Sonny Fortune - alto saxophone
Branford Marsalis - tenor saxophone (track 2)
Barry Eastmond, Kenny Kirkland - keyboards
Hiram Bullock - guitar
Tom Barney - bass
Marcus Miller - synthesizer, bass
Stevie Wonder - synthesizer, harmonica
Buddy Williams, Tony Cintron Jr. - drums
Angel Rogers - vocals


01 "Could It Be You" (Marcus Miller) - 00:00
02 "It's Time for Love" (Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff) - 05:14
03 "Closer to the Source" (Leroy Hutson, Lonnie Reaves, Alfonzo Surrett) - 10:15
04 "You're No. 1 in My Book" (Dana Meyers, Wilmer Raglin Jr., Leon F. Silvers, William Zimmerman) - 15:13
05 "Iced Tea" (Vincent Fielder) - 19:36
06 "Just Before Dawn" (Delores Allen, Al Foster) - 25:57
07 "Textures" (Herbie Hancock) - 30:49