Dizzy Gillespie: The Ambassador of Jazz

A Legend in Jazz

Jazz is credited to African American musicians in the early 1900s played in New Orleans, Louisiana. They played it with love from their heart and souls, and it was a time when it was the dominant form of popular music. Jazz had melody, the tune of the song, and it had harmony, the notes to make it fuller, the rhythm as the heart of the song, and most important, improvision. And there were some of the greatest jazz musicians that began in that era-names like Gillespie, Cab Calloway, Miles Davis, and Johnny Herman.

Those were the days of Jazz when memories were made prohibition, swing, speakeasy, modern jazz, and today’s rap.

Dizzy Gillespie, Early Life

Born John Birks Gillespie in S. Carolina 1917, the youngest of nine to James and Lottie Gillespie. He became famously known, was an American trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator, and singer. He was well known for his beret, horn-rimmed glasses, balloon cheeks, and his very special “bent” horn. And, he had a light-hearted, mischievous personality that got him in trouble upon occasion.

The skill he emitted from his trumpet would corral him to fame. His father was a bandleader, and Dizzy grew up surrounded by music. He could play the piano by the age of four, and he taught himself…