Dizzy Gillespie - Dizzy Atmosphere

John Birks Gillespie was born on October 21, 1917 in South Carolina, the youngest of nine children. He emerged as a trumpet player whose role as a founding father of modern jazz made him a major figure in 20th-century American music. His signature moon cheeks and bent trumpet made him one of the world's most instantly recognizable figures.

In a nearly 60-year career as a composer, bandleader and innovative player, Gillespie cut a huge swath through the jazz world. In the early 1940's, along with the alto saxophonist Charlie (Yardbird) Parker, he initiated be-bop, the sleek, intense, high speed revolution that has become jazz's most induring style. In subsequent years, he incorporated Afro-Cuban music into jazz, creating a new genre from the combination.

His endlessly funny asides, his huge variety of facial expressions and his natural comic gifts, made him a pure entertainer as an accomplished artist. In some ways, he seemed to sum up all the possibilities of American popular art.

In 1939, he joined Cab Calloway's band and stayed for two years, then worked briefly with big bands led by Ella Fitzgerald, Claude Hopkins, Les Hite, Lucky Millender, Charlie Barnet, Fletcher Henderson and Benny Carter. In June of 1945, he led his own small band (1945) which later that year was augmented into a big band. During the late 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, Dizzy alternated between leading small and big bands.

Dizzy also did concert tours as a soloist with the "Jazz At The Philharmonic" presentations. He continued to do widespread touring during the late 1970s, mainly with a quintet, with many overseas visits to Africa, Australia, Cuba, Europe, etc.

In the last decade, his career seemed recharged, and he became ubiquitous on the concert circuit as a special guest. Dizzy Gillespie died of cancer on January 6, 1993.

Dizzy Atmosphere was recorded in February 1945 and didn't make it onto single until a couple of years later. The band features Gillespie on trumpet, Charlie Parker on saxophone and Cozy Cole on drums, amongst others. It is the forefront of the new be-bop sound which defined the jazz of the second half of the 1940s, just as the Swing sound had dominated the first half of the decade.

"The above text is a mushup from AllMusic.com & Wikipedia."