Obituary News

David Soyer Famed Guarneri Cellist Has Died

Source: All About Jazz
February 27, 2010

David Soyer, the founding cellist of the Guarneri String Quartet, died on Thursday at his apartment in New York, a day after his 87th birthday. The news comes from Frank Salomon, a co-administrator of the Marlboro Music Festival, with which Mr. Soyer had a long association.

Mr. Soyer, the violinists Arnold Steinhardt and John Dalley and the violist Michael Tree formed the Guarneri at Marlboro in 1964, and it became one of the premier quartets in the world. He retired ...

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Lee Freeman, Strawberry Alarm Clock Guitarist Dies

Source: Michael Ricci
February 25, 2010

Lee Freeman, 60, a member of the 1960s' band Strawberry Alarm Clock, famous for its flower-power anthem that became a No. 1 hit in 1967, died of cancer Feb. 14 at his home in the Bay Area. Freeman, who played rhythm guitar, sang and wrote lyrics, was an original member of the band, which was called Thee Sixpence when it was formed in 1966. None of the band members wanted to sing lead on “Incense and Peppermints," intended to be ...

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Kathryn Grayson Sing Star of the Golden Age of Hollywood 1922-2010

Source: Michael Ricci
February 21, 2010

Kathryn Grayson, the petite singer and actress whose operatic voice and campus-sweetheart beauty embodied the glamour of Hollywood movie musicals in the 1940s and 50s, died Wednesday at her home in Los Angeles. She was 88.

Ms. Grayson, a coloratura soprano, was best known for three film roles: the movie hopeful who attracts the attentions of two sailors (Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra) on shore leave in Hollywood in Anchors Aweigh (1945); Magnolia Hawks, the captains innocent daughter, who falls ...

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Accordion Jazz Legend Art Van Damme, 1920-2010

Source: Michael Ricci
February 21, 2010

By Rob Howard Art Van Damme died on February 15th 2010 after being ill with pneumonia for several weeks. A Memorial to this great accordion jazz legend is now online and you can add your Tribute to his Tribute Wall on the Art Van Damme memorials site. Art Van Damme was born on April 9th 1920 in Norway, Michigan, and brought up in Chicago. Art Van Damme took up the piano accordion in 1929 at the age of nine, and ...

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Kathryn Grayson MGM Singing Star Dies

Source: Michael Ricci
February 18, 2010

Kathryn Grayson, who became a top MGM box office attraction in the 1940's and early '50s as the star of musicals such as Show Boat and Kiss Me Kate, has died. She was 88.

Grayson died Wednesday of natural causes at her home in Los Angeles, Sally Sherman, Grayson's longtime companion and secretary, told Associated Press.

A coloratura soprano with a heart shaped face, Grayson made her screen debut in Andy Hardy's Private Secretary, starring Mickey Rooney, in 1941.

She ...

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Doug Fieger the Knack Lead Singer Dies

Source: All About Jazz
February 16, 2010

Doug Fieger, leader of the power pop band The Knack who sang on the 1979 hit “My Sharona," died Sunday. He was 57. Fieger, a Detroit-area native, died at his home in Woodland Hills near Los Angeles after battling cancer, according to The Knack's manager, Jake Hooker. Fieger formed The Knack in Los Angeles 1978, and the group quickly became a staple of Sunset Strip rock clubs. A year later he co-wrote and sang lead vocals on “My Sharona." See ...

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Jake Hanna Versatile Jazz Drummer Was in Merv Griffin's TV Show Band Dies

Source: Michael Ricci
February 16, 2010

Hanna, known for his unerring sense of time, was at home playing with big bands and small groups. He performed with Woody Herman, Maynard Ferguson and Duke Ellington, among others.

Jake Hanna, a versatile drummer who played with such jazz figures as Woody Herman and was a longtime member of the band on Merv Griffin's television show, has died. He was 78. Hanna died Friday at Kaiser Permanente West Los Angeles Medical Center of complications from a bone marrow disease, ...

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Dale Hawkins Early Rock Musician Wrote 'Susie-Q' Dies

Source: Michael Ricci
February 16, 2010

The singer-guitarist's 1957 hit became a rock anthem and was covered by many artists, including the Rolling Stones and Creedence Clearwater Revival.

The raw, bluesy swamp-rock sound of the original “Suzy Susie-Q" grew out of Dale Hawkin's childhood experience, steeped in rural country and blues music.

Dale Hawkins, a singer-guitarist best known for his 1957 hit Susie-Q, which became a rock anthem, died Saturday in Little Rock, Ark., his family announced. He was 73. He was diagnosed with colon cancer ...

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