Untitled

(via Dizzy Gillespie – “Salt Peanuts”)

Year: 1947

Fun fact: the beginning notes of this jazz classic is a direct nod to Igor Stravinsky’s The Rite Of Spring. Gillespie was a fan of Stravinsky, and he wanted to turn jazz into a “high art” for normal Americans who were turned off by Europe’s tight control over classical music and opera. That’s why the first phrases sound so tight and strange compared to the loose feel of the rest of the piece – it’s a direct acknowledgment of where the music came from and where it wants to go.