Dizzy Gillespie

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Lore & Background

Gillespie was born in Cheraw, South Carolina, the youngest of nine children. His father was a local bandleader. He started piano at age four and taught himself trombone and trumpet by age twelve. After hearing Roy Eldridge on the radio, he dreamed of becoming a jazz musician. He won a scholarship to the Laurinburg Institute, attended for two years, then moved with his family to Philadelphia in 1935. His first professional job was with the Frank Fairfax Orchestra in 1935, followed by stints with Edgar Hayes and Teddy Hill. He made his first recording, 'King Porter Stomp,' with Hill's band. In 1940 he married dancer Lorraine Willis. He joined Cab Calloway's orchestra in 1939 but was fired in late 1941 after a physical altercation involving a knife. During World War II he was classified 4-F after telling his Selective Service board he might create 'mistaken identity' of who he shot. In 1943 he joined the Earl Hines band, which he later called 'the incubator of bop.' He then joined Billy Eckstine's band, reuniting with Charlie Parker.

Reader's Guide

In the 1940s, Gillespie, with Charlie Parker, became a major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz. His compositions such as 'Groovin' High,' 'Woody 'n' You,' 'Salt Peanuts,' and 'A Night in Tunisia' were harmonically and rhythmically distinct from swing. The first formal recording of bebop was a session led by Coleman Hawkins on February 16, 1944, featuring Gillespie's 'Woody 'n' You.' A concert at New York's Town Hall on June 22, 1945, brought bebop to a broad audience. He organized big bands starting in late 1945 and signed with Bluebird Records in February 1946. His big bands, with arrangements by Tadd Dameron, Gil Fuller, and George Russell, popularized bebop. He also featured Cuban rumberos Chano Pozo and Sabu Martinez, sparking interest in Afro-Cuban jazz. He taught and influenced many trumpeters, including Miles Davis, Jon Faddis, Fats Navarro, Clifford Brown, Arturo Sandoval, Lee Morgan, and Chuck Mangione. Critic Scott Yanow noted that Gillespie's contributions to jazz were huge and that he is remembered as one of the greatest jazz trumpeters of all time.

Did You Know?

• Gillespie started playing piano at age four and taught himself trombone and trumpet by age twelve.
• He was fired from Cab Calloway's orchestra in late 1941 after stabbing Calloway in the leg with a knife during a rehearsal spat over a spitball.
• At his World War II Selective Service interview, Gillespie told the board he might create 'mistaken identity' of who he shot, earning a 4-F classification.
• His trademark bent trumpet was created accidentally on January 6, 1953, when the bell was bent upward at a party; he liked the sound so much he had a special trumpet made with a 45-degree raised bell.
• In 1956, Gillespie organized a State Department tour of the Middle East, earning him the nickname 'the Ambassador of Jazz.'

Musical Innovation and the Bebop Revolution

Gillespie, alongside Charlie Parker, became a major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz in the 1940s. Building on the virtuosic style of Roy Eldridge, he added layers of harmonic and rhythmic complexity previously unheard in jazz. His compositions—'Groovin' High,' 'Woody 'n' You,' 'Salt Peanuts,' and 'A Night in Tunisia'—sounded radically different from the swing popular at the time. The Earl Hines band of 1943, which included Parker and other forward-thinking musicians, was described by composer Gunther Schuller as playing 'all the flatted fifth chords and all the modern harmonies and substitutions and Gillespie runs in the trumpet section work.' Gillespie himself said, 'People talk about the Hines band being "the incubator of bop"... but people also have the erroneous impression that the music was new. It was not. The music evolved from what went before.' He performed at famous jazz clubs including Minton's Playhouse and Monroe's Uptown House. The first formal recording of bebop was a session led by Coleman Hawkins on February 16, 1944, featuring Gillespie's 'Woody 'n' You.' A concert at New York's Town Hall on June 22, 1945, presented bebop to a broad audience.

Early Life and Musical Formation

Born John Birks Gillespie on October 21, 1917, in Cheraw, South Carolina, he was the youngest of nine children of Lottie and James Gillespie. His father was a local bandleader, so instruments were made available to the children. James died when Dizzy was only ten years old. Gillespie started to play the piano at age four; by the time he was 12, he taught himself how to play the trombone and the trumpet. From the night Gillespie heard his idol, Roy Eldridge, on the radio, he dreamed of becoming a jazz musician. He won a music scholarship to the Laurinburg Institute in North Carolina, which he attended for two years before accompanying his family when they moved to Philadelphia in 1935. His first professional job was with the Frank Fairfax Orchestra in 1935, after which he joined the orchestras of Edgar Hayes and later Teddy Hill, replacing Frankie Newton as second trumpet in May 1937. Teddy Hill's band was where Gillespie made his first recording, 'King Porter Stomp.' In 1939, with the help of Willis, Gillespie joined Cab Calloway's orchestra. He recorded one of his earliest compositions, 'Pickin' the Cabbage,' with Calloway in 1940. After an altercation between the two, Calloway fired Gillespie in late 1941.

Legacy and Influence on Generations of Trumpeters

Gillespie 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. Critic Scott Yanow wrote, 'Dizzy Gillespie's contributions to jazz were huge. One of the greatest jazz trumpeters of all time, Gillespie was such a complex player that his contemporaries ended up being similar to those of Miles Davis and Fats Navarro instead, and it was not until Jon Faddis's emergence in the 1970s that Dizzy's style was successfully recreated [...] Gillespie is remembered, by both critics and fans alike, as one of the greatest jazz trumpeters of all time.' He won several Grammy Awards. His big bands of the late 1940s featured Cuban rumberos Chano Pozo and Sabu Martinez, sparking interest in Afro-Cuban jazz. In 1956, Gillespie organized a band to travel on a State Department tour of the Middle East, which was well-received internationally and earned him the nickname 'the Ambassador of Jazz.'

Showmanship, Personality, and Iconic Image

Gillespie's combination of musicianship, showmanship, and wit made him a leading popularizer of early bebop styles. His beret and horn-rimmed spectacles, scat singing, bent horn, pouched cheeks, and light-hearted personality have made him an enduring icon. His mischievous humor and adventuresome approach to soloing clashed with Cab Calloway, who referred to it as 'Chinese music.' During a rehearsal, someone threw a spitball; Calloway blamed Gillespie, who refused to take the blame. Gillespie stabbed Calloway in the leg with a knife; Calloway had minor cuts on the thigh and wrist. After the two were separated, Calloway fired Gillespie. At his Selective Service interview during World War II, he told the local board, 'in this stage of my life here in the United States whose foot has been in my ass?' and 'So if you put me out there with a gun in my hand and tell me to shoot at the enemy, I'm liable to create a case of "mistaken identity" of who I might shoot.' He was classified 4-F. On January 6, 1953, he threw a party for his wife Lorraine at Snookie's, a club in Manhattan, where his trumpet's bell was accidentally bent upward. He liked the sound so much he had a special trumpet made with a 45-degree raised bell, a customization that would become his trademark.