Died On This Date (January 6, 1993) Dizzy Gillespie / Jazz Great

themusicsover January 6, 2012 2 Comments

John “Dizzy” Gillespie
October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993

Dizzy Gillespie was one of the biggest names in jazz, period.  Over a career that spanned nearly 60 years, Gillespie drew the blueprint for future jazz trumpeters to follow.  A gifted improviser, composer, and bandleader, Gillespie directly influenced the likes of such greats as Miles Davis, Arturo Sandoval and Fats Navarro.  When be-bop first began to rear its head, it was Gillespie that embraced it and brought it to the masses.  Songs like “A Night in Tunisia” and “Groovin'” were considered outlandish at the time but have since come to represent the greatness of jazz’s first modern style.  Over the course of his storied career, Gillespie collaborated with nearly every giant in jazz.  That list includes John Coltrane, Cab Calloway, Billy Eckstine, Charlie Parker, and Ella Fitzgerald.  Gillespie stayed very active right up to his final years.  In 1989, he performed an astonishing 300 shows all around the world.  On January 6, 1993, Dizzy Gillespie, age 75, died of pancreatic cancer.

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