(Artist Transcriptions). A must for every trumpet player, this songbook features 20 newly transcribed solos from this jazz giant's long and varied career, from swing to bebop to Latin. Includes: Anthropology * Blues 'N Boogie * Con Alma * Dizzy Atmosphere * Dizzy Meets Sonny * I Can't Get Started with You * It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing) * Jersey Bounce * Manteca * A Night in Tunisia * Salt Peanuts * Sophisticated Lady * Stardust * Stella by Starlight * Tin Tin Deo * Woodyn' You * and more. Includes an extensive biography and discography.
Dizzy Gillespie was one of the most important and best-loved musicians in jazz history. With his horn-rimmed glasses, goatee, jive talk, and upraised trumpet bell, he was the hipster who most personified bebop. The musical heir to Louis Armstrong, he created the modern jazz trumpet-playing style and dazzled aficionados and popular audiences alike for over 50 years. In this first full biography, Alyn Shipton covers all aspects of Dizzy's remarkable life and career, taking us through his days as a flashy trumpet player in the swing bands of the 1930s, his innovative bebop work in the 1940s, the worldwide fame and adoration he earned through his big band tours in the 1950s, and the many recordings and performances which defined a career that extended into the early 1990s. Along the way, Shipton convincingly argues that Gillespie--rather than Charlie Parker as is widely believed--had the greatest role in creating bebop, playing in key jazz groups, teaching the music to others, and helping to develop the first original bebop repertory. Shipton also explores the dark side of Dizzy's mostly sunny personal life, his womanizing, the illegitimate daughter he fathered and supported--now a respected jazz singer in her own right--and his sometimes needless cruelty to others. For anyone interested in jazz and one of its most innovative and appealing figures, Groovin' High is essential reading.
With 70 pages of illustrations, this new addition to the Melrose Square Black American Series recounts the life of one of the originators of bebop and founders of modern jazz.
As a musician who grew up in New Orleans, and later worked in New York with the major swing orchestras of Lucky Millinder and Cab Calloway, Barker is uniquely placed to give an authoritative but personal view of jazz history. In this book he discusses his life in music, from the children's 'spasm' bands of the seventh ward of New Orleans, through the experience of brass bands and jazz funerals involving his grandfather, Isidore Barbarin, to his early days on the road with the blues singer Little Brother Montgomery. Later he goes on to discuss New York, and the jazz scene he found there in 1930. His work with Jelly Roll Morton, as well as the lesser-known bands of Fess Williams and Albert Nicholas, is covered before a full account of his years with Millinder, Benny Carter and Calloway, including a description of Dizzy Gillespie's impact on jazz, is given. The final chapters discuss Barker's career from the late 1940s. Starting with the New York dixieland scene at Ryan's and Condon's he talks of his work with Wilbur de Paris, James P. Johnson and This is Jazz, before discussing his return to New Orleans and New Orleans Jazz Museum. A collection of Barker's photographs,
John Birks “Dizzy” Gillespie (October 21, 1917–January 6, 1993) was one of the most recognizable and popular figures in American jazz history. The youngest of nine children, Gillespie owed much of his success to an elementary school teacher who worked to harness his energy and anger by recruiting him for the school band—and he was hooked. His dedication and talent helped him mature into one of the country’s best trumpet players. In the 1940s, the trumpet virtuoso and respected improviser teamed up with musician Charlie Parker to lay the foundations for bebop. His beret, horn–rimmed glasses, bent horn, puffed-out cheeks, and sense of humor made him a fan favorite throughout his sixty–year career as a musical innovator, mentor, and cultural ambassador.
"John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie was a jazz musician who pioneered the style of bebop in the 1940s. This book chronicles Dizzy's life, starting with his childhood in Cheraw, South Carolina and the racial prejudice he faced during this time. The book then recounts how one of Dizzy's teachers saw his talent and encouraged him to play trumpet and how this playing provided an escape from the constant racial prejudice surrounding him and his family. The reader then learns how Dizzy got his start as a musician in the Teddy Hill Band, the impact he made on jazz and bebop, and the many travels around the world Dizzy made before his passing on January 6, 1993. After finishing this book, the reader will gain an appreciation of the legacy of Dizzy Gillespie and the impact he made on jazz, bebop, and music as a whole"--
Dizzy Gillespie secured his place in the jazz pantheon as one of the most expressive and virtuosic improvisers in the history of music. More important is that he was one of its great innovators. As a primary creator of the bebop and Afro-Cuban revolutions, he twice changed the way improvisation was fundamentally done. And by combining electrifying musicianship, infectious warmth, and rare comedic skills, he achieved a worldwide popularity few jazz musicians have ever enjoyed. This is the enthralling saga of Dizzy Gillespie -- a chronicle of the rise of a jazz genius from the lowest rung of the social order to the highest pinnacle of respect and ability that brings Harlem's golden after-hours era, the raucous 52nd Street scene, of the forties, the barrios of Havana and Rio, the White House, and the world's great concert halls to glorious life.
A thrilling collection of photographs that reveal the people, places, and events of Jazz's Golden Age the period from the late 1930s through the 1940s during which the music underwent enormous growth and transformation. Two hundred b&w photographs are included, accompanied by Gottlieb's recollection
