Why Cheraw South Carolina is THE Birthplace of Cool

EXIT OF THE DAY:
I-95 Exit 90 in SC To: US 176, to Cameron, Holly Hill, South Carolina.

Hear the here!

​"In upcoming Cheraw, South Carolina, famed jazz trumpet player "Dizzy" Gillespie was born in 1917.  Before he found music Dizzy was a tough kid with a stick on his shoulder. But then Dizzy picked up a trumpet -- and a new Faith. ​

​As for the trumpet… in the 1940s Dizzy Gillespie, with Charlie Parker, became a major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz. He mentored many other musicians, including trumpeters Miles Davis, Fats Navarro, Arturo Sandoval, and Chuck Mangione.
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Apart from cheeks that blew up like balloons he is most famous for adding layers of rhythm and complexity previously unheard in jazz.  His combination of skill, showmanship, and wit made him a leading evangelist of modern jazz just as his beret,  his scat singing, his bent horn, his pouched cheeks and his light-hearted personality provided the soulful stereotype for the Beat Generation's jazz intelligensia.  Along with other musicians and Beat Writers, like friends Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac, Dizzy haunted all the smoke filled hipster bars in New York’s Greenwich Village long before it was trendy.

In other words, Dizzy was Cool, man. Super cool.  So Cool, other than possibly Charlie Bird, Miles Davis, and John Coltrane, no one was more famous in the 50’s bebop movement.

​What is not as well known was that Dizzy was a member of the Baha'is of the United States Faith. Dizzy was a Bahá'í since about 1970. He was one of the most famous followers of the religion.

​Baha’i helped him make sense of his position in life, his great success, as well as turning his life from knife-carrying gangsta to a global citizen and from alcohol to "soul force".

Bebop and Bahai. Up from Cheraw, South Carolina. Now that is BEYOND cool.

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#CherawSouthCarolina #BirthofCool #Baha'i

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