John Bailey - Can You Imagine

2020

The world loves a good "what if..." story, so why not explore the idea of Dizzy Gillespie as president? The famed trumpeter actually ran for the highest office in the land in 1964. And though the move was largely in jest, he didn't shy away from the issues of the day while campaigning. Sadly, many of the same problems that Gillespie explored still plague the United States, but trumpeter John Bailey doesn't get weighed down by that sobering sadness—or pure politics—with this imagined scenario. Instead, on Can You Imagine?, he looks to the sunny side and tackles the notion of a better nation—a place of positivity which could have been, and still can be. By DAN BILAWSKY