Lyrics | Artists | Dizzy Gillespie

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Dizzy Gillespie

A major figure in jazz history, trumpeter, composer, arranger, bandleader and performer Dizzy Gillespie is not only one of the finest soloists on his instrument, but also a pioneer of bebop and Afro-Cuban jazz. Born John Birks Gillespie in Cheraw, North Carolina, on October 21, 1917, he began learning the piano before trying the trombone, and then preferring the trumpet in his teens. In Philadelphia, where his family moved in 1935, he joined Frank Fairfax's band and was nicknamed "Dizzy" by pianist Bill Doggett, before replacing his idol Roy Eldridge in Teddy Hill's band. After a...