Today’s Google Doodle celebrates what would be the 93rd b-day of jazz trumpeter John Birks Gillespie. Gillespie passed away in 1993 at the age of 75. Fans know him better as “Dizzy” Gillespie, whose cheeks puffed way out when he played. Gillespie had style, grace and the high-octane trumpet that lifted bebop into the stratosphere of American’s jazz. Click on the Google Doodle at Google.com and learn more about an American original whose music will live forever.
The cheeks on Dizzy Gillespie made him and bebop music memorable
The face on Dizzy Gillespie is what many remember about him. However, bebop became popular because he could control the trumpet at such a breakneck tempo. Rapid eighth-note runs throughout the range of the horn, an on-the-fly mix of melodic and harmonic improvisation and extended use of vertical improvisation (off the chords, instead of horizontally through scales) are just some of the what made bebop a vital force within the early 1940s at the hands of innovators Dizzy Gillespie, saxophonist Charlie Parker and pianist Thelonious Monk.
The name “bebop” has numerous suggested origins, however Gillespie attributed it to his scat singing, where nonsense syllables are strung together in a wordless vocal solo that mimics the sound of a musical instrument. Wikipedia explains that when requesting a scat piece, Gillespie had an audience coin the term. ”Scat” was not a popular term yet.
Dizzy Gillespie has the best cheeks
There are several stories about Dizzy Gillespie’s cheeks, some of them perpetuated by Gillespie himself. Many have the opinion that his face developed that way when he learned to play the trumpet. It’s being called a mild muscular damage. When he plays, his face increase. This is fairly abnormal too.
Dizzy Gillespie and his cheeks have influenced millions of musicians
Wynton Marsalis is ajazz trumpeter who said that Dizzy Gillespie is, accounts the Los Angeles Times, “a great dancer, teacher, wit and spiritual presence.”. The way that Dizzy Gillespie can play that trumpet is amazing. This is why he is a Google Doodle along with Igor Stravinsky, Isaac Albenis, Frida Kahlo, Wayne Thiebaud and Josef Franck.
Details from
LA Times
latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2010/10/google-honors-jazz-great-dizzy-gillespie-with-doodle.html
Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bebop
Dizzy Gillespie and his Orchestra (featuring “Chano” Pozo), 1947 – “Manteca”
youtube.com/watch?v=s74NlRy-ibs
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