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Dizzy Gillespie, 1917-1993
Jazz trumpeter, composer, and bandleader Dizzy Gillespie first gained fame in the early 1940s, but he had such talent and staying power that he was still a dynamic presence on the music scene five decades later. Gillespie was only twenty-two when he joined Cab Calloway's legendary big band in 1939, yet the maturity of his playing was already undeniable. His solos enlivened many of Calloway's recordings, and Gillespie's innovative arrangements laid the groundwork for his future experiments in rhythm and composition. After meeting saxophonist Charlie Parker in Kansas City in 1940, Gillespie joined Parker, pianist Thelonious Monk, and other young musicians in freewheeling jam sessions that spawned the new, energetic form of jazz known as bebop. Emerging rapidly as one of bebop's greatest practitioners, Gillespie also played a pivotal role in introducing Afro-Cuban jazz to worldwide audiences. He toured extensively and was hailed as modern jazz's most ebullient ambassador. |