The work Tribute to Dizzy, composed by Andrea Ravizza in 2019 and commissioned by the Moncalieri Jazz Festival, represents a crucial intersection between symphonic language and the bebop idiom. Premiered at the "Giovanni Agnelli" Auditorium of the Lingotto in Turin by the RAI National Symphony Orchestra under the direction of the author, the work stands as an analytical investigation into the figure of Dizzy Gillespie.

Synthesis between Symphonism and Jazz Idioms

In this score, the dialogue between orchestral rule and rhythmic instinct manifests through a timbral reinterpretation of immortal masterpieces such as Manteca and A Night in Tunisia. The approach is not purely citational but aims for organic integration: the RAI National Symphony Orchestra does not act as a mere backdrop but intervenes in the process of "softening" the harmonic roughness typical of bebop, transforming jazz density into a shifting orchestral chromatic spectrum.

Structure and Performance Practice

Despite the symphonic guise, the piece's architecture preserves the centrality of the rhythmic section and the propulsive role of the soloists. Here we find the concept of "Intuitive Music" dear to Ravizza's poetics: improvisation and jazz voicing, based on fourth intervals, are absorbed into a dense writing where staggered entries and sound bands typical of contemporary orchestral technique create a connective tissue between the avant-garde and the African-American tradition.

Tribute to Dizzy
RAI National Symphony Orchestra – Andrea Ravizza, conductor
Moncalieri Jazz Festival 2017

House Band

Claudio Chiara – alto saxophone
Valerio Signetto – alto saxophone | soprano saxophone
Fulvio Albano – tenor saxophone
Gianni Alberti – baritone saxophone
Emilio Soana – trumpet
Cyrus Chestnut – piano
Francesco Bertone – double bass
GianPaolo Petrini – drums

Recording production

Marco Barberis
for Punto Rec Studios s.r.l.