LUKE GILLESPIE

Born April 16, 1957 in Kyoto, Japan, Luke Gillespie grew up in Osaka, the son of a Baptist missionary from Memphis, Tennessee. His father loved black gospel music, such as Mahalia Jackson and the Edwin Hawkins singers, and his older brother (who, like Luke, took piano lessons at their father’s behest) was a fan of Ray Charles and James Brown. Against that soulful background, however, Gillespie was transformed when a friend played him a Thelonious Monk record. From that moment on, he was a jazz fanatic. After graduating from the International School in Kobe, Gillespie matriculated at Indiana University in Bloomington, IN—compelled by its jazz studies director, David Baker, whose book Jazz Improvisationhe had devoured in high school. Though he enrolled as a classical piano major, Baker heard Gillespie play and allowed him to change to jazz studies, where he ultimately earned both his undergraduate and graduate degrees. While studying for read more...