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.

Adventures In Jazz In Wales and Beyond In The 1960s

by Mike Raggett
October 11, 2026

School Days “So are you coming tonight, Barry?" Phil Adams asked his colleague. “No, I think I'm going to give tonight a miss. It's so cold out there and I can't face the walk back here after the gig again. I doubt we'll get a lift tonight." “Well, I can't miss it. ...

Remembering Ray Brown and Lou Donaldson on their centennial

by Larry Slater
October 2, 2026

The bassist Ray Brown had one of the most prolific and successful careers in jazz. He did it all, playing in the 40s with Charlie Parker, Art Tatum and Dizzy Gillespie, before becoming a founding member of the early Modern Jazz Quartet. He was a member of Oscar Peterson's trio for 14 years as well as ...

I Love New York

by Marshall Bowden
October 1, 2002

This article first appeared on All About Jazz in October 2001. There's another reason as well. New York City is a financial and business center, certainly, and this is one reason it was marked for attack. But it is also very much our nation's cultural and arts center, the showpiece of the country that ...

Adios, Chico

by Jack Bowers
June 29, 2001

This article first appeared on All About Jazz in June 2001. Big--band Jazz lost another of its brightest lights on June 27 when bandleader Chico O'Farrill, an early champion and tireless promoter of Afro--Cuban Jazz, died in Manhattan at age 79. O'Farrill's popularity had crested during the past half--dozen years ...

Kelly Green: Taking Care of the Music

by R.J. DeLuke
September 28, 2026

Singer/pianist Kelly Green works in a field that can be difficult to negotiate: jazz. In the United States, its popularity doesn't reach that of pop music in all its forms or rock music. But it is always there as a thriving art form. For the keepers of the flame at all levels of talent, ...

Old School with Wendel Brunious

by Thomas Cole
September 24, 2026

Growing up in my family, there was quite a bit of music around the house, as my brother John Brunious would be practicing and my daddy would be doing the same. John had actually taught me to play the blues, beginning with Going to New Orleans, first learning it on the piano. Of course, there were ...

Jasur Khalilov: From Falak to Fusion

by Anastasia Bogomolets
September 18, 2026

Jazz has always been a music of dialogue, shaped by encounters between cultures, traditions, and individual voices. In Tajikistan, a post-Soviet country in Central Asia, one of the spaces where this dialogue has taken place is the Dushanbe International Jazz Festival (Dushanbe is the capital of Tajikistan), an initiative that brought together musicians from Central Asia, ...

Mark Gross: Jazz for Teens

by B.D. Lenz
September 8, 2026

For many young musicians, learning jazz is about much more than learning how to play an instrument. It's about developing confidence, learning to listen, finding your own voice, and discovering how to work with others.Few people understand that better than Mark Gross. As Director of Jazz Instruction at NJPAC, Gross has spent years helping ...