The Dizzy Gillespie Septet "Approaches To Olinga" rehearsal sessions from desk reference tapes 1975-11-19/20 T.T.G. Studios, Los Angeles CA in stunning quality(first time in public) read notes (mp3 sample included)

Let's be clear about what you are getting here. This is no dat/cassette/whatever. These are 10.5 inch two-track reel to reel tapes running at 15ips. There are ten tracks in all spread over three reels. And, bless it's heart - there's no commercial music in here after vetting the commercial long version of this song note by note. There are takes 1-5 of Olinga itself. There are an additional five tracks labeled as "insert". They are listed as takes 9-13. They may or may not constitute a longer running version of the middle of the existing tune, but they too are commercially unavailable. I'm unable to locate a name for these takes other than "insert", so if you do know, please tell me.

Now, how did I acquire these gems? Heh heh...

Many years ago in Connecticut there were major teardowns of estate homes to make way for highway construction. One of the firms was United House Wrecking in Stamford, Connecticut. A very long time ago they actually cleared out these estate homes and had items for sale. It was sort of a huge junkyard of sorts in those days, not at all like it is now. Way in the back were a whole bunch of reel tapes. Three of them had the letters "DIZ" on them, and one of them said "Olinga". And there you have it. Two dollars each. And, I won't even tell you about the "Archies" masters I saw there :) No "Sugar Sugar" for me.

Forward to now. About four years ago I contacted the Gillespie estate attorney about getting these tapes released. He sounded interested. But after three calls over the space of a year, he was unable to get any sort of response from the family. The last conversation with him was over three years ago. Since the entire LP version of "Olinga" may be streamed on YouTube for well over a year already, it's safe to say there's no one at the wheel over there.

Your gain.

Personnel are (thanks to the Jazz Discography Project):

Dizzy Gillespie Septet
Dizzy Gillespie (trumpet) Roger Glenn (flute, bass flute, vibraphone) Al Gafa, Michael Howell (guitar) Earl May (bass) Mickey Roker (drums) Paulinho Da Costa (percussion)
Los Angeles, CA, November 19 & 20, 1975

The tracks labeled "insert" appear to be from the same recording sessions but feature a piano player (Mike Longo)?


Setlist:

Tape 1 (21:30):

Olinga take 1
Olinga take 2
Olinga take 3
Olinga take 4

Tape 2 (20:48)

Olinga take 5
"Insert" take 9 with false starts

Tape 3 (24:04)

"Insert" take 10
"Insert" take 11
"Insert" take 12
"Insert" take 13

These tapes have been presented in real time with all pauses intact. The only cuts were some brutal thumps when the recorder was shut off.

Enjoy! A DoinkerTape