Gil Fuller

Gil Fuller with Dizzy Gillespie & James Moody: Gil Fuller & The Monterey Jazz Festival Orchestra featuring Dizzy Gillespie/Night Flight

by Graham L. Flanagan
October 13, 2008

Make a shortlist of your favorite, classic Dizzy Gillespie songs and the odds are that more than a few of them will share a connection to arranger Gil Fuller. Gillespie worked closely with Fuller during the height of his big band period in the mid to late ‘40s, resulting in numerous essential recordings. Their collaboration also produced a handful of eventual standards on which Gillespie and Fuller share songwriting credit, such as “Manteca” and “Tin Tin Deo.” By ...