he was known to be a bit of a clown in his heyday, but John Birks Gillespie has left a serious musical legacy. Bebop. Afro-Cuban. The United Nations Orchestra are but a few of the gems. There was his uptruned trumpet bell, now copied by adherents the world over. And who could forget those bubblegum cheeks.
But beneath the jocularity was a master musician and a man with serious concerns for all humanity. Though his 1964 US presidential bid started out as a stunt, Dizzy soon took it seriously. His agenda did have some wacky items, but he was a champion for free health care (and free education) long before anybody ever heard of Obama. see this link for more http://indianapublicmedia.org/nightlights/before-colbert-there-was-dizzy-gillespies-1964-run-for-the-presidency/
Our good friend, the Petchary http://petchary.wordpress.com/2010/10/22/dizzy/ did pretty all the legwork but kindly allowed us to share her post in honour of the late trumpet legend's birthday
At the Monterey Jazz Festival there is a venue called “Dizzy’s Den.” It’s named after the one and only Dizzy Gillespie, who would have been 93 years old today (October 21). Dizzy died in 1993 at age 75. But today Google did something delightful, a great doodle with Dizzy’s famous inflatable cheeks, puffing out as he played his trumpet with verve and gusto.
Google's delightful Dizzy doodle
John Birks Gillespie was born in 1917 in Cheraw, North Carolina. His father was a band leader and music was all around. He learnt to play piano at age four, and trombone and trumpet by age twelve. Music was fused into his being from a very early age. He made his first recording, “King Porter Stomp,” with the Ted Hill Band in the late 1930s. He went on to join Cab Calloway‘s band the “Cab Jivers”, but their relationship was sour, ending in a nasty little fight in which a knife “came into play” over a spitball thrown on stage. Calloway was a bit of a bully, it appears.
Dizzy looking as sweet as pie with a cartoon picture of his boss Cab
But that’s just a naughty piece of gossip. Let’s just state it plainly: Dizzy was one of the “kings of bebop.” No doubt about that.
One other nice fact: He met his wife Lorraine in 1940 and they were together until his death. Their only daugher, Jeanie Bryson, is a jazz singer and is currently working on a “Dizzy Gillespie Songbook” in honor of her Dad.
The lovely Jeanie, Dizzy's daughter
“Salt Peanuts.” ”A Night in Tunisia.” Jamming with Charlie Parker and John Coltrane in smoky jazz clubs. There is too much to write about his career. He became involved in Afro-Cuban jazz, a genre which is really still flourishing, and became close friends with the Latin trumpeter Mario Bauza. He discoveredArturo Sandoval while traveling in Cuba.
In 1989 Dizzy gave 300 performances in 27 countries and 100 cities in the U.S. Amazing energy. Other little facts about the great Dizzy:
Did you know he became a follower of the Baha’i faith in 1970? No more knife fights or drinking after that.
He was the inventor of the “bent” trumpet – which apparently came from someone sitting on it. But he liked the sound.
The ineffable Dizzy, with his famous puffed cheeks and his bent trumpet
Above all, there was his serious musicianship mixed with a kind of brimming-over humor. Just beneath the surface.
