Dizzy
Subtitle: the life and times of John Birks Gillespie
By: Donald L. Maggin
Edition: 1st ed.
Publisher: HarperEntertainment
Published: 2005
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 422
ISBN-13: 9780688170882
Subjects: Jazz; Biography; Jazz musicians
Description: "Dizzy Gillespie has secured his place in the jazz pantheon as one of the most expressive and virtuosic improvisers in the history of music. As one of the primary creators of the bebop and Afro-Cuban revolutions, he twice fundamentally changed the way jazz improvisation was done. And he later extended his revolutionary reach by transforming the aesthetic of big band jazz." "This biography chronicles Dizzy's saga from the lowest rung on the American social and political ladder to the highest. Born black in fiercely racist Cheraw, South Carolina, in 1917, dizzy combined great energy, a furious drive to succeed, and a one-in-a-million talent to climb quickly out of rural poverty to a role among the Swing Era jazz elite before his twenty-first birthday."

"Author Donald L. Maggin shows how, with bebop during the late 1930s and early 1940s, Dizzy and four colleagues - Charlie Parker, Kenny Clarke, Thelonious Monk, and Charlie Christian - radically expanded the rhythmic and harmonic foundations of jazz. And he illustrates how Dizzy and Mario Bauza recast the music during the late 1940s by enriching it with invigorating and exciting Afro-Cuban polyrhythms. He also relates how Dizzy and his colleagues endured a torrent of criticism before their innovations were accepted into the mainstream." "As an entertainer Dizzy combined his electrifying musicianship with an infectious warmth and rare comedic skills, becoming beloved worldwide and achieving a popularity that few jazz musicians have ever enjoyed."--Jacket.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Bathed in music.... --; title: Black and white in South Carolina.... --; title: Early days.... --; title: Becoming a musician.... --; title: Laurinburg.... --; title: Becoming dizzy.... --; title: Dizzy's swing inheritance.... --; title: Making it.... --; title: Seeds of rebellion.... --; title: Dizzy and Klook: the birth of bebop.... --; title: Bebop rhythm/bebop harmony.... --; title: New directions.... --; title: Enter bird.... --; title: Minton, Monk, and Monroe.... --; title: "Cab Calloway 'carved' by own trumpet man!!".... --; title: Jamming with bird.... --; title: The Hines band.... --; title: Dizzy leads the charge.... --; title: 1945-a great New York vintage .... --; title: L.A. Sojourn.... --; title: Controversy.... --; title: Big band success.... --; title: The afro-Cuban jazz revolution.... --; title: Big band failure.... --; title: The eclectic early fifties.... --; title: Teaming up with Norman, bidding bird good-bye.... --; title: Goodwill ambassador.... --; title: Small groups again.... --; title: Enter Lalo.... --; title: Film star/presidential candidate.... --; title: A new faith in difficult times.... --; title: Dangerous appetites.... --; title: Renewal in the seventies.... --; title: Summing up and looking forward.... --; title: A creative renaissance.... --; title: Finale.