(John Birks) (1917-1993) US jazz trumpeter. With Charlie Parker, he was the chief creator and exponent of the bebop style (Groovin’ High is a CD re-issue of their seminal 78-rpm recordings). Gillespie influenced many modern jazz trumpeters, including Miles Davis.
Although associated mainly with small combos, Gillespie formed his first big band 1945 and toured with a big band in the late 1980s, as well as in the intervening decades; a big band can be heard on Dizzy Gillespie at Newport 1957.