Picture of Dizzy Gillespie smoking a cigar

Dizzy Gillespie, January 30, 1976

Ambush someone with your camera and this is the kind of result you're likely to get. Diz was not amused when he spotted a lens pointing at him in the sanctity of his dressing room. I was on assignment to photograph his guitarist, Al Gafa, and was in the dressing room at his invitation. Fortunately, Dizzy was all smiles within 30 seconds after this shot was taken, when Gafa introduced us and explained my presence. I learned a lesson about dressing room protocol from that incident, but I don't regret that I got a good shot.

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