- published: 10 Aug 2012
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John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie ( /ɡɨˈlɛspi/; October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer and, occasionally, singer.
Allmusic's Scott Yanow wrote, "Dizzy Gillespie's contributions to jazz were huge. One of the greatest jazz trumpeters of all time (some would say the best), Gillespie was such a complex player that his contemporaries ended up copying Miles Davis and Fats Navarro instead, and it was not until Jon Faddis's emergence in the 1970s that Dizzy's style was successfully recreated . . . Arguably Gillespie is remembered, by both critics and fans alike, as one of the greatest jazz trumpeters of all time."
Gillespie was a trumpet virtuoso and improviser, building on the virtuoso style of Roy Eldridge but adding layers of harmonic complexity previously unknown in jazz. His beret and horn-rimmed spectacles, his scat singing, his bent horn, pouched cheeks and his light-hearted personality were essential in popularizing bebop.
In the 1940s Gillespie, together with Charlie Parker, became a major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz. He taught and influenced many other musicians, including trumpeters Miles Davis, Fats Navarro, Clifford Brown, Arturo Sandoval, Lee Morgan, Jon Faddis and Chuck Mangione.
Actors: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (actor), Ella Fitzgerald (actress), Janet Jackson (actress), Tyne Daly (actress), Charlie Watts (actor), Duke Ellington (actor), Ron Perlman (actor), Andy Garcia (actor), Dizzy Gillespie (actor), Danny Glover (actor), Jeff Goldblum (actor), Bill Cosby (actor), Billy Crystal (actor), Mickey Cottrell (miscellaneous crew), John Legend (actor),
Genres: Biography, Documentary,Actors: Gloria Estefan (actress), Fionnula Flanagan (actress), Steven Bauer (actor), Miriam Colon (actress), Miguel Sandoval (actor), Andy Garcia (producer), David Paymer (actor), Julio Oscar Mechoso (actor), Charles S. Dutton (actor), Freddy Rodríguez (actor), William Marquez (actor), Andy Garcia (actor), Tomas Milian (actor), Michael Brown (editor), Joseph Sargent (director),
Genres: Biography, Drama, Music,Actors: Forest Whitaker (actor), Clint Eastwood (director), Tony Todd (actor), John Witherspoon (actor), Anna Levine (actress), Clint Eastwood (producer), Tim Russ (actor), Tony Cox (actor), Keith David (actor), Hamilton Camp (actor), Matthew Faison (actor), Bill Cobbs (actor), James Handy (actor), Lloyd Nelson (miscellaneous crew), Joel Cox (editor),
Plot: Saxophone player Charlie Parker comes to New York in 1940. He is quickly noticed for his remarkable way of playing. He becomes a drug addict but his loving wife Chan tries to help him.
Keywords: 1940s, 1950s, adultery, african-american, bebop, death-of-child, death-of-daughter, drug-addict, drug-addiction, drugs