Bebop trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie could play circles around most of his peers and, for just about 50 years, he did just that. Throughout his long and innovative career, he looked like the epitome of a jazz musician--wearing sunglasses, goatee beard, beret, and playing into his trademark crooked horn. When he visited St. Louis in 1944 with Billy Eckstine and Charlie Parker, they inspired a young man in the audience by the name of Miles Davis, who would go on to become one of the all-time jazz greats. As bebop reached its twilight, Gillespie embraced Afro-Cuban music, introducing African, Latin and salsa elements into jazz and popular music.
In 1964, Gillespie put himself forward as a presidential candidate, with various friends and jazz stars in office. He was not elected. Dizzy Gillespie continued to record and perform throughout the 70s and 80s. In 1993 he died of pancreatic cancer, at the age of 75.
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| john m | 8 |
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