Results for "Dizzy Gillespie"

Dizzy Gillespie

Born: October 21, 1917

John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie, along with Charlie Parker, ushered in the era of Be-Bop in the American jazz tradition. He was born Cheraw, South Carolina, and was the youngest of nine children. He began playing piano at the age of four and received a music scholarship to the Laurinburg Institute in North Carolina. Most noted for his trademark "swollen cheeks", Gillespie admitted to copying the style of trumpeter Roy Eldridge early in his career.

He replaced Eldridge in the 'Teddy Hill' Band after Eldridge's departure. He eventually began experimenting and creating his own style which would eventually come to the attention of Mario Bauza, the Godfather of Afro-Cuban jazz who was then a member of the Cap Calloway Orchestra, joining Calloway in 1939, Gillespie was fired after two years when he cut a portion of the Calloway's buttocks with a knife after Calloway accused him of throwing spitballs (the two men later became lifelong friends and often retold this story with great relish until both of their deaths).

The Sound Of America

By Norman Granz

Label: Verve
Released: 2026
Track listing: CD1: Blues; Picasso; Tenderly; Like Someone in Love; New Basie Blues; Castle Rock; Con Poco Coco ; Louise; Taking a Chance on Love; Easy Living; Flamingo; You Won’t Be Satisfied (Until You Break My Heart); I’ll Never Be the Same ; Dale’s Wail ; That Old Black Magic

CD2: Laura; Session #1 — Ballad Medley: All the Things You Are/Dearly Beloved/The Nearness of You/I’ll Get By/Everything Happens to Me/The Man I Love/What’s New?/Someone to Watch Over Me/Isn’t It Romantic; Thou Swell; Cocktails for Two; Why Was I Born?; On the Street Where You Live; Lullaby of the Leaves; Blue Room I Thought About You ; Chelsea Bridge — rehearsal; No Strings.

John Coltrane: The Tiberi Tapes

by Mike Jurkovic
November 1, 2026

Even for those out there not prone to dwelling or pondering on the minutiae of history and myth, a brief crash course on this most necessary of historical recordings is warranted. Recorded on a now primitive (but once top-tech) portable Concertone TR-100 three-inch, reel-to-reel tape recorder, journeyman tenor saxophonist Frank Tiberi-- Tiberi roamed the bandstands with Benny ...

Sarah Pillow: Wanderer

by Pierre Giroux
November 1, 2026

The real test of a jazz singer is what happens when they step away from the familiar. Singing a standard is one thing, but finding something personal in a song done countless times is quite another. Sarah Pillow understands the difference. On Wanderer, she takes us through a varied collection of music and fully inhabits each ...

Enrico Rava: The Secret Corners of a Master

by Marco Iacoboni
October 29, 2026

Meeting Enrico Rava means stepping into a world of stories, musicians and memories spanning decades of jazz history. We met on the occasion of the release of Corners, the ECM album he recorded with his band, Fearless Five, and a very special guest, Joe Lovano. With so many anecdotes, encounters and digressions to draw ...

Jerry Z: Break Allegro

by Jack Bowers
October 28, 2026

Jerry Z, a worthy successor to such organ maestros as Joey DeFrancesco, Mel Rhyne, Jimmy Smith, Charles Earland, Jimmy McGriff and others too numerous to single out, shows on Break Allegro, only the second recording as leader of his own group, that he clearly deserves to be mentioned in such esteemed company. In musical ...

Interpretations of Thelonious Monk by Max Roach, Leon Thomas, Wynton Marsalis, Others

by David W. Daniels
October 27, 2026

In addition to the musicians named, new music is featured by Vanisha Gould, Steve Davis, and a Charles Tolliver reissue. Playlist Grachan Moncur III “Monk In Wonderland" from Exploration (Capri) 00:00 Thelonious Monk “Bye-Ya (Live)" from Monk (Live) (Gearbox) 8:40 Sonny Rollins “Autumn Nocturne" from The Standard Sonny Rollins (RCA Victor) 18:18 Dinah Washington ...

Enrico Rava - Gli angoli segreti di un trombettista

by Marco Iacoboni
October 26, 2026

Incontrare Enrico Rava significa entrare in un mondo di storie, musicisti e ricordi che attraversano decenni di Storia del Jazz. Lo abbiamo incontrato in occasione dell'uscita di Corners, il disco realizzato con i Fearless Five e la partecipazione di un ospite d'eccezione: Joe Lovano. Tra aneddoti, incontri e digressioni, il difficile non è stato trovare gli ...

Flamenco And Jazz Continue Along Different Paths Toward Institutional Recognition

by Francisco Julio Arenas Cabello
October 25, 2026

Nine decades have passed since the Spanish poet Federico García Lorca (Granada, 1898--Granada, August 18, 1936) was silenced. Yet his vision of duende--an expression of deep, dark emotion--and the blues, shaped both by Granada and Harlem, remains alive and in need of institutional protection. This exploration compares the explicit and robust cultural support given by Spain ...

Jazz is Alive and Well in NY: A Jazzcultural Friday

by Dan Bilawsky
October 15, 2026

Jazz clubs and communities are two very different things, yet Spike Wilner has managed to perfect the formula to meld them into one.  The noted proprietor and pianist has long been creating and maintaining hospitable environments for the music and the musicians--at Smalls, the best jazz basement in the business, and Mezzrow, its complementary piano haven ...