Dizzy Gillespie he dreamed of becoming a jazz musician. He won a music scholarship to the Laurinburg Institute in North Carolina which he attended for two years before accompanying his family when they moved to Philadelphia. Gillespie's first professional job was with the Frank Fairfax Orchestra in 1935, after which he joined the respective orchestras of Edgar Hayes and later Teddy Hill, replacing Frankie Newton as second trumpet in May 1937. Teddy Hill's band was where Gillespie made his first recording, "King Porter Stomp". In August 1937 while gigging with Hayes in Washington D.C., Gillespie met a young dancer named Lorraine Willis
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