The world knows Dizzy Gillespie, who died in 1993 at age 76, as the king of bebop. A charismatic performer who could go from wacky to deadpan in the space of a 16th-note. A self-taught musician whose cheeks puffed out like a bullfrog when he blew into his trumpet.

Dizzy Gillespie performingWhat many don't know about John Birks Gillespie, whose 89th birthday on Oct. 21 was celebrated at jazz clubs throughout the country, is that at the age of 51 he became a Baha'i and toured the world espousing his newly found Faith.

"Becoming a Baha'i changed my life in every way and gave me a new concept of the relationship between God and his fellow man - man and his family," Mr. Gillespie wrote in his memoirs. On the road between concerts, he devoured books on the Faith, including Thief in the Night by William Sears, a prominent American Bahá'í teacher, writer, and television and radio personality.

Like Sears, Mr. Gillespie became a teacher. In mentoring a generation of younger musicians, he looked to the Baha'i belief in progressive revelation - that there's a prophet for each era - as his inspiration.

"God has got it set up now. His education of mankind is through prophets, and each one's supposed to come for a specific age," he said. Baha'is have a "a really intelligent way, looking at God's work on the planet. So I believe that music is the same. Messengers come to the music, and after their influence starts waning, another one comes with a new idea, and he has a lot of followers."

The 18-piece New York State of the Art Jazz Ensemble, led by pianist Mike Longo,
performed at a celebration of Dizzy Gillespie's 89th birthday at the New York City
Baha'i Center. Photo by Veronica A. ShoffstallSherrie Morris is one of those followers. The Buffalo, N.Y., musician and musicologist investigated the Baha'i Faith for several years, and then decided to become a member after reading Dizzy: To be or not to bop : the autobiography of Dizzy Gillespie with Al Fraser.

"I read how as a musician Dizzy related to people from all backgrounds and treated them as creatures of God," Ms. Morris says. "When God gave us our diversity, he gave us a beautiful thing. Musicians deal with that all the time. Music is a universal language, a way of relating to God."

Morris says she thinks of the Baha'i Faith for musicians as a protection against drugs and drinking because of "the discipline and support it provides. And Baha'is encourage artistic creativity. There's poetry in the prayers."

A musician, Baha'i and "student" of Mr. Gillespie's who has carried on his tradition is Mike Longo, Gillespie's former pianist and music director. Longo was instrumental in establishing the John Birks Gillespie Auditorium at the New York City Baha'i Center. Musicians from all over perform in the Jazz at the Baha'i Center series on Tuesday nights. Mr. Longo is one of them. He calls his music "neobop." Dizzy would have puffed out his cheeks with pride.