Dizzy Gillespie - St. Louis Blues

John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie (1917-1993) was an American jazz trumpet player, bandleader, singer, and composer dubbed "the sound of surprise." Dizzy was born in Cheraw, SC, the youngest of 9 children. His father passed away when he was only 10 years old. It was at age twelve when he taught himself how to play the trombone and the trumpet. He had always dreamed of being a jazz musician, and he was well on his way. He even turned down a music scholarship to the Laurinburg Institute so he could start his music career. Along with Charlie Parker, he was a major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz. Bebop was known as the first modern jazz style. However, it was unpopular in the beginning and was not viewed as positively as swing music. Bebop was seen as an outgrowth from swing and not as a revolution. The inspiration for his iconic bent trumpet came about in two different scenarios. One was that before a performance someone sat on his trumpet, causing it to bend. The other relation has to do with Dizzy getting the idea from a trumpet player in England. This trumpeteer had trouble with his vision and torqued the instrument to better read music while playing. Whatever the reason, it stuck with him, and he used a professionally manufactured one from 1954 until the end of his career. Gillespie passed away from pancreatic cancer in 1992, and is buried in Queens, NY. This is him on The Muppets Show performing "St. Louis Blues," a song composed by W.C. Handy in 1914.

www.dizzygillespie.org

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