The Flyer's music writers tell you where you can go. Obviously when the Dizzy Gillespie Alumni Allstars take the stage this Thursday at the New Daisy, the late, great ambassador of jazz won’t be with them. Gillespie died in 1993, ending a brilliant 50-plus-year career in which the trumpeter was not only an important voice in the stylistic innovation of jazz — he and Charlie Parker pioneered be-bop, and even in the 1930s Gillespie was presciently melding Afro-Cuban rhythms with American popular forms — but also through his warm, clownish personality and distinctive blowfish cheeks, the genre’s leading popularizer. Though their namesake is sadly missing, the Dizzy Gillespie Alumni Allstars should not be mistaken for a mongrelized reunion or tribute band of the ilk that frequently pop up in area casinos. Among Diz’s many talents were his gifts as a bandleader, in particular bringing together disparate groups of amazing musicians — Parker, John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, Stan Getz, and Arturo Sandoval are just some of the players who have moved through Gillespie-led groups — and pointing them toward one unified purpose. And in this regard, even in death, the Allstars are still very much Gillespie’s group. The version of the Allstars that comes into town for two shows Thursday is led by longtime Gillespie bassist John Lee. Filling in for Diz (instrumentally, at least) is Roy Hargrove, a young lion who in 1995 unseated his mentor Wynton Marsalis from his perch on top of the Downbeat poll for the first time in a decade. On the keys is Greenwood, Mississippi, native and Memphis State graduate Mulgrew Miller, one of the first-call jazz session players in New York and, though little heralded around here, one of the most successful musicians to come out of this area in a while. And on drums is Ignacio Barroa, a Cuban superstar whose unbelievably funky syncopated rhythms first came to widespread attention through his work with Ruben Blades. The Dizzy Gillespie Allstars concerts are presented by the World Class Jazz series. Show times are 7 and 9:30 p.m. Tickets are $35, $29, $20 and are available at Borders Books and Music and the Memphis Drum Shop. Call 725-1528 for more information. I got to catch one of Deathray’s very first gigs about a year ago at the Map Room with a distinctly different line-up than the one it boasts now. But a recent show at the Hi-Tone Cafe shows that the group, once promising but erratic, has come into its own. Though Deathray has retained a Modern Lovers tone throughout its incarnations, the current group, with Suzy Hendrix on sax, has more of a ’50s rock-and-roll good-time feel than its predecessor. If this band keeps getting better, they’re going to have to start worrying about the fact that they have the same name as a signed band out of Sacramento made up of former members of Cake. — Mark Jordan You can e-mail Mark Jordan at jordan@memphisflyer.com.