Obituary News

Jake Hanna, 1931-2010

Source: Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
February 14, 2010

Drummer Jake Hanna died last night in Los Angeles of complications from a blood disease. He was 78. Versatile across all jazz styles, in small groups and large Hanna swung with unremitting flexibility and power. He was the spark plug of big bands led by Woody Herman, Maynard Ferguson and Toshiko Akiyoshi.

Here is Hanna in 1964 driving the Herman band in Bill Holman's arrangement of “After You've Gone." The video quality is a bit watery. The music is anything ...

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Surf-Rock Pioneer Richard Delvy Dies

Source: All About Jazz
February 12, 2010

Richard Delvy, a pioneering surf-rock drummer, composer, arranger, publisher and producer, died Feb. 6 at West Hills Hospital in California after a long illness. He was 67. Born on April 20, 1942, in Bridgeport, Conn., Delvy relocated to Southern California and became the drummer for the Bel-Airs, one of the earliest surf-rock groups. The band had a regional hit with the instrumental “Mr. Moto," which was covered by acts including the Ventures and Dick Dale and His Del-Tones. The original ...

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Fashion Diary: Alexander McQueen, an Appreciation

Source: Michael Ricci
February 11, 2010

Alexander McQueen, the fashion world's reigning provocateur, was found dead Thursday morning at his home in London. He was 40.

The police have not released an official report on the cause of death, but his press representatives at KCD Worldwide said it appeared to be suicide.

McQueen's death comes days after his mother's death on Feb. 2 and just a few weeks before he was due to present his fall women's collection in Paris.

As a designer, he was not ...

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John Dankworth, RIP

Source: Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
February 7, 2010

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Saxophonist Sir John Dankworth Dies

Source: All About Jazz
February 7, 2010

Sir John Dankworth, a totemic figure of the British jazz scene who worked as a musical director for artists including Nat King Cole and Ella Fitzgerald, has died at the age of 82. The saxophonist, whose career spanned more than half a century, died yesterday in King Edward VII hospital, London. He had been ill for several months. Dankworth enjoyed a parallel career as a film and television composer, and wrote the theme tune for television shows The Avengers and ...

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Vocal Coach to Stars Maurice Finnell Dies

Source: All About Jazz
February 4, 2010

Teacher, composer and vocal coach Maurice Finnell, who taught talent including Tony Bennett, Bette Midler, Tyne Daly and Warren Beatty, died Jan. 5 in New York from complications from a fall. He was 93.

Finnell was born in New Jersey, and started singing as a boy, performing the theme song for Douglas Fairbanks film “Reaching For The Moon" at the RKO Lincoln and Capital Theaters at the age of 16. He performed on radio networks in New York and Philadelphia, ...

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Going and Coming: John Norris, Infinite Quintet

Source: Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
February 2, 2010

GOING

To repeat: I have no intention of Rifftides becoming an obituary service, but as James Moody says his grandmother told him, “Folks is dyin' what ain't never died before," and some passings demand to be observed.

John Norris died yesterday in Toronto at the age of 76. He was the founder of the Canadian jazz magazine Coda, and of Sackville Records. Norris was a benevolent and resolutely independent spirit in music north of the border. He steadfastly resisted technological ...

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Joyce Collins, 1930-2010

Source: Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
January 30, 2010

The pianist and singer Joyce Collins died recently in Los Angeles following a long illness. She was 79. Highly respected in jazz circles, Collins played with a sensitive touch and subtle use of chords. Her singing was an outgrowth of those values, with attention to interpretation of the meaning of songs and, as Marian McPartland put it, “...deep feeling, a way of lingering over certain phrases, telling her story in a very poignant way." Collins's recorded debut as a leader ...

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