Presentation: Dizzy Gillespie: Pioneering the Bossa Nova

Jazz writer and performer Loren Means will lecture on the music and influence of jazz trumpeter and composer Dizzy Gillespie (1917-1993), regarded as one of the founders of the bebop movement in jazz in the 1940s. His compositions, particularly those recorded with alto saxophonist Charlie Parker, pioneered harmonic innovations. Gillespie also innovated in the blending of jazz with Latin rhythms. His big band of 1946-47 featured esoteric harmonies and rhythms, and included such future jazz stars as pianist John Lewis, vibraphonist Milt Jackson, and the young John Coltrane. Gillespie's solo style featured dynamic use of high notes and breathtaking long lines in his improvisations. Gillespie was one of the first American jazz musicians to play the Brazilian compositions that came to be known as “bossa nova,” although his approach was overshadowed by that of Stan Getz.

Loren Means is a jazz critic and historian who has published articles and reviews in Down Beat, Contemporary Keyboard, and The Berkeley Barb. His programs for SFPL have included an introduction to the film Thelonious Monk: Staight, No Chaser (1988), a performance with his jazz quintet (singing and analyzing the music of Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Charlie Parker, et al.), and a presentation on Miles Davis.