Dizzy Gillespie

We thank our readers for following Deep Dive with Lewis Porter.

Sometimes new information comes to light after I’ve posted, and at other times I simply think of something I’ve left out. So periodically I’ll collect these stray findings in an update, this being the first.

He was one of the master crafters of bebop. Beyond that, Dizzy Gillespie’s influence was legendary — an inspiration to countless players, and a magnet bringing new folks to jazz around the world.

To celebrate this legacy, Bill Charlap — Grammy-winning pianist, and artistic director of Jazz in July at the 92nd Street Y — recruited the ideal person, Jon Faddis.

Thelonious Monk and Dizzy Gillespie were both born a century ago, in 1917. In their honor, here’s a heap of information about “‘Round Midnight,” a bedrock jazz standard whose evolution reflects their mutual regard.

WBGO's Nate Chinen chats with jazz historian, musician, author and University of Rutgers-Newark Professor Dr. Lewis Porter about the various versions of Round Midnight and the history behind the tune.

Dr. Porter's Deep Dive posts can be found at www.wbgo.org. 

Click above to hear the entire interview with Dr. Porter and Nate Chinen.

Last month, Harlem hosted a 100th birthday tribute to trumpeter and innovator Dizzy Gillespie. The celebration included wonderful music and the unveiling of huge colorful murals of the jazz legend.

Global street art and human rights campaign, Education Is Not A Crime, announced the creation of the John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie 100th Anniversary mural at 229 West 135th Street. The mural is the project’s 20th and largest in New York.

Dizzy Gillespie, “Long Long Summer”

I listened to hours and hours of Dizzy Gillespie over the weekend — not an unprecedented act, though it carried a little more purpose than usual. That’s because Gillespie, the immortal trumpeter, composer-bandleader and bebop progenitor, had his centenary on Saturday.

By the time trumpeter Lee Morgan was eighteen years old, he was a fully established talent on the jazz scene.  Touring with the Dizzy Gillespie Big Band until they disbanded in 1958.  It didn’t take long for Lee Morgan to find more work, joining Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers.

“I had never heard anybody play trumpet like that before,” said Swedish filmmaker Kasper Collin about Lee Morgan in an interview with WBGO.

Collin previously made a film about saxophonist Albert Ayler, explaining it was a taxing project that took many years to finish.

"Long Tall" Dexter Gordon is one of the best known and significant musicians on his instrument: he was one of the first tenor saxophonists to adopt the bebop style, and influenced players such as John Coltrane and Sonny Rollins. Gordon's widow and former manager-producer, Maxine Gordon, and saxophonist Abraham Burton join Morning Jazz host Gary Walker to discuss the man and his music.

Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Dizzy Gillespie centennial celebration kicks off this week. 

Dizzy’s music will take over JALC for a four-day weekend of shows starting Thursday, Jan. 26.  Trombonist Vincent Gardner is leading the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra through various arrangements in Rose Theater.