DIZZY GILLESPIE
Genres: Bop, Big Band, Hard Bop, Latin Jazz, World Fusion, Vocal Jazz, Classic Fusion, Soul Jazz, RnB, Progressive Big Band, Funk Jazz, Post Bop, Pop, Art Song, Folk, Third Stream, Jazz Related Soundtracks, Latin Rock, Soul, Afro-Cuban Jazz • United States

John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie (1917 –1993) was a U.S.  jazz trumpeter, bandleader, singer, and composer. Gillespie, with Charlie Parker (Bird), was a major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz  He was also instrumental in founding Afro-Cuban jazz. Gillespie was a trumpet virtuoso and gifted improviser. In addition to his instrumental skills, Dizzy's beret and horn-rimmed spectacles, his scat singing, his bent horn and pouched cheeks, and his light-hearted personality endeared many to what was regarded as threatening and frightening music. In his playing, Gillespie built on the "saxophonic" style of Roy Eldridge and the harmonic complexity of Charlie Parker, and then went far beyond Bird. That is, unlike his great contemporary, Dizzy made a point of enthusiastically teaching future generations (such as Miles Davis) about the convolutions of bop. His memorable trademarks were distending his cheeks while playing (unlike most trumpet players, who are read more...