Trumpeter John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie was one of the founders of bebop. Gillespie (1937, Cheraw, South Carolina) played trumpet in big bands successively Teddy Hill and Cab Calloway. In nightly jam sessions at Minton's Playhouse in New York, he crossed with kindred spirits as saxophonist Charlie Parker, pianist Thelonious Monk and drummer Kenny Clarke, the limits of the swing by experimenting with
… harmonic innovations, complex issues, high rates and surprising rhythmic accents. Gillespie, while the leading theorist and greatest entertainer of bebop, led own combos and big band bebop. He added more and more Afro-Cuban elements to the bebop and became a pioneer of Latin jazz. His distinctive appearance with slanted upturned trumpet and huge bulging cheeks did forget that he was a virtuoso trumpeter.more