Quest for Civil Rights: John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie

[Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] I'm grace Jordan McFadden with mr. John Birks Gillespie known to the world as definitely known he's a native of Shiraz South Carolina born October 21st 1971 is your earliest recollection the first day where I went to school this was we're pretty far back well there was a lady next door living in mrs. Harrington Mandy Hansen who had diabetes and she had this thing something a pimple on her foot and she picked this pimple and and that turn to gangrene and she had to have a leg cut off and she and didn't give her any anesthesia she sat and good her teeth so Miss manna was a former schoolteacher I was the youngest of nine so I was the man around the house those two houses my house and the house next door so I spent a lot of time over the Miss Manners that Miss Amanda taught me the alphabet and Counting and I could read before I went to school so when I got in school and the premise I know all of that what they was talking about so I was Restless and and and I was whistling in the classroom and the first day I went to school I got a whooping yeah mr. Miller and my father was furious because he thought that that was his the world because he will every Sunday my brother in me brother every Sunday we got a meeting anyway but he got mad and later never worked me no more I just cannot grade long enough for the work no way anybody out there so fast neither Prem agree I wasn't afraid when I was in a second I caught up to my brother the first year what was your father's name James Penfield lets me call him JP why did your father whip you and your brother every Sunday for what we did all the week that's what he said that was daddy though I really messed up my life because you see when you know when a child knows he's gonna get it mm-hmm he's gonna do something to to warrant must have been pretty precocious do you remember some Pleasant things about your father stop sometimes on a Saturday he'd come in the house with candy in someone one of his pockets what was your father's livelihood brick mason and musician but he didn't make any make a living as a musician he britney's could bring me some truth it's up there uh or he built our house I know some of the other big Masons home but my father used to go up north and wait a lot he weighed them Newark New Jersey and then I was named for contract guys name must have been John brakes scarlet what was your mother's name they told me that my mother's name was Charlotte her Bateen known about that name but it must be some logic to it because lady is Charlotte well I know I didn't know Charlotte was Lodi so I must have heard that someplace that her name was Ana so what do you remember about your mother I'm I was pretty lenient with me she whupped me a lot but she's pretty lenient you but I remember most about it just what I knew what mothers do what was it like being the youngest of nine children my sister used to pinch she was mean your sister was what she never said a pleasant way but she was always nice for the kid other kid all of my first cousins and all the neighborhood kids loved they loved jigna mr. Gillespie you mentioned that your father was a brick mason and also a musician was it from your father that you acquired your interest in music no I was man well he would have been very happy to know that was a resistance he loved music yeah I know he must have loved music because the whole house all of his extra money was spent in musical instruments and it was I remember seeing a mandolin planet drums bass violin piano all those Ron think your father played yeah he must have played them trusty wooden house in from there people older people home savers quite gifted mm-hmm he's to play around home how did you acquire your interest in music explanation for it you start at first playing a trombone would you like to talk a little bit about that I couldn't reach this position but the guy next door hey the reason I played the trumpet was a guy next door got one gym mr. Manahan his son and he got this trouble this long and I heard him play and brought he let me practice let me play it so let me try it and then he would let me practice on his own I started playing it you have developed a very unique sound can you talk about how it was developing what exactly do you call it I hear people call your music bebop they call it jazz they call it afro-cuban how do you identify your music I should've known identified told me one time brakes tell me about my middle name is saying you know he said you know it was mistake for you to let him call your music bebo you should just let him make sense Gillespie Ana laid on us yeah because she beats when you name something you did sit from that moment but see the reason Duke Ellington was never dated because it was Ellen tonyia mr. Gillespie if you could identify musicians who have made an impact on the music world whom would you mention and why well they've been yeah I would I would name our musicians who establish a style and then everybody came behind and started playing that style such as Louie Armstrong came out of a royal church mouths Clifford Brown Coleman Hawkins Lester Young Johnny Hodges Charlie Christian Jimmy Blanton Ariana different clothes charlie puth it's cool train it's a line you know it's a line that goes down you know in the saxophone players the line goes like Sidney Bechet China Hodges and they've been very cottagey to of me alone the same no Bostick was a stylist in trumpets the trombone the peon Earl Hines Billy cow blood Powell trombone JJ johnson drummers kenny cloud nice roads but you notice most of the establishes because of a style and our music have been black recent Ferretti is our music stems from the black community you know like from what happens in the blues or what happened in the gospel and what you heard when you were it's difficult for a white guy they've never heard the gospel to come to know how to play so for me to play hillbilly music mm-hmm I could do it a little time give me a chance to even listen to the guys but I wouldn't be as good as say a guy that grew up in that idiot that's a very very important point and it's not the color you see that they said right guys it's not because of his complexion it's because of his background he had that background come cause you figure you you you could take a white baby and take him to India and put him with an Indian family and if he's got any access to being a musician somebody give him a sitar and you won't know the difference from him in an indian planet this this way so yes that's what it is you see some of the guys you know they make an issue out of the fact that it's the black guys who their music and chums the fundamentals of the music comes out of their plate so that's why did music better do you feel that music that has historically evolved from the black experience has gained respect in this kind of respect but not all the way in you I'm doing something you know I'm having I'm having some of my compositions made up for Symphony Orchestra for me as solos that's somebody all the guys that can write for Stephanie like Lalo Schifrin Quincy Jones sad John then it goes from benin tata robert front and you probably never heard of him but what do you view as some of your favorite musical compositions peace and breaking it to a behind I belong to the behind and his name is to his guy named even or lunga from Uganda he's what you call he's very special and the behalf hid because he was appointed a hand of the cause of God by the Guardian who's dead now but he's the only African hand of the cause and I came to New York and I met him and this year recently and Uganda someone broke into his house and killed him killed his wife and three of his children and so this number that I wrote for him called alonga just strong you know feeling for this and that's one of the compositions that one of my favorites it was really from and then I made this address and address a joint session legislature the Senate in the house of South Carolina and I chose the first subject this subject was 200 years of imperishable hope and it was an article that was in the behind journal that we get and I read the whole thing it was beautiful and told me it stated all the facts you know but what happened and how we are still hoping for 200 years of them pressure below and then in Italy and then Israel I played at a place called Caesarea today it was a open every theater the Dead Sea was behind us that was beautiful and also played for the University on the Williams and ice hand and then next semester everything with you and I do you get your socks humble I said be ready now so then I introduced introduced into Max Roach and it was like there Jim Carter was night boy he's at the war he's a very warm human being he saw my apologies didn't but but did this way struck me I I saw him walk up to Mingus Charlie Mingus was in a wheelchair and and he walked up to Mingus and hug him and Mingus was just crying you know they play the president when he came over at that to do that I had a present for him the bahai administration this is a book the administrative setup of the Baha'i faith it's beautiful you know but I need said hardly and they're gonna compose a world government and so I had this book and I saw that now looking for the president and and and and and I start over toward the President and where's Connor [Music] and with the with the Shah of Iran's of Sara and I did a concert so I've made it before so I just kept going so I went oh we gave the Benghazi here's a present for you but he didn't recognize me right away soon so he said at the end when everything dance after Mexican I went on did that little thing that we did together and then I heard this voice from I go yes and then we finished that you to the bar and anything Sabrina this is so bitter I said okay I want with microphone I said ladies and gentlemen the president has requested salty nuts but I have a diplomatic you Chris I'll play it if you will sing it message when you witness a subpoena Sofia coos a subpoena bonus page and then we told him that was plan that was understand that in 1963 there was an attempt to put your name on the birth president but on the top says the great American Music Hall endorses dizziness for president is bread says add a from senator from San Cisco one of the guys from San Francisco photographer took this button and walked up to the President and say would you hold his present cheese the president donated button and then I took a picture with reading future with bread for president five minutes later you noted for horn with peculiar shape your trumpet shape I guess I choose to go for artistic reasons that is if you were to leave them a legacy what would you want it to be 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