[Trumpet] Trumpeter, band leader, and composer John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie ranks as one of the greatest musical innovators of the 20th century. He was renowned not only for his musical virtuosity but also for his impish good humor and wit.

Gillespie played this Silver flair trumpet from 1972 until the early 1980s. It has a uniquely shaped upturned bell, a design for which Gillespie was internationally known.

Courtesy of the National Museum of American History, gift of Lorraine Gillespie, 1985.

B-flat Trumpet & Case, Silver Flair Model, 1972, owned by Dizzy Gillespie (1917-93)

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