Dizzy Gillespie Research Paper

Dizzy Gillespie John Birks Gillespie was arguably one of the greatest jazz trumpeters of all, renowned for his bent trumpet and broad cheeks. John Birks Gillespie, or most commonly known as Dizzy Gillespie for his crazy or ‘dizzy’ behavior, was born in Cheraw, South Carolina on October 21, 1917, and found a passion of music from an early age. Gillespie’s father, an amatuer bandleader, started the basics of piano to Gillespie by the age of four. After his father’s death, Gillespie began teaching himself trombone at twelve, yet found his arms were too small to play, and began trumpet. After Gillespie started learning trumpet, he found massive inspiration from hearing Roy Eldridge on the radio. Later Dizzy Gillespie received a music scholarship
First starting at the Frank Fairfax Orchestra in 1935, Gillespie soon after made his first recording of "King Porter Stomp" with Teddy Hill, in his orchestra. After working with Edgar Hayes in Washington D.C., Gillespie met a dancer, Lorraine Willis, who he would marry later on May 9, 1940. Later work with Cab Calloway, triggered the huge fight known, as the The Spitball Story, as Calloway found confrontation with Gillespie’s childlike behavior and approach to soloing. However, Dizzy Gillespie, with work with Charlie Parker, gave great contribution to the development of the styles of Bebop, Swing, Latin, and Afro-Cuban, and influence to many other musicians, especially trumpeters of Miles Davis, Jon Faddis, Fats Navarro, Clifford Brown, and Arturo Sandoval, as well as many
Gillespie ‘Dizzy’ nature earned him his famous title. A mistake of two dancers falling into his trumpet inspired Gillespie’s famous ‘bent trumpet’ which gave him his rare tone. Dizzy Gillespie even held a gag presidential campaign of “Vote Dizzy” for racial equality and turning the White House into ‘the Blues House’. Gillespie’s fantastic individuality gave a greater impact to the incredible music that he wrote as a composer. Gillespie’s most famous original recordings include "Groovin' High", "Woody 'n' You", and "Salt Peanuts" for their new variant style, and "A Night in Tunisia" is very notable as