"Con Alma" is an instrumental jazz standard by Dizzy Gillespie, who is credited as its sole composer. The tune has no lyrics, so the melody carries the whole piece. It was first recorded in 1954 by Dizzy Gillespie and His Orchestra and released on the album Afro, where it appears as track B2 on the original LP. The piece blends bebop with Latin rhythm and is usually associated with the Afro-Cuban jazz style.
Players tend to single out the song's frequent changes of key centre, which Gillespie sets against a melody that remains singable and lyrical. This contrast between shifting harmony and a smooth, sung-style line is what most often draws attention to the composition. Later versions by Oscar Peterson, Stan Getz, Wes Montgomery, Ron Carter and Phil Woods have carried it well beyond its original recording and kept it in the jazz repertoire.
