To Be, or Not... to Bop (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780816665471)

Innovative memoir of jazz genius Dizzy Gillespie tells the story of black American music during one of its greatest periods

You don't have to know John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie's songs to feel his influence. The self-taught trumpet player rose from a poor but musically driven upbringing to become a jazz mastermind, founding the bebop movement and giving rise to Afro-Cuban music.

This extensive biography is intertwined with reflections from famous Gillespie associates Cab Calloway, Count Basie, Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, Mary Lou Williams, Ella Fitzgerald, and many others. They provide numerous perspectives of Gillespie's early start on the road to fame and the spirited times that would follow.

To Be, or Not . . . to Bop is aunique account that serves as both a rollicking history lesson in American music and culture and a towering play-by-play of a life not to be forgotten.

Author: Dizzy Gillespie, Al Fraser
ISBN-10: 0816665478
ISBN-13: 9780816665471
Publisher: University of Minnesota Press
Language: English
Published: 03/01/2009
Pages: 560
Format: Paperback
Weight: 1.95lbs
Size: 8.90h x 6.00w x 1.50d

Review Citation(s):
Reference and Research Bk News 05/01/2009 pg. 223