Editing Dizzy Gillespie (section)

== Bebop Revolution ==

Gillespie left Philadelphia in 1937 to join Teddy Hill's band in New York, but the musical foundation established during his Philadelphia years remained central to his development. In New York, his collaboration with Charlie Parker produced the bebop revolution that transformed jazz from dance music into art music. Their compositions—"Salt Peanuts," "Groovin' High," "A Night in Tunisia"—established new harmonic and rhythmic vocabularies that subsequent jazz musicians would explore for decades.<ref name="shipton"/>

Gillespie's trumpet technique reached unprecedented levels of virtuosity, his ability to execute rapid passages in the upper register while maintaining melodic coherence establishing new standards for the instrument. His signature upturned bell, the result of an accident that he discovered improved the sound's projection toward his ears, became a visual trademark that identified him instantly. His showmanship—the bent horn, the pouched cheeks, the beret and goatee—made him bebop's most recognizable ambassador.<ref name="maggin"/>