Today we remember the late great John Birks Dizzy Gillespie (/ɡɨˈlɛspi/; October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer and occasional singer. AllMusics Scott Yanow wrote, Dizzy Gillespies contributions to jazz were huge. One of the greatest jazz trumpeters of all time (some would say the best), Gillespie was such a complex player that his contemporaries ended up copying Miles Davis and Fats Navarro instead, and it was not until Jon Faddiss emergence in the 1970s that Dizzys style was successfully recreated Arguably Gillespie is remembered, by both critics and fans alike, as one of the greatest jazz trumpeters of all time. Gillespie was a trumpet virtuoso and improviser, building on the virtuoso style of Roy Eldridge but adding layers of harmonic complexity previously unknown in jazz. His beret and horn-rimmed spectacles, his scat singing, his bent horn, pouched cheeks and his light-hearted personality were essential in popularizing bebop. In the 1940s Gillespie, together with Charlie Parker, became a major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz. He taught and influenced many other musicians, including trumpeters Miles Davis, Jon Faddis, Fats Navarro, Clifford Brown, Arturo Sandoval, Lee Morgan, Chuck Mangione, and balladeer Johnny Hartman. A longtime resident of Englewood, New Jersey, he died of pancreatic cancer January 6, 1993, aged 75, and was buried in the Flushing Cemetery, Queens, New York. Mike Longo delivered a eulogy at his funeral. He was also with Gillespie on the night he died, along with Jon Faddis and a select few others.
Posted on: Wed, 07 Jan 2015 04:07:50 +0000
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