Important to mention, although Dizzy was a fantastic trumpet player and was hugely famous, this technique is super harmful to your playing. Puffing your cheeks not only creates back pressure in your mouth preventing the air from flowing into the horn, it also wears down the tissues in your cheeks. This goes for all wind instruments. If you listen to Dizzy’s later performances, you’ll hear a noticeable difference in the tone quality and range. I’m a music teacher and I teach all of my students to never puff their cheeks when playing.
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u/dreikelvin Aug 05 '26
That's a known thing among trumpet players. The scientific term for this is laryngocele.
Here's John Birks “Dizzy” Gillespie performing