Dizzy Gillespie Big Band

John Birks “Dizzy” Gillespie was not just one of the greatest jazz musicians who ever lived., he was one of the architects of modern music itself. As a co-founder of bebop alongside Charlie Parker, a pioneer of Afro-Cuban jazz, and a trumpeter of almost superhuman range and invention, Dizzy Gillespie spent five decades reshaping what jazz could be and who it could reach. The Dizzy Gillespie Big Band exists to make sure that legacy never stops breathing.

• The Man Who Changed Jazz: From his landmark recordings in the 1940s to his celebrated big band work and beyond, Gillespie brought virtuosity, humor, and a radical musical vision to everything he touched.
• Nurtured by Those Who Knew Him: The band is led by bassist, friend of SOPAC, and executive director John Lee, a Gillespie alumnus who played alongside the master himself. That firsthand knowledge of how this music is supposed to feel, not just how it is supposed to sound, is what separates the Dizzy Gillespie Big Band from any ordinary tribute. These musicians carry the tradition from the inside out.
• Big Band Jazz the Way It Was Meant to Sound: There is nothing quite like a great big band in full flight, brass soaring, rhythm section locked in, the whole ensemble moving as one joyful, swinging force. An evening with the Dizzy Gillespie Big Band is a reminder of what jazz at its most exuberant and alive has always been capable of.

As Patrice Lee put it: “History has produced its share of great artists and great people. John Birks ‘Dizzy’ Gillespie was both.”