Gillespie came into the spotlight as Bird's collaborator in the birth of bebop, but he also put his trumpet flair to use in other contexts, as with Tadd Dameron's romantic tune “Our Delight.” Diz never lost his eclectic taste, consistently pursuing surprising concept albums like 1961's Perceptions, in which he contributed finely judged solos to J. J. Johnson's jazz-orchestra opuses.