1983 was the year of the trumpet-players: from Dizzy Gillespie to Freddie Hubbard and V.S.O.P. (the super-band with the famous rhythm of Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter and Tony Williams), Jack Walrath taking over Mingus’ mantle, Jon Faddis and the young lions Terence Blanchard and, above all, Wynton Marsalis, a rising star who at the age of 22 livened up the festival by responding with blasts of the trumpet from his hotel room to the Olympia Brass Band playing below, before joining the band and playing together with them.
However, the festival also featured a number of veterans, such as Woody Herman and his orchestra, the superb Sphere quartet inspired by the music of Monk, Bobby Hutcherson and Jackie McLean, a whole raft of Texan saxophonists, Arnett Cobb, Buddy Tate, Illinois Jacquet, and the ever-present Italian jazz musicians who, together with Giovanni Tommaso, launched a series of younger musicians, such as Danilo Rea and Roberto Gatto, on their successful careers.
