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Dizzy Gillespie Biography
Birth Name:John Birks Gillespie
Birth Place:Cheraw, South Carolina, United States
Profession Soundtrack, Music department, Actor
Fast Facts
- In 1989, he received the National Medal of the Arts from the National Endowment for the Arts
- In 1982, he was inducted into the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame
- Playing piano since the age of four, he studied at the Laurinburg Institute
- Was well known for his involvement with Afro-Latin music
- Was widely recognized for his swollen cheeks as a trumpeter
- Performed a trumpet solo on the Stevie Wonder song "Do I Do․"
- Spent two years as a member of the Cab Calloway Orchestra