Dizzy Gillespie remembered, by both critics and fans alike, as one of the greatest jazz trumpeters of all time". The youngest of nine children of James and Lottie Gillespie, Dizzy Gillespie was born in Cheraw, South Carolina. His father was a local bandleader, so instruments were made available to the children. Gillespie started to play the piano at the age of four. Gillespie's father died when he was only ten years old. He taught himself how to play the trombone as well as the trumpet by the age of twelve. From the night he heard his idol, Roy Eldridge, on the radio,
James Leary (musician) James Leary (musician) James H. Leary is a double bass player and arranger/composer, who played with the Count Basie Orchestra, Nancy Wilson, Earl Hines, Bobby Hutcherson, Eddie Harris, Dizzy Gillespie with the San Francisco Pops conducted by Arthur Fiedler, Max Roach, Eddie Cleanhead Vinson, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Johnny Hartman, Major Lance, Johnny Taylor, Esther Phillips, Rosemary Clooney, Don Shirley, Broadway shows: "Eubie!", "They're Playing Our Song", "Ain't Misbehavin'", "Bubbling Brown Sugar", "Five Guys Named Moe", "Timbuktu!" with Eartha Kitt, Oakland Symphony Bass Section, Pharoah Sanders, Red Garland, Jaki Byard, Randy Weston, and John Handy. Leary was born in Little Rock,