Dizzy Gillespie

Object Details

Exhibition Label: Born Cheraw, South Carolina; Jazz trumpeter, composer, and bandleader John Birks “Dizzy” Gillespie first gained fame in the early 1940s, but his talent and staying power were such that he was still a dynamic presence on the music scene six decades later. Gillespie was barely out of his teens when he joined Cab Calloway’s legendary big band in 1939, yet the maturity of his playing was already undeniable. His solos enlivened many of Calloway’s recordings, and Gillespie’s innovative arrangements laid the groundwork for his future experiments in rhythm and composition. After meeting jazz saxophonist Charlie Parker in Kansas City in 1940, Gillespie joined Parker, pianist Thelonious Monk, and other young musicians in freewheeling jam sessions that spawned a new, energetic form of jazz known as bebop. Emerging rapidly as one of bebop’s greatest practitioners, Gillespie also played a pivotal role in introducing Afro-Cuban jazz to worldwide audiences. He toured extensively and was hailed as modern jazz’s most ebullient ambassador.

Credit Line: National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of Estrellita Karsh in memory of Yousuf Karsh

1990

Medium: Gelatin silver print
Dimensions: Image: 27.9 × 21.5 cm (11 × 8 7/16"); Sheet: 35.4 × 27.6 cm (13 15/16 × 10 7/8"); Mount: 35.5 × 27.9 cm (14 × 11"); Mat: 55.9 × 40.6 cm (22 × 16")

National Portrait Gallery

Topic: Music\Musical instrument\Trumpet; Dizzy Gillespie: Male; Dizzy Gillespie: Performing Arts\Performer\Musician\Jazz; Dizzy Gillespie: Performing Arts\Performer\Musician\Horn\Trumpet; Portrait

GUID (Link to Original Record): http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sm4fec48cc9-d2cd-41f1-b20d-25d75ae145a4