Dizzy Gillespie Summary
John Birks Gillespie also known as Dizzy was born on October 21, 1917, in
Cheraw, South Carolina. Dizzy without question is one of the best to have picked up a Trumpet and make music that would change the landscape of Jazz. The musical genies of Dizzy also extended to Piano as he stared playing on the ivory keys at age four and the Trombone, which he was self taught at age 12. Dizzy grew up in poverty and he used his musical talent to win a scholarship to an agricultural school (Laurinburg Institute in North Carolina) for two years, where he played in the band and took music classes. In 1935 at (add age) Gillespie dropped out of school to look for work as a musician. Gillespie’s
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With eagerness they played a couple of gigs, in order to see if they had come upon a style that would be as well received as swing music.
Gillespie and Charlie Parker are known as the co-founders of the bebop movement; the two worked together in the 1940’s and early 50’s. Gillespie and his friends was trying to make the music of bebop more of a classy style, something different from the sound of swing music from the tone and rhythm of the music. “Bebop was an extreme, it was the only kind of idea that could have restored any amount of excitement and beauty to contemporary”.(Blues People pg 199) . Gillespie and Parker were in the mindset that trying different ways to maneuver music notes, from that a more stylish sound could be obtained. With dedication to their craft and a bit by accident, like with all whom have been branded geniuses something’s are created when least expected, and that could be said of Dizzy. In the brilliance that was Dizzy Gillespie he fashioned great and timeless bebop classics such as "Groovin' High," "Salt Peanuts" and "A Night in
Tunisia". Dizzy stayed true to bebop all of his life in whatever group of
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“The bebop costume which become the rage for hip or hep (then) young
American was merely an adaptation of the dress Dizzy Gillespie one of the pioneers of bebop, wore. (And Dizzy’s dress merely a personal version of a kind of fashionable Negro city dress).”(Blues People pg 190). A long with the music aspect of bebop, Gillespie helped create the next thing that came along with the bebop movement, style and appearance. His late 1940’s look would include a beret, horn-rim glasses, and goatee. That 1940’s swagger became the unofficial
“bebop uniform” and a precursor to the beatnik styles of the 1950’s which became Gillespie signature chic, that he made popular. Gillespie helped create the beboppers signature looks for the next generation of musicians, which Dizzy inspired to greatness.
Gillespie is one of the first musicians to combined Afro-Cuban sound, Caribbean and Brazilian rhythms with jazz. Gillespie differed from other musicians by being a masterful showman who could make his music seem both accessible and a fun ride for the listening audience’s ear. Around the late 1940s, Gillespie formed his own orchestra it was considered to be one of the finest large jazz
In many different scenes, dances were created to capture how each character felt in the scene that they were in. For example, when the crow was being bullied while he was tied up on the cross, Fatima created a dance to show him finding his inner courage and no longer having fear of the birds. I loved when Dorothy and Scarecrow sang walking down the yellow brick road because the dance gave the sensibility of people uniquely living the spirit of expression. The dance looked fun and vibrant like many of the jazz dances we see today. One of the styles of jazz that were engaged in the film was bebop. Bebop is characterized during the 1940s as having a fast tempo and improvisation based on the structures of a situation that inspired the movement. I noticed that bebop was displayed well when Ne-Yo danced because of its complex technique, fast tempo, and improvisation while singing at the same time. This style of jazz was suitable for the presentation of the film because it kept me as an audience engaged in every dance that was choreographed. With the tempo being very fast, it allowed for the movement to be big and easily
After being seen on tv he started Modeling and then was selected by America's Next Top Model casting team to be on the show. He won the award for America's Next Top Model and was the first deaf person to win the award. Since he was very popular now he also ended up on the tv show “ Dancing With The Stars” and then won
violin, piano, cornet, alto horn, flute, baritone. Like his father, who played the trombone in the U.S. Marines Band, John, too, learned to play the trombone. John also spent time studying voice.
Quotes: Now I became not just good, but exceptional, with Chet Douglas my only rival in sight. I began to see that Chet was weakened by the very genuineness of his interest in learning." -Gene -page 46
room and play then, he took piano lessons when he was seven. By the age of
He was born six weeks early with retinopathy of prematurity. It’s an eye disorder which was exacerbated when he receives too much oxygen in an incubator, leading to his blindness. Before the age of 10, he taught himself how to play the harmonica, piano, and drums. Stevie Wonder was discovered by Ronnie White of the Motown band the Miracles as age 11. He then auditioned for Berry Gordy which was the founder of Motown and he signed him to a record deal. In 1962, they renamed Stevie to Little Stevie Wonder. His commitment to his gifted, he was faced with the difficulty of staying on the topic relevant to what he was known for singing. He grew from a bot to a man, and his voice matured into a tenor. In 1971, Stevie Wonder negotiated a new contract with Motown which gave him a lot of control over his records. Over the course throughout the years, he had four outstanding albums. Stevie Wonder created some of the most indelible songs in popular music history. His album Talking Book offered two number one hits. Next was the album Innervision The record featured two socially conscious number one R&B charts. His first finale release of Fulfillingness was inspired after he survived a bad car accident that left him in a coma. He had two number one hits both the pop and R&B on this album as well. After this Stevie Wonder has created many more albums with a lot more number one hits. With Stevie’s
beginning just wanted to play music. But he got so much more than just that and was able
piano, just by lifting the lid and trying the keys, and it had become clear to his parents
After his high school graduation he enrolled at Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee. There he "discovered his Blackness" and made a lifelong commitment to his people. He taught in rural Black schools in Tennessee during summer vacations, thus expanding his awareness of his Black culture.
Blakey enjoyed playing the drums, and soon developed a unique style of play. He constantly used sudden dynamic shifts along with odd interjections. His style fit perfectly with Garner's idiosyncratic approach to playing the piano. This band still under the leadership of Blakey would only stay together about four...
He did well when it came to playing different instruments. His favorite musician was Beethoven. He played a violin that he found with two strings at Pershing Square in Los Angeles. He was a man of many talents when it came to playing instruments. He was diagnosed with Schizophrenia when he was in college and he started to hear voices and it took over his life as evidence by him dropping out of college and becoming homeless. Nathaniel played any instrument that he could find. He found instruments such as the violin, trumpet, and cello and transported them in his shopping cart.
the world. Gershwin , at the young age of fifteen, quit school and became a song plugger.
MacAdams, Lewis. Birth of the Cool: Beat, Bebop, and the American Avant-Garde. New York: The Free Press, 2001.
with the ambition to be a musical icon. And it all began in the early
Andrews, John. (1998). What bebop meant to jazz history. A review of Scott Deveux’ book “The Birth of the Bebop: A Social and musical history.”