Declared a "national treasure" by the White House in 1990, John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie was a not only a great musician but also a major innovator in the jazz world. While his first and foremost claim to fame is helping to create the style known as bebop, Gillespie also did much to establish the inclusion of Latin American elements in jazz and was partially responsible for the inception of both Afro-Cuban jazz and bossa nova. Covering Dizzy's days as a flashy trumpet player in the swing bands of the 1930s, the worldwide fame and adoration he earned through a State Department-backed tour of his big band in the 1950s, and the many recordings and performances which defined a career that ran clear up to the early 1990s, this book fully traces the path and progress of an extraordinary--and most exploratory--American musician.

About the Author
Alyn Shipton presents jazz programs for the BBC and is a jazz critic for The Times in London. For many years he was a music publisher, seeing into print the autobiographies of numerous jazz musicians including Barney Bigard, Buck Clayton, Andy Kirk and Rex Stewart. He has written biographies of Fats Waller and Bud Powell, and has edited the memoirs of Danny Barker and Doc Cheatham.

Reviews
"An extraordinarily detailed biography of one of the legends of jazz that focuses primarily on Gillespie's music....Shipton has written a fine tribute to one of the greats of jazz."--Salem Press "This well-researched and well-written biography is an indispensable source of information about Dizzy Gillespie. Thank you, Alyn Shipton!"--Thomas Owens, author of Bebop, the Music and Its Players "Dizzy Gillespie did more than change jazz. He also challenged our most deeply held views on what a jazz musician could be and do. Alyn Shipton is the perfect writer to tackle this subject, because he too is adept at challenging the conventional wisdom. Shipton has carefully researched his subject, and writes with conviction, honesty and passion. Finally we have abook that tells the whole story of this remarkable artist and his music." --Ted Gioia, author of The History of Jazz "Alyn Shipton's Groovin' High skillfully surveys the career of John Birks 'Dizzy' Gillespie, a musical innovator who never turned his back on the entertainor's role. The book leaves a fresh, vivid impression of the man and the artist whose changing place in the jazz tradition is traced over more than sixty years." --Richard Crawford, School of Music, The University of Michigan "Shipton has fulfilled the need for a biography rich in detail and analysis. Providing surprising and convincing insight into the development of bebop, Shipton's depth of understanding of the birth of this vibrant movement, together with on target analysis of Gillespie's recorded output, makes this an exceptional tribute."--Library Journal "An extraordinarily detailed biography of one of the legends of jazz that focuses primarily on Gillespie's music....Shipton has written a fine tribute to one of the greats of jazz."--Salem Press "This well-researched and well-written biography is an indispensable source of information about Dizzy Gillespie. Thank you, Alyn Shipton!"--Thomas Owens, author of Bebop, the Music and Its Players "Dizzy Gillespie did more than change jazz. He also challenged our most deeply held views on what a jazz musician could be and do. Alyn Shipton is the perfect writer to tackle this subject, because he too is adept at challenging the conventional wisdom. Shipton has carefully researched his subject, and writes with conviction, honesty and passion. Finally we have abook that tells the whole story of this remarkable artist and his music." --Ted Gioia, author of The History of Jazz "Alyn Shipton's Groovin' High skillfully surveys the career of John Birks 'Dizzy' Gillespie, a musical innovator who never turned his back on the entertainor's role. The book leaves a fresh, vivid impression of the man and the artist whose changing place in the jazz tradition is traced over more than sixty years." --Richard Crawford, School of Music, The University of Michigan "Shipton has fulfilled the need for a biography rich in detail and analysis. Providing surprising and convincing insight into the development of bebop, Shipton's depth of understanding of the birth of this vibrant movement, together with on target analysis of Gillespie's recorded output, makes this an exceptional tribute."--Library Journal "A vibrant blend of meticulous scholarship, swinging anecdote and astute music criticism.... A must for jazz aficionados, this exhaustively researched biography features a supporting cast that reads like a who's who of jazz history."--Publishers Weekly "Groovin' High skillfully fills in blanks where Gillespie's own autobiography leaves off.... An extremly well-researched and critical assessment of Gillespie's artistry and humanity, Groovin' High is a jazz biography at its most accessible and revealing."--Emerge "Shipton marshals fresh data that gives nuance, and sometimes the lie, to the received knowledge of bebop, particularly the contributions of Gillespie."--Washington Post Book World "A valuable contribution to jazz literature."--The New York Times Book Review "British author and BBC radio host Alyn Shipton's biography on the world-renowned puffy-cheeked trumpeter/composer/bandleader John Birks 'Dizzy' Gillespie is the most comprehensive to date."--Amazon.com



Book Information
ISBN 9780195144109
Author Alyn Shipton
Format Paperback
Page Count 432
Imprint Oxford University Press Inc
Publisher Oxford University Press Inc
Weight(grams) 603g
Dimensions(mm) 236mm * 158mm * 29mm