‘A Night in Tunisia’ was written by Dizzy Gillespie in 1942. Drummer Art Blakey claims to have seen him write the tune in Philadelphia using the top of a trash can as a makeshift desk. It was Blakey, who like Gillespie had been part of the legendary Billy Eckstine orchestra during the mid-forties, that made ‘A Night In Tunisia’ the most identified with himself and his band, The Jazz Messengers. There are hundreds of recorded versions of ‘A Night in Tunisia’, but those on the following albums are distinguished in a number of ways to warrant singling out. As much as the composition has been transfigured it seems to maintain a structural integrity that invites each generation of jazz players to make it new. Dizzy Gillespie, ‘A Night In Tunisia (Live At The Town Hall)’ , Updown Records, 1945 Charlie Parker, ‘The Best Of Complete Savoy & dial Recordings’, 1946 Miles Davis, ‘The Musings Of Miles’, Prestige, 1955 Lee morgan, ‘The Cooker’, Blue Note, 1957 Sonny Rollins, ‘A Night At The Village Vanguard’, Blue Note/EMI, 1957 Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers, ‘Art In Tunisia’, Blue Note, 1960 Dexter Gordon, ‘Our Man In Paris’, Blue Note, 1963 Hugh Masekala, ‘I Am Not Afraid’, Blue Thumb Records, 1974 Johnny Griffin, ‘Bush Dance’, Galaxy, 1979 Chaka Khan, ‘What Cha’ Gonna Do For Me’, Warner Bros., 1980 Stan Getz & Albert Dailey, ‘Poetry’, Elektra, 1984 Ray Brown Trio, ‘ Bam, Bam, Bam’, Concord, 1985 Cal Tjader, ‘Greatest Hits’, Fantasy, 1995 July 5 – August 4, 2012