Jazz And Music Analysis: Dizzy Gillespie's Night In Tunisia

A virtuosic trumpet player, proficient composer, and a “brilliant showman” (Mcdearman 233) are all phrases that can describe the great Dizzy Gillespie. Right on the sunset the Big Band era, yet right at the dawn of the Be-Bop era, Dizzy Gillespie’s composition of “Night in Tunisia” flawlessly blends Big-Band, Bebop, and even Afro-Cuban styles all into one timeless and iconic jazz tune; it is impossible to put this tune into just one category because of its seamless transitions and inclusions of all three styles (Farington, pg. 166). In 1942, Dizzy Gillespie composed, arguably, his most influential and well known song in all of jazz and music history. “Night in Tunisia” was an important reflection of the time, an important stepping stone to

Dizzy Gillespie, and featured important musical elements that have been studied and will continue to be studied so long as the artform of Jazz is still a prominent part of music.
1942 was an interesting year for musicians, especially for Jazz musicians. World War II was full tilt, affecting much of the world directly through battles and policies that were being implemented, or by taking many young men in order to go fight. During this time, Big Band Jazz was the music of choice for much of the United States including many of the men and families that were affected by the war. There was also a sort of war between the musicians and the corporate record companies; tensions were rising eventually resulting in would be known as the Recording Ban of 1942 (Murray, pg. 47). In the Jazz community there was starting to become a rift as well. Musicians like Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, and others were beginning to stretch the bounds of improvisation as well as pushing the physical and technical boundaries of sound created through their particular instruments. Contrary to the dance-centered Big Band Jazz, these more progressive musicians were beginning to move in a direction that was more geared towards complicated melodic compositions and improvisations with blistering speed and more dense harmonic structures that were much more intended for audiences to actively listen, not dance. They were laying the foundation of what would eventually be Bebop.
This piece, however, was composed before the Bebop era was in full effect. Written in 1942 at the piano during a break at a rehearsal with Benny Carter and his orchestra, Dizzy Gillespie took two chords (A13 resolving to B minor [Josephine]) and, according to Dizzy himself, he “wrote ‘A Night in Tunisia’ there, at the rehearsal” (Murray, pg. 46). Dizzy furthered his composition by making the melody out of the chord tones. Dizzy, being “bathed in latin music”, has always been directly affected by latin music in his playing as well as his composition (Murray pg. 63). It comes to no surprise that this was reflected throughout “Night in Tunisia”, the main melodic idea has a latin (at times pushing oriental) sound to it. It was an interesting sounding idea at the time because not many of the big band arrangers or composers had utilized harmonies and melodies that were as latin sounding. Originally, the tune featured a different title, “Interlude”, but was changed to reflect the mysterious nature of the the song, and to attract more listeners due to people’s fascination with the parts of the world that were being affected by war.
There have been many, many recordings of Dizzy’s composition, but the one that is often looked back on as the pioneer of the fusion between Big-Band, Afro-cuban, and Bebop is actually not recorded by Dizzy Gillespie’s Orchestra. Even though it is one of Dizzy’s first compositions that was widely recognized, the group that this arrangement was made for was the Boyd Raeburn Orchestra (Voigt). With that being said, Dizzy is directly related to the recording as he is playing lead trumpet, has the first solo, and leads the cadenza at the end of the song. This recording was done on January 1, 1945 in New York City (after the recording ban was lifted).
The Timbre is that of a jazz big band consisting of a rhythm section, a trumpet section, a trombone section, and a saxophone section. There are four trumpets, three trombones, and five saxophones (one baritone saxophone, two alto saxophones, and two tenor saxophones). The rhythm section has a bassist, drummer, and pianist. The drums are the main timbre that changes. During the latin/afro-cuban section, he plays a lot of rhythms on a snare drum possibly with the snares off, but during the swing section, he plays a lot of hi-hat cymbals and comps on the snare drum. The horn instruments play in traditional ways, avoiding mutes or plungers.
The form and texture relationship of this piece is really is the most interesting attribute.

The overlaying form of the tune is relatively standard compared to a lot of the Big Band era tunes. However, it is the slight adjustments and additions that make it interesting and engaging for listeners beyond the different harmonic and instrumental ideas. For instance, the song follows an AABA form, however, there are feel changes and timbre shifts that differentiate it from other jazz songs that had previously been released. For instance, each A section starts in the latin/afro-cuban style. There is an intro as well that starts with an ostinato bass pattern that outlines the two alternating chords of the A section that carries throughout the A section (Thomas). There is a strong presence of layers in this song: on top of the bass, there is the latin/afro-cuban drum groove along with a saxophone effect that has small, stepwise motion. The next layer in the A section features a solo trombone that plays a mellow sounding legato line that is responded to by the trumpet section with a strong interjection every two bars. This continues for 14 bars and at the end of the A section there is a two bar change where the band moves from the latin/afro-cuban feel into a very straight ahead swing feel. At the end of the first A section, there is a very brash and harsh trumpet interjection where the trumpet plays a higher and lower note back and forth three times. The general layers of the bass,

drums, saxophones, trombone, and trumpets continue for the second A section except at the end there is a small alteration; during the end of the second A section, the saxophone enters in a small three beat break in order to set up the sort of saxophone soli with a primarily stepwise, be-bop like lick, that is the main melody line during the B section which continues the swing feel that is set up during the last two bars of the second A section. The B transitions back to the final A section with the drums initiating a groove that is back to the latin/afro-cuban feel until the final two bars again. This last time the band goes into the “Interlude” (Hence the original name of the tune). The drums play a setup for the trumpets to play extremely high and very pronounced notes that form block chords while the saxophone section follows and plays the main melodic idea sharing the first note of each phrase with the trumpets. The trombones help play thick and rich loud notes with the trumpet to create thicker brass harmonies. The interlude is 12 bars of a repeated rhythmic idea with slight variations in the horns. After the interlude there is a two bar break that Dizzy Gillespie himself is featured on. He plays a high and fast paced line. The solo section stays in a consistent swing feel with a walking bass line. The trumpet is the first and second A section while the saxophone is the B section and the final A section. After that section is done, there is a three bar double time latin feel that ends with a two bar drum break and is followed by another eight bar shout section. The A section then returns and the tune ends with a cadenza featuring the trombone, trumpet, and hits within the trumpet cadenza. The song concludes with a short hit, followed by a long concluding chord.
Another aspect that makes this piece interesting is through the use of texture changes. Differing from typical Big-Band Jazz, this piece features a contrapuntal bassline; it is not walking. The bass is then joined by the baritone saxophone and they play in a monophonic fashion. The drums and saxophones are the next instruments to enter, making this now a homophonic timbre with new layers and textures. There is a change in the overall inflection of the piece switching from a mysterious latin to a smooth and easy common swing sound which features a saxophone line that is more legato and melodic than their original effect. The drummer switches to playing hi-hat cymbals and the bass utilizes a more walking bass pattern.
There are essentially two rhythmic textures in this piece and the band go between the two often.

The initial rhythmic texture is really determined first by the bass, but then also by the drums. The bass is responsible for setting up the rhythmic undertone of the first section; in this recording there is a very prominent straight 8ths feel which is a very typical attribute of latin and afro-cuban music. The drums can be heard playing a type of Afro-Cuban or “Beguine” rhythm that also has straight 8th notes and is primarily played on the snare drum with the snares off giving it a more latin feel. The other rhythmic texture is a straight ahead swing feel, common for most big band songs. The drummer is playing a swung 8th note pattern on the hi-hat and the bass is walking with the chord progression, seamlessly connecting the chord changes. Each groove is established for the band by these two instrumentalists The drummer is the musician that is primarily responsible for facilitating these changes through the use of “fills” or “set-ups” meaning that they play in the rhythm of the next rhythmic texture in order to guide and show the band the rhythmic division of time that they need to play. If they are playing straight 8th notes, the drummer will play with swung 8th notes, and visa versa. This is crucial since this piece goes between two styles so

much.
The piece has been recorded and rerecorded numerous times. Dizzy Gillespie himself has recorded it with different variations upwards of 25 different times, each time changinging how much afro-cuban influence or bebop style he uses. Regardless, all of them stemmed from his iconic composition that was the combination of three different jazz styles that have since been intertwined so much more on account of his original composition.