Chano y Dizzy! is a collaborative studio album by conga player Poncho Sanchez and jazz trumpeter Terence Blanchard. The release contains 11 tracks inspired by the works of Dizzy Gillespie and Chano Pozo
whose short-lived musical collaboration began in the late 1940s and ended after Pozo's murder in 1948.[3] The album was released by Concord on September 27, 2011. In 2012, the album was nominated for Latin Grammy Award for Best Latin Jazz/Jazz Album.[4]
Jeff Tamarkin in his review for JazzTimes wrote, "Using standard Latin orchestra instrumentation-congas, bongos, timbales and drums; saxophones, trumpet and trombone; piano, bass and vocals-Sanchez and Blanchard raid the Gillespie/Pozo catalog, recycle a couple of Blanchard’s favorites and cherry-pick the rest, including three from trombonist Francisco Torres, who co-produced this session with Sanchez. "[5] Brian Boyles of Offbeat commented, "If there’s anything lacking here, it may be the original soil. We find two artists at ease in their exchange and shared vocabulary; here is Latin jazz in perfect form. The sound is a sure-handed culmination of 60 years of music, rather than a risky return to some genesis moment. Hopefully such a well-crafted door will beckon others to pass through and investigate that still-fertile landscape."[6]AllMusic's Matt Collar added, "An inspired and heartfelt tribute, Chano y Dizzy! is a must-hear for Latin jazz fans as well as longtime Sanchez and Blanchard listeners."[1]
Howard Reich of the Chicago Tribune observed, "Blanchard's piercing top notes, high-velocity figurations and lyrical asides attested to his stature as trumpet virtuoso and creative improviser. The carefully conceived orchestral scoring – meticulously played by Sanchez's octet – stood in striking contrast to Blanchard's freely improvised solo flights."[7]
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