Gillespie's Influence On Cuban Music

Gillespie recognized rhythm as his greatest influence in seeking to make connections with music from around the world. His explorations were not limited to Cuban music but expanded out Argentina and include tango music. Oscoaldo Frisedo and Gillespie made a record but it was never released in the States (Gillespie 431). “Tangorine” was a song Dizzy recorded to historicize this experimentation. Without any hesitation, Gillespie confirms that he was the first one in the North American continent to play Brazilian music, even before Stan Getz! Getz would “bug” Dizzy about getting Brazilian song repertoire since Getz would be more in the States and Diz would travel down a lot more (Gillespie 431). Gillespie made the distinction between what would eventually be commercialized in jazz as bossa nova and samba. In Gillespie’s judgment bossa nova was the watered down version of samba, which was its root. The complex rhythms in Samba were exhibited in instrumental sections, which consisted mostly of non-melodic instruments; Dizzy found melodies articulated by the rhythms themselves.
Gillespie was aware of American music being generally composed of simple rhythm in comparison to the polyrhythms found in the rest of the African diaspora. He traced the lack of complex rhythms, as many scholars have, to the drum being taken away from slaves in America. He believed it important for a musician to acquire knowledge of what has come before, historically and musically; Gillespie was clearly a griot of his day. Openly sharing knowledge, Gillespie would hold meetings in apartments with a piano and in restaurants discussing theory with other musicians such as Kenny Clarke, Thelonious Monk, and Charlie