Tribute to Dizzy Gillespie

Slide Hampton, longtime friend and associate of jazz legend John Birks “Dizzy” Gillespie, will be leading the moving tribute to this fallen hero at the Frost School of Music. Nine years after his death, Gillespie’s memory lives on in the minds of all jazz fiends.

A major player in the creation of bebop and modern jazz, Dizzy was perhaps most widely recognized for his trademark pouched cheeks that filled almost comically with air whenever he graced a stage. He was also a huge player in the Afro-Cuban jazz movement in the late Forties, combining Latin jazz and African elements to give birth to this unique brand. Master trombonist, composer, arranger and two-time Grammy winner Slide Hampton will soothe crowds with his amazing renditions of some of Dizzy’s greatest works, accompanied by the University of Miami Frost School of Music Concert Band directed by Dante Louis. — Rayme Samuels