Jazz News

Organist Trudy Pitts Carney Dies

Source: Schicker
December 23, 2010

Philadelphia-based organist Trudy Pitts Carney died on Sunday, Dec. 19, of pancreatic cancer. She was 78.

During the 1950s and '60s, Pitts blended her church background and classical training to a classic blues-based organ sound, often alongside her husband, percussionist William Theodore Carney. She also delved into the burgeoning free-jazz movement and performed with John Coltrane and Rahsaan Roland Kirk. Her 1967 album Introducing The Fabulous Trudy Pitts (Prestige) also featured guitarist Pat Martino.

“She was a major, major artist ...

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RIP Harry Whitaker

Source: Schicker
November 27, 2010

"Man, patience is a virtue!" Harry Whitaker is reflecting on the long-awaited release of his first album as a leader, recorded when he was thirty-four years old. Now a well-seasoned fifty-nine ("I'm older, not more mature," he clarifies), he is savoring the fruits of a philosophy that guided him throughout a rich career spent supporting a galaxy of headliners. An archetypal behind-the-scenes accompanist and arranger best known through his association with Roberta Flack, he was a cornerstone of Roy Ayers's ...

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Solomon Burke dies at Amsterdam airport at 70

Source: Schicker
October 12, 2010

By TOBY STERLING Solomon Burke was born to the sound of music in an upstairs room of a Philadelphia church and went on to become one of the greatest soul singers of the 1960s, renowned as among music's premier vocalists. Yet his popularity never matched that of those he influenced, contemporaries including James Brown and Marvin Gaye, a reality he accepted with grace and some frustration, colleagues said. Burke, 70, died early Sunday of natural causes at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport, ...

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