Getting Dizzy
When I worked at the jazz radio station on the campus of Webster University in the earl 90s, a lot of us who were not jazz fans when we started, slowly became fans of the music as time went on. Some of the people I worked with became fans of some of the more modern jazz musicians. While I certainly liked music by the likes of Tom Scott and David Sanborn, I sort of developed a soft spot for the classic jazz musicians.
My absolute favorite was always Miles Davis, as I have stated repeatedly here on this blog. It was his album, “Kind of Blue,” that truly made me fall in love with jazz and to give it a chance as a true musical medium. But there were others I always liked and I have mentioned them as well.
I loved the horn players. When it came to the sax, I guess I had several that I liked, but I guess Cannonball Adderly was at the top of my list. I liked Herbie Hancock, Keith Jarrett, Thelonius Monk and Earl Hines when it came to the piano. Charles Mingus was a force to behold and just the imagined and just looking at his image on the album cover was intense. There were others.
Most of those guys were very serious about their art. Well, I guess anyone who makes a living in music, is serious about it, but there was always one guy who was just fun. He was fun to listen to and he was fun to watch. He was so much fun that, well, it probably detracted a bit from the enormous impact he had on jazz music. That artist was Dizzy Gillespie.
He was born John Birks Gillespie in Cheraw, South Carolina in the year 1917. Most people probably know Dizzy as the guy with the gi-normous cheeks that would puff out like balloons when he played his trumpetwith the bent-up bell. What many of you probably don’t know is that he was one of the inventors of the style of music known as “be-bop.”
Dizzy always said the bent-up bell was the result of an accident that bent his horn. Others say he saw another artist playing with a horn that was deliberately made that way and decided to have that done for himself.
One of my favorite tunes by Dizzy was “Salt Peanuts.” It was claimed that the name came from the way the music started and stopped. To Dizzy it sounded like someone yelling “Salt, peanuts! Salt, peanuts!”
Dizzy stayed true to be-bop even as other jazz musicians, like Miles, were experimenting and straying into jazz-fusion. He was also instrumental in bringin Afro-Cuban music to the states andwas a great discoverer of talent. For example, he was very responsible for bringing Arturo Sandoval to the states.
Dizzy also worked with guys like Miles and Charlie Parker.
Anyway, I just had to write about Dizzy. I was listening to some of the Dizzy I have in my collection. I would give you a discography, but Dizzy is another one who has released so many albums and so many of them live or re-issued, really, any greatest hits album will do just fine
If you would like to read more about him, you can click right here and check it out. At the end of the article is a discography.
Tags: be-bop, Dizzy-Gillespie, horn, jazz, music, recommendations, trumpet
3 opinions for Getting Dizzy
Chip Boaz
Oct 10, 2007 at 12:14 am
Thanks for bringing up Dizzy; he was certainly one of the greats for so many reasons. His technical facility, theoretical knowledge, and just plain musical common sense really pushed jazz into a new era.
One note about Dizzy’s Latin Jazz though - he didn’t bring Afro-Cuban music to the states; in fact, there was already a thriving Afro-Cuban scene in New York city. His roommate, Mario Bauza, was musical director for Machito and the Afro-Cubans, and he played in the Cab Calloway band. He actually got Dizzy the gig with Calloway. Once Dizzy started looking to integrate Latin rhythms into jazz, Bauza introduced him to Chano Pozo, a conguero from Cuba. Gillespie and Pozo composed a variety of Latin Jazz pieces together. After Pozo’s untimely death, Gillespie continued this work. He can certainly be credited with popularizing Latin Jazz in the States.
True, he helped Arturo Sandoval defect from Cuba, but this was about 35 years later.
Anyway, Dizzy was a true visionary, who dedicated his life to the advancement of jazz. Thanks for recognizing him here!
Mike Laba
Oct 10, 2007 at 9:16 am
Hey Bryan,
I’m with you in that Miles reeled me in to jazz. For me it was ESP - an album that still resides in my car for long drives on my own. I’ve never really sat down and listened to Dizzy as I’m a very casual jazz fan, but I’m am digging up some Dizzy songs as we speak. Thanks.
balaspa
Oct 10, 2007 at 7:00 pm
Thanks Chip! I know you’re always going to be there to comment and make sure I get it right!
Thanks for your comment too Mike!
Like I said, Dizzy sometimes gets overlooked. When I worked at that station, whenever we wanted to play a “fun” tune, we’d dig up the Dizzy albums and usually find something.
Sometimes the people who have a sense of humor or have the fun stuff get overlooked as artists.
For example, Louis Armstrong is even credited by Miles as a huge influence…but most people probably have no idea the actual influence he had on modern jazz.
Have an opinion? Leave a comment: