Ethno jazz who was born to a gypsy family and performed with famous musicians like Arthur Briggs, Bill Coleman, and Bill Arnold. His predominate style of playing was “Gypsy-Jazz.” Traveling to and learning from other cultures was another factor that influenced the development of Ethno Jazz. For example, a variety of musicians like pianist Randy Weston, trumpeter Lester Bowie, multi-instrumentalists Yusef Lateef, Ornette Coleman, and drummer Max Roach had a fascination for other cultures’ music. They went to Africa and studied different countries’ melodies, rhythms, and harmonies, and adapted them into their jazz playing and compositions. Intercultural musical exchange was well received
Rhondda Gillespie formal studies were at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music under Alexander Sverjensky (where her fellow students included Malcolm Williamson, Richard Farrell and Roger Woodward) and in Britain under Louis Kentner and Denis Matthews. Wilfred Josephs' 14 Studies for Piano, Op. 53 were written for Gillespie, Joy Blech, and Yonty Solomon. Gillespie gave the world premiere of the complete set at the Cheltenham Festival in 1967. She was the second wife of the music critic and musicologist Denby Richards. They married on 29 May 1973, but divorced in 1977. In 1976, for Joseph Horovitz's 50th birthday, Gillespie played his "Jazz Concerto"