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How Dizzy Gillespie helped forge a new jazz era in America

Dizzy Gillespie and his iconic trumpet -- with its turned up bell -- brought a new era of American jazz to a global audience. It's part of our 250th anniversary series America in Pursuit.

Copyright 2026 NPR

Jennifer Ludden
Jennifer Ludden is a correspondent on NPR's National Desk where she covers housing, homelessness, poverty and inequality.

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