Stories of Standards: “Night In Tunisia” by Dizzy Gillespie

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“Night in Tunisia” (1942) by Dizzy Gillespie was first recorded in 1944 under the title “Interlude”. It may have been written while Gillespie was playing with the Benny Carter Band; Gillespie said he composed it on the piano at Kelly’s Stables, a jazz club on 52nd Street in Manhattan. Frank Paparelli had transcribed Gillespie’s solos for publication; Gillespie added Paparelli’s name to the published music. “Night in Tunisia”, ranked #40 of the top 500 standards by jazzstandards.com, is the title track of 30 CDs and is included in over 500 other CDs. It was written in D Minor, with a series of arpeggios and leaps. Gillespie said that while playing chord progressions on the piano a Latin/oriental melody with a syncopated bass line formed, leading to “Interlude” and forming a major step into Afro/Cuban bebop. Lyrics were first written by Raymond Leveen and used in the first recording in 1944 by Sarah Vaughan. Another set of lyrics written by Jon Hendricks was used by Ella Fitzgerald in 1961.

Dizzy Gillespie (1917-1993) started studying piano when four years old and had taught himself trombone and trumpet by the time he was twelve.  From the time he first heard Roy Eldridge playing trumpet on the radio Gillespie was devoted to jazz. As a seventeen-year-old in his first professional appearances with Edgar Hayes’ band he acquired the nickname “Dizzy” for his unpredictable and funny behavior. Gillespie was then associated with a series of bands, notably Cab Calloway’s and Earl Hines’, and in 1945 with Charlie Parker led the way to the creation of bebop. An accident at a party in 1953 led to the 45-degree bend in his trumpet and a sound which he liked so much he had all subsequent trumpets made with that angle. Gillespie joined the Baha’I faith in 1968 and spoke of it frequently on his tours abroad. Weekly jazz sessions are held in his honor at the New York Baha’I Center.