In 1953 Gillespie is 36 years old and a world star in Jazz. Born in 1917, he is known in the scene as "Dizzy" because, alongside the inventors of bebop Charlie Parker and Bud Powell, he likes to play the mad intellectual with goatee beard, Basque beret and round sunglasses. He cultivates the role of provocateur, in 1964 he even stands for election as president of the USA.