Dizzy Gillespie

John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie ( Cheraw ( South Carolina ), 21 October 1917 - Englewood ( New Jersey ), January 6, 1993 ) was a leading American jazz trumpeter, bandleader and composer. He began playing the trumpet at its thirteenth.

Gillespie moved to Philadelphia in 1935 to 1937 with Teddy Hill to form a first ensemble there. In the early forties, he played with jazz greats Charlie Parker , Thelonious Monk and Kenny Clarke .

In 1945 he began to lead his own small ensembles to the then new bebop music playing. He led his own big band made ​​from 1946 to 1950. Gillespie in that period pioneering jazz music which consisted of a fusion of jazz, Latin American and African-American music. His most important project of the years sixties was a group with among others James Moody . He did back also vying for the presidency but was not elected.

Gillespie often played on a trumpet which the beaker stood at an angle of 45 degrees; this was a bit his trademark. According to his autobiography, which was articulated in his trumpet by an accident on 6 January 1953. It changed the sound of the trumpet, and this suited Gillespie. Gillespie also of play was remarkable: he played with chubby cheeks, which is very unusual for a trumpeter.

Gillespie wrote many jazz classics like Manteca , A Night in Tunisia , Birk's Works and Con Alma.

In the seventies and eighties, he mainly played the role of established value at the scene and was the culmination of a resurgence of bopmuziek. He performed a music teacher (Mr. Hampton) in the eighth episode of The Cosby Show, which aired on November 8, 1984. In 1989 there was a CD with live recordings of his own songs.Gillespie played with a big band, the "Dizzy Gillespie and the United Nation Orchestra". The name of this album was "Live at the Royal Festival Hall."

He celebrated his seventy-fifth birthday yet with a season appearances in New York, but not much cancer was diagnosed later with him. The leading theoretician behind the bebop music, trumpet virtuoso, teacher and visionary jazz musician died in 1993.

Discography

 * 1937-49 The Complete RCA Victor Recordings
 * 1941 The Immortal Charlie Christian (with Christian, Thelonious Monk, Delta Music re-released on cassette Laser Light)
 * 1950 Bird & Diz
 * 1952 Dee Gee Days - The Savoy Sessions
 * 1953 Jazz at Massey Hall
 * 1953 Diz & Getz (with Stan Getz , Oscar Peterson , Ray Brown , Max Roach , Herb Ellis )
 * 1954 Afro
 * 1956 Modern Jazz Sextet
 * 1957 Sittin 'In (with Stan Getz , Coleman Hawkins )
 * 1957 Dizzy Gillespie at Newport
 * 1957 Sonny Side Up (with Sonny Rollins , Sonny Stitt )
 * 1957 "Dizzy In Greece
 * 1958 Birks' Works (Dizzy Gillespie Big Band)
 * 1959 Have Trumpet, Will Excite!
 * 1959 The ebullient Mr. Gillespie
 * 1960 A Portrait of Duke Ellington
 * 1961 An Electrifying Evening with the Dizzy Gillespie Quintet
 * 1962 Dizzy on the French Riviera ( Philips Records )
 * 1963 New Wave ( Philips Records ) (with Lalo Schifrin , Bola Sete )
 * 1963 Something Old, Something New
 * 1963 Dizzy Gillespie and the Double Six of Paris
 * 1964 Jambo Caribe (with James Moody , Kenny Barron )
 * 1967 Swing Low, Sweet Cadillac
 * 1968 Live at the Village Vanguard (with Sonny Lester
 * 1968 Reunion Big Band in Berlin ( MPS Records )
 * 1969 Strictly Bebop (with Babs Gonzalez , Tad Dameron, Sonny Rollins, Miles Davis, John Coltrane)
 * 1971 Dizzy Gillespie and the Mitchell Ruff Duo In Concert ( Mainstream Records )
 * 1974 Oscar Peterson and Dizzy Gillespie
 * 1975 Afro-Cuban Jazz Moods (with Machito , Chico O'Farrill , Mario Bauza )
 * 1975 Jazz Maturity ... Where It's Coming From
 * 1975 Oscar Peterson and The Trumpet Kings - jousts
 * 1975 The Trumpet Kings at Montreux '75
 * 1976 Dizzy's Party
 * 1977 The Gifted Ones (with Count Basie )
 * 1981 Digital at Montreux, 1980 ( Toots Thielemans , Bernard Purdie )
 * New Faces in 1985 (with Robert Ameen , Branford Marsalis , Kenny Kirkland , Lonnie Plaxico , Charlie Christian )
 * 1988 Oop Pop a Da (with Moe Koffman )
 * 1989 Live at the Royal Festival Hall London July 10, 1989
 * 1989 The Symphony Sessions (with Ron Holloway, Ed Cherry, John Lee, Ignacio Berroa )
 * 1990 The Winter in Lisbon
 * 1990 Rhythm Stick ( CTI Records )
 * 1990 Live! at Blues Alley (with Ron Holloway, Ed Cherry, John Lee, Ignacio Berroa )
 * 1992 Groovin 'High
 * 1992 To Bird With Love
 * In 1995 v.2 Paris Vogue RCA 1995

Filmography

 * 1983 Jazz in America (Embassy)
 * In 1986 Redondo Beach / Jazz In America (Embassy)
 * 1991 Dizzy Gillespie: A Night in Tunisia (VIEW)
 * 1993 Live in London (Kultur Video)
 * 1998 Dizzy Gillespie and Charles Mingus (Vidjazz)
 * 1998 Dizzy Gillespie: Ages (Vidjazz)
 * 1999 Jazz Casual: Dizzy Gillespie (Rhino)
 * 2001 Jivin'in Be-Bop (Jazz Classic Video)
 * 2001 Dizzy Gillespie: A Night in Chicago (VIEW)
 * 2001 Live at the Royal Festival Hall 1987 (Pioneer)
 * 2002 Live in Montreal (Image)
 * 2003 20th Century Jazz Masters
 * 2003 Swing Era (with Mel Torme ) (Ditto)
 * 2005 Norman Granz Jazz in Montreux: Presents Dizzy Gillespie Sextet '77 (Eagle Vision USA)
 * 2005 Summer Jazz Live at New Jersey, 1987 (FS World Jazz / Alpha Centauri Entertainment)
 * 2005 A Night in Havana: Dizzy Gillespie in Cuba (New Video Group)
 * 2006 Jazz Icons: Live in '58 & '70 (Universal)
 * 2008 London Concerts 1965 & 1966 (Impro-Jazz Spain)