His combination of musicianship, showmanship, and wit made him a leading popularizer of the new music called bebop. His beret and horn-rimmed spectacles, scat singing , bent horn, pouched cheeks, and light-hearted personality have made him an enduring icon.
In the s, Gillespie, with Charlie Parker , became a major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz. He pioneered Afro-Cuban jazz and won several Grammy Awards. One of the greatest jazz trumpeters of all time, Gillespie was such a complex player that his contemporaries ended up being similar to those of Miles Davis and Fats Navarro instead, and it was not until Jon Faddis's emergence in the s that Dizzy's style was successfully recreated [ Gillespie started to play the piano at the age of four.
He taught himself how to play the trombone as well as the trumpet by the age of twelve. From the night he heard his idol, Roy Eldridge , on the radio, he dreamed of becoming a jazz musician. He won a music scholarship to the Laurinburg Institute in North Carolina which he attended for two years before accompanying his family when they moved to Philadelphia in Gillespie's first professional job was with the Frank Fairfax Orchestra in , after which he joined the respective orchestras of Edgar Hayes and later Teddy Hill , replacing Frankie Newton as second trumpet in May In August while gigging with Hayes in Washington D.
Willis was not immediately friendly but Gillespie was attracted anyway. The two married on May 9, Gillespie stayed with Teddy Hill's band for a year, then left and freelanced with other bands. After an altercation between the two, Calloway fired Gillespie in late Calloway disapproved of Gillespie's mischievous humor and his adventuresome approach to soloing. According to Jones, Calloway referred to it as "Chinese music". During rehearsal, someone in the band threw a spitball.
Already in a foul mood, Calloway blamed Gillespie, who refused to take the blame. Gillespie stabbed Calloway in the leg with a knife. Calloway had minor cuts on the thigh and wrist. After the two were separated, Calloway fired Gillespie. A few days later, Gillespie tried to apologize to Calloway, but he was dismissed. During his time in Calloway's band, Gillespie started writing big band arrangements for Woody Herman , Jimmy Dorsey , and others.
