Dizzy Gillespie Watrous describes his performance style: Wynton Marsalis summed up Gillespie as a player and teacher: Gillespie's trademark trumpet featured a bell which bent upward at a 45-degree angle rather than pointing straight ahead as in the conventional design. According to Gillespie's autobiography, this was originally the result of accidental damage caused by the dancers Stump and Stumpy falling onto the instrument while it was on a trumpet stand on stage at Snookie's in Manhattan on January 6, 1953, during a birthday party for Gillespie's wife Lorraine. The constriction caused by the bending altered the tone of the instrument, and Gillespie
Sarah Gillespie Ends", "BBC London" and Jazz FM, and received airplay on BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 3 and local stations in Europe and America. On 21 November 2011 Gillespie was interviewed by Andrew Marr on BBC Radio 4's "Start the Week" on the emerging role of politics in the arts. She was awarded by the British PRS for Music 'Women Make Music Scheme' in 2012 for her narrative music project "The War on Trevor" which she launched with two headline shows at Ronnie Scott's. On her mother's side Gillespie is related to CIA London Station chief Cleveland Cram and Irish politician