Most Folks Have Never Heard Of Dizzy Gillespie Park In South Carolina But It's Worthy Of A Pilgrimage
By Robin Jarvis|Published January 06, 2021
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Robin Jarvis
Author
Robin Jarvis began writing for OnlyInYourState.com in 2015 and quickly advanced to a Senior Editor role. She's currently the Brand Manager and has a Bachelor's degree from West Virginia University in Journalism with a minor in Marketing. Her career history includes long running appearances on radio and television. She also has served as publisher of Shades of Green Magazine and Design Lead on several print publications. Her love for travel has taken her to many parts of the world. She's lived in the Carolinas for more than three decades and currently resides in Charleston, SC. When she's not working, she loves playing guitar, painting, traveling, and spending time with family.
Contact: rjarvis@onlyinyourstate.com
South Carolina is the birthplace of a number of famous people, including one of the world’s best jazz musicians, Dizzy Gillespie. Born John Birks Gillespie in 1917 in Cheraw, South Carolina, the jazz trumpeter, band leader, composer, singer, and educator started playing piano at just four years of age. He was the son of a local bandleader in Cheraw. After Gillespie’s father died when the boy was just 10, Dizzy Gillespie would go on to teach himself trumpet and trombone by the age of twelve. When he was 18, his family moved to Philadelphia, but Gillespie spent his childhood and teen years right here in South Carolina.
The City of Cheraw, located in the upper right quadrant of South Carolina near the North Carolina border, is very proud to honor the city as the birth place of one of the best jazz musicians in history.
Gillespie maintained the bent bell was the result of an accident when two dancers fell onto it during a birthday party for Gillespie's wife Lorraine. He had the bell of that trumpet straightened, but liked the sound so much he had a special trumpet made with a bell that curved upward and he played it from that time forward.
The memorial park for Dizzy Gillespie in Cheraw features a number of metal sculptures, including a depiction of his bent trumpet.
