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Dizzy Gillespie
Born:
10/21/1917
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Died:
01/06/1993
Years Active:
1935-1993
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John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie was an American jazz trumpet player, bandleader, composer and singer. Gillespie was a trumpet virtuoso and improviser, building on the virtuoso style of Roy Eldridge but adding layers of harmonic complexity previously unknown in jazz. His beret and horn-rimmed spectacles, his scat singing, his bent horn, pouched cheeks and his light-hearted personality were essential in popularizing bebop.