**1/2 Dizzy Gillespie Alumni Allstars

DIZZY'S WORLD

(Shanachie)

Jon Faddis, Dizzy Gillespie's most prominent living acolyte, leads this amiable session reflecting the late master's love of Afro-Latin jazz fusions -- from bossa nova to clavé-inflected Cuban. If the material sometimes seems all too familiar, it's worth remembering that the pioneering Gillespie introduced several of the pieces here to the jazz audience before they became crossover hits. A heavy crew of versatile Dizzy-ites deliver the goods: Mulgrew Miller's piano brings the right mix of bop, blues, and montuno; Slide Hampton lends heft and Latin timbres to "Guarachi Guaro"; Don Braden serves as Faddis's Sonny-like rhythm-tenor foil; and drummer Ignacio Berroa negotiates the varied beats with his typical aplomb. As for Faddis, at this late date you'll either love the uncanny Dizzyness of his sound or make a dash for to your favorite Gillespie recordings. But you can't fault Faddis's perfectly chiseled ornaments on "Tin Tin Deo," or the delicacy of his mute set against James Moody's flute on "Africana," or the rocketing trumpet/alto breaks these two trade on "Pan Americana." (The last couple are part of the "Gillespiana Suite" that Lalo Schifrin penned for Dizzy.) The only thing missing on this set is the man himself.

-- Jon Garelick