A famous trumpeter, bandleader, composer, and singer, Dizzy Gillespie was a pioneer of modern jazz and a key figure to music of the 20th century. Dizzy was responsible for being a major figure in the development of modern jazz alongside other famous musicians such as Miles Davis and Fats Navarro. Gillespie covered the genres of jazz, and bebop music. He was well known for his swollen cheeks and famous angled trumpet bell. Gillespie worked with the jazz greats such as Charlie Parker, Duke Ellington and Ella Fitzgerald. He is considered one of the most influential figures of jazz and bebop of his time. Dizzy Gillespie was born John Birks Gillespie on October 21, 1917 in Cheraw, South Carolina. Dizzy was the youngest of nine children and the
With his new big band, Gillespie attempted to popularize bebop and make himself the signature figure of the style. Dizzy was the soloist and showman of his own big band which performed from 1946 to 1950. In 1953, someone accidently sat on his trumpet. Due to this, the bell on the instrument now titled upward at a 45-degree angle. Dizzy discovered that this new shape to his beloved instrument created an improved sound quality. From then on, he always incorporated this shape into his new trumpets. With his own big band, Gillespie was best known for his songs “Oop Bob Sh’Bam” and “Leap Frog.” In 1956, Gillespie traveled to the Middle East on a cultural mission sponsored by the United States State Department. While there he wrote and recorded his famous piece titled “Tunisia.” In 1959 Dizzy Gillespie released an album titled A portrait of Duke Ellington dedicated to the famous musician. In 1964 Dizzy Gillespie ran for the U.S.
One reason being that he is from South Carolina, that state in which I attend school. It is great learning about important figures in history that come from the state of South Carolina. Another reason I chose to research Gillespie was because I did not know much about him. I recognized his name as it is very unique but I could not provide any information about him off the top of my head. I wanted to learn more about the great musician read about his significance in musical history. The last reason I chose to write about Dizzy Gillespie was simply because I played the trumpet from third grade to junior year of high school. It was a hobby of mine and a skill that I will always cherish. I enjoy learning about former trumpet players, especially those who contributed to making the instrument so
Eventually in 1937, Dizzy Gillespie decided to head out to New York to carry out his dream of becoming a famous jazz player. During his time at New York he talked with many different bands and earned a job with Teddy Hill’s band. Hill was very impressed with Gillespie’s unique playing style. The group went on a tour from Great Britain to France shortly after Gillespie had joined the band. After getting back from the tour G...
Bix Beiderbecke was born in early 1900s, grew up in the heart of America in a German-American family. Since he was young, he had the talent to pick out while perfectly well play any tune he had come across. He was a musical boy and often listened to New Orleans music that at the time was recorded on initial Dixieland jazz band that featured Nick La Rocca who at the time, was their main trumpet player. He also listened to Louis Armstrong as well as Emmett Hardy and other popular artists at the time on Mississippi banks. He owned a classical piano at his home (Collier, p. 3). He attended piano classes and
Developed in the early 1940's, Bop had established itself as vogue by 1945. It's main innovators were alto saxophonist Charlie Parker and trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie. In this stage in jazz, improvisation differed immensely. Bebop soloists engaged in harmonic improvisation, often avoiding the melody altogether after the first chorus. Usually under seven pieces, the soloist was free to explore improvised possibilities as long as they fit into the chord structure. Popular and influential jazz artists include: Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis, & Cannonball Adderley. Armstrong is most known for his involvement in hot jazz as a trumpeter, but is especially renowned for his improvisation capabilities. Louis Armstrong, born August 4, 1901 right in the beginning stages of the jazz movement, was originally from New Orleans. Armstrong was a bandleader, soloist, comedian/actor, and vocalist. Another famous, Miles Davis, is what some consider to be the best trumpeter of the era. Davis was born on May 26, 1926 in Alton, Illinois. One unique thing about Davis was that he was taught to play without vibrato, which was incredibly contrary to the popular way of
The music of jazz became an important aspect of American culture in the early 20th century. The crisp syncopation of ragtime and the smooth tunes of the blues seeped into American mainstream music through dance halls and saloons and later through ballrooms. Instruments like the piano, trumpet, trombone and clarinet became important and symbolized the “swing-feel” of jazz because of their capability to syncopate and improvise precisely. With the help of the booming recording industry, musical geniuses were discovered and their talent and contributions to the emergence of jazz spread throughout the entire country. Such musicians include composer, arranger and pianist Jelly Roll Morton who heavily influenced the development of early jazz by his unique piano style, his “invention” of musical notation for jazz, and his compositions that have become the core in the jazz repertory. Because the style was new and different and so successful in drawing in large audiences, musicians around the world tried to mimic it. Furthermore, Morton’s masterpieces were the first to show notation for complicated jazz music and thus, formed the basis for standard notation in jazz compositions today.
Kenton, Stan. Live From the Las Vegas Tropicana. Rec. 2 February 1959. CD. Capitol Jazz, 1996.
...Hubbard, Lee Morgan, and the greatest jazz player of this decade. Wynton Marsalis. He treated them as equals, and always let them know how special they were. He liked to share experiences and story's with his bands. He played life by the rules and laid off the drugs and alcohol that cost so many jazz musicians before him their careers, and/or their lifers.
Miles Davis was a key player in the evolution of modern jazz. In the 1940’s he participated in the bebop craze, then initiated the cool jazz era in the 1950’s. Bebop involved a higher register and note fueled playing while Miles favored the middle register, with longer and less frequency of notes, and a
Davis’ playing Incorporated many styles, from bop to modal fusion. Oftentimes Davis was the victim of negative criticism because of his adopting sometimes unpopular styles of music, but he is most respected for being one of a few jazz musicians who continually took the music to newer and more creative heights.
Dizzy Gillespie left my band in Washington, D.C. He told me to go over to hear Andy Kirk, because there was a fellow with Kirk named Fats Navarro. 'Take a listen to him,' said Dizzy, 'he's wonderful!' So I went out to the club, and the only thing Fats had to blow was behind a chorus number. But he was wailing behind this number, and I said to myself, 'This is good enough this'll fit.' So I got Fats to come by and talk it over, and about two weeks after that he took Dizzy's chair, and take it from me, he came right in ... Great as Diz is ... Fats played his book and you would hardly know that Diz had left the band. 'Fat Girl' played Dizzy's solos, not note for note, but his ideas on Dizzy's parts and the feeling was the same and there was just as much swing.
...d with in his lifetime, from Dizzy Gillespie to Art Blakey to John Coltrane. He played with everybody who was anybody! Another thing I found to be interesting was the way he died. He was shot by his common-law wife in the middle of a performance. This means that she was not officially, under any law binding terms, his wife, but for all intensive purposes, they were married. Then, one day she went crazy and shot his straight on stage shortly after an altercation had just occurred. She then ran to him and screamed that she didn’t mean to do it, and later was admitted to an insane asylum. That’s not the best way to die!
This piece was not written by Ellington, but by American composer Billy Strayhorn, who became Ellington’s musical collaborator. This piece is very jumpy and light, making you feel like tapping your feet and following the beat. In the background is a piano in stride style that accompanies the brass instruments. Ellington often wrote evocative music, such as "Caravan" (1936), which he intended as a portrait of an exotic locale. The piece is a cross between Latin jazz and music that is Aladdin-like.
A single artist can have a very strong impact on a whole genre of Music. We have seen this time and time again through artists such as Charlie Parker, David Brubeck, John Coltrane, Art Blakey, Miles Davis, and various others. All of these artists had tremendous influences on the different eras that evolved throughout the history of Jazz. Bill Evans, and American jazz pianist, was no different. Just as Charlie Parker had started the evolution of Bebop and influenced the subsequent generations of Jazz Artists, Bill Evans has influenced Modern Jazz and the generations of artists that followed him. Throughout his career and his works with various other artists, Bill Evans has cemented himself as one of the great influences on modern day Jazz.
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was born on April 29, 1899 in Washington D.C. His mother Daisy, surrounded Edward with her very polite friends which taught him to have respect and manners for people. After a while his friends started beginning to notice his politeness and his dapper style and gave him the nickname “duke.” When Ellington was seven years old he started taking piano lessons and found his love for music, although his love for baseball was more potent at the time. Ellington recalls President Roosevelt coming by on his horse at times and watching the boys play baseball. Ellington wound up getting his first job selling peanuts at baseball games. While working at the Soda Jerk in the Poodle Café in the summer of 1914, Ellington wrote his first composition and called the piece “Soda Fountain Rag”, he created it by ear because he had not yet learned how to write or read the music. Ellington recalls playing the “Soda Fountain Rag” as a one-step, two-step, waltz tango and fox trait, he said, “listeners never knew it was the same piece. I was established as having my own repertoire.” In Ellington’s autobiography, Music is my Mistress (1973), Ellington wrote about missing more piano lessons than he had attended because he felt that at the time playing piano wasn’t his talent and that he wasn’t very good at it. At the age of fourteen Ellington started sneaking into Frank Holiday's Poolroom. After hearing the poolro...
His most famous work was a piece called Body and Soul (http://library.thinkquest.org.). Hawkins has also recorded with artists such as Thelonious Monk and Duke Ellington. Other people such as Bessie Smith, Josephine Baker, Duke Ellington, and “Dizzie” Gillespie have also made many contributions to the development of jazz. By the end of World War I, Black Americans were facing their lowest point in history since slavery. Most of the blacks migrated to the northern states such as New York and Chicago.
fame. The reasons for his outcome need to be revealed because Ellington was one of the most important figures in the era of jazz. During the Harlem Renaissance, some