Originally a trumpeter, Dizzy Gillespie who died on 6 January, 1993, aged 75, also showed considerable talent as a bandleader , singer and composer.

A true pioneer, he became known for playing with a bent trumpet after damaging his instrument and liking the new sound it made

He is as relevant to the evolution of jazz as Charlie Parker and his work has helped pioneer genres such as bebop, Afro-Cuban jazz and modern jazz.

Dizzy Gillespie is one of the few musicians who can claim to have truly developed new movements, created new genres and inspired generations of people.

John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie was born on 21 October, 1917, in South Carolina and was the youngest of the nine children born to his abusive father, who died when he was 10-years-old.

He inherited musical talent from his father and after teaching himself to play the trumpet at the age of 12, managed to win a scholarship to the Laurinburg Institute in North Carolina.

In 1935 he dropped out of the college, moved to Philadelphia to embark on a career as a full time musician, making his recording debut filling for Roy Eldridge in Teddy Hill's band.

Mr Gillespie worked with Cab Calloway’s group but developed a reputation for adventurous solos and eventually left the band.

He then went on to perform with various bands but after he began working with the equally legendary Charlie Parker, performing in clubs such as Minton's Playhouse and Monroe's Uptown House, his career really started to take off.

Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie were an experimental duo and their creativity soon led to the seeds of new musical expression being sown. Bebop was being created and at the same time he was educating aspiring musicians like Miles Davis and Max Roach about the new styles of jazz.

Mr Gillespie spent a year in France and returned to the United States having proven his credentials as a skilled bandleader. In 1956 he organized a band to go on a State Department tour of the Middle East and earned the nickname "the Ambassador of Jazz"

He certainly lived up to his this monkiker. He continued to spread the word of jazz until he lost his battle with pancreatic cancer in 1993.

At what was supposed to be his 75th birthday celebration concert he was unable to play because he was in bed suffering from cancer but the musicians on the bill honoured him by putting on one of the most memorable jazz concerts of all time.

Dizzy Gillespie directly influenced many of the greatest jazz musicians of all time.

His relevance will continue to be of profound importance as jazz continues to evolve and find new ways of expressing itself.

Dizzy Gillespie was a pioneer and had little regard for the strict schools of music: “I don't care too much about music. What I like is sounds."