Home » Jazz News
Obituary News
Timely announcements covering new album releases, tours, concert series, special events, job postings, crowdfunding campaigns and more. You can find more news by searching our website, viewing our news stream, seeing what's trending or reading our blog posts. Subscribe to our news RSS feed and/or embed AAJ news content on your website or blog. Learn about our news service here. Submit news here.
Donald Washington Obituary and Memorial Information
Source:
Michael Ricci
With much sadness, Jazz Bridge would like to announce that Donald Washington Sr., 79, a well-known Philadelphia-area jazz saxophonist and retired Food Fair worker from Haddon Heights, died of lung cancer on December 1st at home. Washington was born in West Philadelphia and raised in Southwest Philadelphia. In 1948, he graduated from Murrell Dobbins Career and Technical Education High School, where he excelled in swimming and played varsity basketball. Food Fair Services employed him as a warehouse worker at 10th ...
Continue Reading
Hale Smith, Who Broke Borders of Classical and Jazz, is Dead at 84
Source:
Michael Ricci
Hale Smith, a classical composer who also worked as a performer and arranger with jazz greats like Dizzy Gillespie and Chico Hamilton, died Tuesday at his home in Freeport, L.I. He was 84. The cause was complications of a stroke, said his wife, Juanita. Mr. Smith, who wryly described himself to The New York Times in 1990 as one of Americas most famous unknown composers, straddled the two worlds of jazz and classical music as a performer, composer, arranger and ...
Continue Reading
The Eddie Locke Memorial
Source:
Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
Among the friends of Eddie Locke who took part in his memorial service in Manhattan on November 22 was bassist and author Bill Crow. Locke, a stalwart drummer based in New York for more than five decades, died last September at the age of 79. Bill prepared this report for Rifftides.
At St. Peter's Church, a lot of good music was played by a lot of Eddie's friends, including Warren Vache, Richard Wyands, Jackie Williams, Murray Wall, Mike LeDonne, ...Continue Reading
Jazz Drummer Billy James Dies at 73
Source:
Michael Ricci
Legendary jazz drummer Billy James has died in Philadelphia at the age of 73. James died Friday night at Mercy Hospital after struggling with complications from asthma. That's according to his longtime girlfriend, Danita Lyburn. James was originally from Pittsburgh and played with jazz greats including Eddie “Lockjaw" Davis, Sonny Stitt, Don Patterson, Pat Martino, Bootsie Barnes, Eddie Harris, Houston Person and Etta Jones, The Groove ORGANization featuring Gene Ludwig, and many others. He was a long-time mainstay at Philadelphia ...
Continue Reading
Pianist Morris Nanton Dies at 80
Source:
Michael Ricci
Perth Amboy, NJ -- Morris Nanton passed away peacefully at home Sunday morning, November 15. He was born in Perth Amboy and lived there all his life. He served his country with honor in the U.S. Armed Forces with the 5th Army Division Band during the Korean War. He graduated from Perth Amboy High School and Juilliard Conservatory of Music in New York after attending on full scholarship. Known throughout the metropolitan area, The Morris Nanton Trio performed for over ...
Continue Reading
Dick Katz, 85, Jazzman of Many Gifts over 6 Decades, is Dead
Source:
Michael Ricci
Dick Katz, a pianist, record producer, educator and writer whose knowledge of jazz from the stride-piano era to 1960s modernism made him a valuable presence on New Yorks jazz scene for six decades, died on Tuesday in Manhattan. He was 85. The cause was lung cancer, said his son Jamie. Mr. Katzs piano idols were soloist royalty: Teddy Wilson, Art Tatum, Fats Waller. But he was a more reserved musician, finding his place somewhere between accompanist, arranger and subtle improviser. ...
Continue Reading
Stacy Rowles, 1955-2009
Source:
Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
Family members and friends are planning a memorial service for Stacy Rowles. No date has been set. The trumpeter and singer died at home in Burbank, California, on October 27 of injuries from an automobile accident two weeks earlier. She was 54. The daughter of pianist Jimmy Rowles, she studied piano for a time. Despite her father's example, she was not attracted to the instrument. She eventually tried an old trumpet that was in the Rowles house and immediately took ...
Continue Reading
Art D'Lugoff, Village Gate Impresario, Dies at 85
Source:
Michael Ricci
Art DLugoff, who was widely regarded as the dean of New York nightclub impresarios and whose storied spot, the Village Gate, was for more than 30 years home to performers as celebrated, and diverse, as Duke Ellington, Allen Ginsberg and John Belushi, died on Wednesday in Manhattan. He was 85 and lived in the Riverdale section of the Bronx. The cause has not been determined, said Mr. DLugoffs brother, Burt, a medical doctor and frequent silent partner in his joyously ...
Continue Reading
