From 1963 to 1967, Gillespie led a series of superb quintets, all featuring saxophonist James Moody. He even sparked a new controversy by hiring an electric bassist (Frank Schifano) — something practically unheard of at that time in jazz circles. The years that followed, however, were bleak. What with the popular hegemony enjoyed by rock and the split in the jazz community between the old and the new guards, many veteran musicians found work scarce. Gillespie remained active, but he recorded infrequently, usually as a soloist rather than at the helm of his sometimes indifferent bands.
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"Don't play what the public want. You play what you want and let the public pick up on what you doin' -- even if it take them fifteen, twenty years." (Thelonious Monk) | Meine Sendungen auf Radio StoneFM: gypsy goes jazz, #165: 9.9., 22:00 | Slow Drive to South Africa, #8: tba | No Problem Saloon, #30: tba