The Palmetto State loves to celebrate its tremendous jazz heritage with events like the South Carolina Jazz Festival, which happens the third week of October in Cheraw, SC.
With a population of just over 5,000, Cheraw may seem an unlikely venue until you learn that Dizzy Gillespie was born in what he liked to call "Chee-Ra" in 1917.
The festival draws big name acts from around the world as well as regional talent at dozens of events all around town, called one of the most picturesque small towns in the South. If you plan a visit, we recommend stopping by the Dizzy Gillespie Homesite Park, complete with a larger than life statue of the man himself.
This has been Rapp on Jazz, a co-production of the ColaJazz Foundation and SC Public Radio. Support for this program is made possible in part by Fox Music House of Columbia and Charleston.