Faddis, Mingus & Dizzy

Any conversation with Jon Faddis eventually evolves into two topics. . .one being the importance of the big band in jazz, the other topic being the immortal Dizzy Gillespie.

During a telephone interview Faddis discussed the important place in his musical development held by big bands. He said, "When I was ten or maybe eleven my trumpet teacher used to take me to rehearsals of big bands and tell me to 'sit here and listen and stay out of the way!' It was really good for me being in the middle of a big band and hearing it from such a young age."

The road to his present status within the music community wasn't without pitfalls and problems for a then teenaged big band trumpeter. One of Faddis' early employers was the bassist and composer Charles Mingus.

Spending time in the presence of such a musical giant can be an awe inspiring experience or as Faddis described it "It definitely was a treat but I was too young to appreciate what a treat it was, I was only 18."

When asked if he'd ever incurred the not inconsequential wrath of the mercurial Mingus, Faddis replied succinctly, "Yes, once and it scared me to death."

Faddis continues, "But we got along after that one incident, I think we were okay. I always remember his laugh. He had a gorgeous laugh and I remember his constantly saying 'Jon Faddis tell me a joke, Jon Faddis tell me a joke!'."

When queried about the place the late Dizzy Gillespie held in his musical life Faddis instantly replied "He was the reason I got into Jazz. I first heard him in person when I was twelve but I was too shy to say anything when he came over to the table. So I decided that the next time when I would meet him I was going to say something. So the next time I took all of my records of him along to the Monterey Jazz Festival. We sat there and he autographed them and we talked about all the records."

"A couple of weeks after that I got a chance to sit in with his group. From that moment on I knew that jazz was what I wanted to do with my life."


Gillespie's infectious joy of life and living earned him the nickname 'the clown prince of jazz' and spawned many a legend, some of them true. As Faddis put it "Dizzy had a good time wherever he was, yeah that was Dizzy."

The trumpeter recalled, "I remember one time walking up the street with him. It was about six blocks and it took us about an hour because he would stop in every store and people would stop him. With Dizzy it was like he had all the time in the world. He always had a good time. I think even when he was having a bad time he was having a good time."