About the Author

Alyn Shipton presents jazz programs for the BBC and is a jazz critic for The Times in London. For many years he was a music publisher, seeing into print the autobiographies of numerous jazz musicians including Barney Bigard, Buck Clayton, Andy Kirk and Rex Stewart. He has written biographies of Fats Waller and Bud Powell, and has edited the memoirs of Danny Barker and Doc Cheatham.

Reviews

"An extraordinarily detailed biography of one of the legends of jazz that focuses primarily on Gillespie's music....Shipton has written a fine tribute to one of the greats of jazz."--Salem Press
"This well-researched and well-written biography is an indispensable source of information about Dizzy Gillespie. Thank you, Alyn Shipton!"--Thomas Owens, author of Bebop, the Music and Its Players
"Dizzy Gillespie did more than change jazz. He also challenged our most deeply held views on what a jazz musician could be and do. Alyn Shipton is the perfect writer to tackle this subject, because he too is adept at challenging the conventional wisdom. Shipton has carefully researched his subject, and writes with conviction, honesty and passion. Finally we have abook that tells the whole story of this remarkable artist and his music." --Ted Gioia, author
of The History of Jazz
"Alyn Shipton's Groovin' High skillfully surveys the career of John Birks 'Dizzy' Gillespie, a musical innovator who never turned his back on the entertainor's role. The book leaves a fresh, vivid impression of the man and the artist whose changing place in the jazz tradition is traced over more than sixty years." --Richard Crawford, School of Music, The University of Michigan
"Shipton has fulfilled the need for a biography rich in detail and analysis. Providing surprising and convincing insight into the development of bebop, Shipton's depth of understanding of the birth of this vibrant movement, together with on target analysis of Gillespie's recorded output, makes this an exceptional tribute."--Library Journal
"An extraordinarily detailed biography of one of the legends of jazz that focuses primarily on Gillespie's music....Shipton has written a fine tribute to one of the greats of jazz."--Salem Press
"This well-researched and well-written biography is an indispensable source of information about Dizzy Gillespie. Thank you, Alyn Shipton!"--Thomas Owens, author of Bebop, the Music and Its Players
"Dizzy Gillespie did more than change jazz. He also challenged our most deeply held views on what a jazz musician could be and do. Alyn Shipton is the perfect writer to tackle this subject, because he too is adept at challenging the conventional wisdom. Shipton has carefully researched his subject, and writes with conviction, honesty and passion. Finally we have abook that tells the whole story of this remarkable artist and his music." --Ted Gioia, author
of The History of Jazz
"Alyn Shipton's Groovin' High skillfully surveys the career of John Birks 'Dizzy' Gillespie, a musical innovator who never turned his back on the entertainor's role. The book leaves a fresh, vivid impression of the man and the artist whose changing place in the jazz tradition is traced over more than sixty years." --Richard Crawford, School of Music, The University of Michigan
"Shipton has fulfilled the need for a biography rich in detail and analysis. Providing surprising and convincing insight into the development of bebop, Shipton's depth of understanding of the birth of this vibrant movement, together with on target analysis of Gillespie's recorded output, makes this an exceptional tribute."--Library Journal
"A vibrant blend of meticulous scholarship, swinging anecdote and astute music criticism.... A must for jazz aficionados, this exhaustively researched biography features a supporting cast that reads like a who's who of jazz history."--Publishers Weekly
"Groovin' High skillfully fills in blanks where Gillespie's own autobiography leaves off.... An extremly well-researched and critical assessment of Gillespie's artistry and humanity, Groovin' High is a jazz biography at its most accessible and revealing."--Emerge
"Shipton marshals fresh data that gives nuance, and sometimes the lie, to the received knowledge of bebop, particularly the contributions of Gillespie."--Washington Post Book World
"A valuable contribution to jazz literature."--The New York Times Book Review
"British author and BBC radio host Alyn Shipton's biography on the world-renowned puffy-cheeked trumpeter/composer/bandleader John Birks 'Dizzy' Gillespie is the most comprehensive to date."--Amazon.com

"An extraordinarily detailed biography of one of the legends of jazz that focuses primarily on Gillespie's music....Shipton has written a fine tribute to one of the greats of jazz."--Salem Press "This well-researched and well-written biography is an indispensable source of information about Dizzy Gillespie. Thank you, Alyn Shipton!"--Thomas Owens, author of Bebop, the Music and Its Players "Dizzy Gillespie did more than change jazz. He also challenged our most deeply held views on what a jazz musician could be and do. Alyn Shipton is the perfect writer to tackle this subject, because he too is adept at challenging the conventional wisdom. Shipton has carefully researched his subject, and writes with conviction, honesty and passion. Finally we have abook that tells the whole story of this remarkable artist and his music." --Ted Gioia, author of The History of Jazz "Alyn Shipton's Groovin' High skillfully surveys the career of John Birks 'Dizzy' Gillespie, a musical innovator who never turned his back on the entertainor's role. The book leaves a fresh, vivid impression of the man and the artist whose changing place in the jazz tradition is traced over more than sixty years." --Richard Crawford, School of Music, The University of Michigan "Shipton has fulfilled the need for a biography rich in detail and analysis. Providing surprising and convincing insight into the development of bebop, Shipton's depth of understanding of the birth of this vibrant movement, together with on target analysis of Gillespie's recorded output, makes this an exceptional tribute."--Library Journal "An extraordinarily detailed biography of one of the legends of jazz that focuses primarily on Gillespie's music....Shipton has written a fine tribute to one of the greats of jazz."--Salem Press "This well-researched and well-written biography is an indispensable source of information about Dizzy Gillespie. Thank you, Alyn Shipton!"--Thomas Owens, author of Bebop, the Music and Its Players "Dizzy Gillespie did more than change jazz. He also challenged our most deeply held views on what a jazz musician could be and do. Alyn Shipton is the perfect writer to tackle this subject, because he too is adept at challenging the conventional wisdom. Shipton has carefully researched his subject, and writes with conviction, honesty and passion. Finally we have abook that tells the whole story of this remarkable artist and his music." --Ted Gioia, author of The History of Jazz "Alyn Shipton's Groovin' High skillfully surveys the career of John Birks 'Dizzy' Gillespie, a musical innovator who never turned his back on the entertainor's role. The book leaves a fresh, vivid impression of the man and the artist whose changing place in the jazz tradition is traced over more than sixty years." --Richard Crawford, School of Music, The University of Michigan "Shipton has fulfilled the need for a biography rich in detail and analysis. Providing surprising and convincing insight into the development of bebop, Shipton's depth of understanding of the birth of this vibrant movement, together with on target analysis of Gillespie's recorded output, makes this an exceptional tribute."--Library Journal "A vibrant blend of meticulous scholarship, swinging anecdote and astute music criticism.... A must for jazz aficionados, this exhaustively researched biography features a supporting cast that reads like a who's who of jazz history."--Publishers Weekly "Groovin' High skillfully fills in blanks where Gillespie's own autobiography leaves off.... An extremly well-researched and critical assessment of Gillespie's artistry and humanity, Groovin' High is a jazz biography at its most accessible and revealing."--Emerge "Shipton marshals fresh data that gives nuance, and sometimes the lie, to the received knowledge of bebop, particularly the contributions of Gillespie."--Washington Post Book World "A valuable contribution to jazz literature."--The New York Times Book Review "British author and BBC radio host Alyn Shipton's biography on the world-renowned puffy-cheeked trumpeter/composer/bandleader John Birks 'Dizzy' Gillespie is the most comprehensive to date."--Amazon.com

John Birks (Dizzy) Gillespie's wish to be remembered as a humanitarian is well served by jazz critic Shipton's fully realized biography. Since Gillespie's death in 1993, an in-depth biography of this jazz innovator has been eagerly awaited. While Barry McRae's short Dizzy Gillespie: His Life and Times (1989) was an admirable stopgap, Shipton has fulfilled the need for a biography rich in detail and analysis. Providing surprising and convincing insight into the development of bebop, Shipton's depth of understanding of the birth of this vibrant movement, together with on-target analysis of Gillespie's recorded output, makes this an exceptional tribute. The important role of Gillespie's collaborators (particularly musicians and arrangers) is noted as well, reminding us that the music, though inspired by Gillespie, was brought to fruition by many exceptional peopleÄall part of Gillespie's vital musical heritage. Recommended for public and academic libraries.ÄWilliam Kenz, Moorhead State Univ. Lib., MN Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.