*  D I Z Z Y  *  G I L L E S P I E  *

Trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie’s cheeks bulge like a bullfrog’s as he blows a solo at the Holiday Inn in Peabody, Massachusetts in 1985. The show was produced in honor of jazz entrepreneur LENNIE SOGOLOFF (former owner of the well-known nightclub Lennie's on the Turnpike). The "full moon" seen here is actually a spotlight rigged to the rear of the stage.

Gillespie, who died in 1993, was one of the great pioneers of bebop (or Modern Jazz) in the 1940s. Unlike his contemporary and sometime musical companion, altoist Charlie Parker, Dizzy embraced a healthy lifestyle and made many contributions to the development of the music over a career spanning six decades: As a proponent of bop and Afro-Cuban influences, not to mention as a terrific big band leader, a roving ambassador of goodwill for the U.S. State Department, and one of the greatest talent scouts of all time.

A great humanitarian and an adherent of the Baha'i Faith, Dizzy is mourned by all true jazz fans. Fortunately he left behind a huge stash of recordings for us to remember his genius -- and his puckish sense of humor.

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