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Dizzy Gillespie Big Band

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Dizzy Gillespie Big Band · Dizzy Gillespie was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer and singer, born in 1917 in Cheraw, South Carolina. Together with Charlie Parker he became a central figure in the development of bebop in the 1940s. His large orchestras, from 1947, were the sound with which that new music reached a wide audience, with arrangements by Tadd Dameron, Gil Fuller and George Russell, among others. He had learned his earlier big band work in the orchestras of Edgar Hayes, Teddy Hill, Cab Calloway and Billy Eckstine.

Music and breakthrough

His big band of the late 1940s also included Cuban percussionists, such as Chano Pozo and Sabu Martinez. From that grew an interest in Afro-Cuban jazz. In 1946 he appeared with his big band in the film Jivin' in Be-Bop. In 1956 he organised a band for a tour of the Middle East on behalf of the State Department, which earned him the nickname Ambassador of Jazz. Recordings from those years include On Tour With Dizzy Gillespie and His Big Band 1956 and The New Continent from 1965. His compositions, such as A Night in Tunisia, Groovin' High and Salt Peanuts, sounded very different harmonically and rhythmically from the swing of the time.

Influence

Gillespie showed how fast, complex bebop could sound in a large orchestra, and how jazz could connect with Latin American rhythms. Trumpeters such as Miles Davis and Clifford Brown felt his influence.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to A Night in Tunisia. Notice the syncopated bass line and how it carries the whole piece.

Discography

Studio albums

In School of Rock

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Categories: Artists