6 January

Today's the day when in 1993 renowned jazz trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie died of cancer at the age of 75. As one of the 20th century's leading jazz trumpeters, Gillespie worked frequently with sax player Charlie Parker, and together the two helped shape "bebop" jazz. Gillespie's work, including "Night in Tunisia" and "Salt Peanuts," inspired many future jazz artists, such as Thelonious Monk and Miles Davis.

And what a great name he had! Where did that come from? You can’t really imagine Mr and Mrs Gillespie christening their son ‘Dizzy’. In fact his real name was John Birks Gillespie. He got the nickname Dizzy because of his crazy sense of humour.

When you listen to a genius like Gillespie play you realise what a powerful and sweet instrument the trumpet can be. (If you’ve ever shared a house with someone tooting their way through ‘Trumpeting for Beginners’ you’ll know that it’s not always such a charming sound!)

The Bible promises us that a great trumpet solo will announce the glorious day of our resurrection. Jesus has defeated death once and for all and one day at God’s command everyone who has lived by faith in Jesus will be raised to life and finally transformed fully into his likeness. Listen to this from 1 Corinthians:

Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.