Dizzy Gillespie

John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie (1917 -1993), the American trumpeter, bandleader and composer, was the most visible and durable leader of the generation of musical iconoclasts who revolutionized jazz in the years following World War II. Along with now-legendary figures such as his friend and frequent collaborator Charlie Parker, Gillespie was a principal creator of the "Be-Bop" style. Breaking from the precise arrangements and massed section voicing of the Big Band Era, Gillespie's Be-Bop emphasized exotic harmonies informed by modern classical music, a breakneck tempo that leaped ahead of the predictable rhythms of the dance floor, and breathtaking double-timed solos that placed an unprecedented demand on the musician's technical prowess and powers of invention. Apart from his incendiary virtuosity on the trumpet, Gillespie made music history with his innovative compositions such as Night in Tunisia and Manteca. At the same time, he pioneered the fusion of jazz with Afro-Cuban rhythms and the music of Africa. T