Jon Faddis

by Scott Yanow
When Jon Faddis burst on the jazz scene as a teenager, observers were amazed by his technique and his ability to sound like an identical twin of Dizzy Gillespie (whose complex style had never been successfully duplicated before). After a period, he was typecast as a Dizzy imitator but Faddis remarkable range (hitting higher notes than Gillespie ever could) and the gradual development of his individual sound have helped him overcome the early fault. In fact, Faddis can now also imitate Roy Eldridge and Louis Armstrong quite well, too. Gillespie was always Faddis idol, from the time he started playing trumpet at age eight. After moving to New York in the early 70s, Faddis played with Lionel Hampton and Charles Mingus (guesting on a recorded concert with the bassist when Roy Eldridge became ill) and then recorded two notable albums for Pablo including a duet session with Oscar Peterson. After playing a bit with Gillespie (their best encounters in the mid-70s were unfortunately not recorded), Faddis seemed to disappear, sticking to studio work and playing first trumpet with the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra. After re-emerging in the mid-80s, Faddis recorded for Concord and Epic and in 1993 became the musical director of the Carnegie Hall Jazz Orchestra. He released Teranga on Koch in 2006.