He played the melodies with abandon, going into the highest registers of the trumpet range.4 By the time Gillespie was in his late teens he had completely possessed Eldridge's style, and replaced him in Teddy Hills band in 1937 when he moved to New York. While in Teddy Hill's band, Gillespie" relaxed attitude and sense of humor won him the nickname Dizzy. .
In 1939, Gillespie joimed Cab Calloway's band. The two years he was with the band "put Gillespie on the map as a trumpet soloist".5 Also, playing with Calloway's band gave Dizzy the time to play after-hours with other musicians. In these after-hour jam sessions the quick pace and explosive sound of bebop was brought to life.
Bebop is characterized by a tempo that is generally faster and seems more agitated than that of swing music. There are few rests in the music. Bebop is played as fast as humanly possible. Most music of that era was performed at a more moderate tempo. With Bebop, notes blazed through the air. Bebop was art music, not "entertainment" music. Not for dancing, but for listening. Bebop musicians considered themselves artists, not musicians.
The typical Bebop combo has three to five musicians. Typically piano, bass, drums, saxophone and/or trumpet. The bass being the main timekeeper, usually playing walking bass lines on all four beats.6 Bebop utilizes complex melodies instead of complex arrangements. Music was rarely written down. It was mostly just discussed what would be played, so trimmed down arrangements were necessary. Bebop is complex improvisation.
Bebop also follows a basic format. A: First chorus - band plays the melody in unison. B: Middle choruses - improvised solos, each player in turn improvises for as many choruses as desired. C: Trading fours or eights (optional) - keeping the form, each player improvises in turn for four bars in alteration with the drums. D: Last chorus: band plays the melody in unison.7 Bebop took the harmonies of the old jazz and superimposed on them additional substituted chords.
