Tootsall

Normally this would be in the "classified", but since it has the potential to develop in a wider-ranging debate, I'll put it here. Just saw this on the CBC news website:

Quote:

Dizzy's bent trumpet goes on the block
Last Updated Tue, 02 Aug 2005 12:12:22 EDT
CBC Arts
A famous bent trumpet belonging to U.S. jazz and bebop legend Dizzy Gillespie will join hundreds of his belongings on the auction block this fall.

More than 12 years after the death of the musical great, the contents of his Englewood, N.J., home will be sold at auction on Sept. 14.


One of Dizzy Gillespie's angled trumpets will be among the items sold at an auction of his New Jersey estate this fall.
In addition to his iconic trumpet, handwritten sheet music, a piano, drums and other percussion instruments will be up for grabs, along with Gillespie's personal record collection and awards, including one of his three Grammy trophies.

Documents for sale include photos, posters and personal correspondence. Rounding out the sale are Gillespie's signature hats, other clothing and some of his wife's jewellery.

A performance by the Dizzy Gillespie All-Star Band and other events will accompany a preview of the auction items, which begins on Sept. 11.

One of the most influential musicians in the history of jazz, the South Carolina-born Gillespie was one of the creators of bebop in the early 1940s. The jovial, pouched-cheeked improviser came upon his trademark bent trumpet in 1953, when someone accidentally fell on his instrument and bent the bell back. Gillespie played it, liked the sound and from then on had his trumpets customized with their bells bent upwards.

Gillespie and his wife, Lorraine, moved to the Englewood house in 1965 and they lived there until his death from pancreatic cancer in 1993, when he was 75.

Dawson and Nye Auctioneers and Appraisers, which specializes in the sale of celebrity estates and major corporate and private collections, has previously hosted auctions of props and costumes from the Sands Casino and Hotel collection and from the estates of Perry Como and Henry Luce, founder of Time and Life magazines.

Unquote:.

Remember, you saw it here first!

Robert Rowe

I wonder how many brands / incarnations of that horn came to be ... (?)

I saw "Diz" with Lionel Hampton around 1991 (I think) at an outdoor "Riverfest" performance in Riverhead , NY (Long Island). I managed to slip by the security dudes backstage, and was trying to get a word with him as he was leaving the stage, but his "handlers" whisked him quickly past me, and helped him into the tour bus. Needless to say, I didn't get a look at his horn.

I believe he played a bent Committee, for the better part of his career (?); yet, apparently later, he endorsed an up-bent King Silver Flair.

Anyone here able to shed any light on this issue ?

Robert Rowe

Rick Chartrand

Hey

I heard Dizzy explain it to Carson on the Tonight show in an old 1990 interview I have why he plays a bent Committee. He says that in the 1950's that two sidekicks he had Stump and Stumpy got into a scuffle. They accidently knocked over his horn that was on a stand, and the bel got bent! Unable to repair it in time for that nights show, he played it as is and loved how it directed the sound upwards. He had Martin make him a customized verson and the rest is history. As to why he played a King after playing a Committee is beyond me cause I consider Martin Committee the best along with Dizzy and Miles both.

Rick AKA Trumpet Man