Obituary News

Dick Katz, 85, Jazzman of Many Gifts over 6 Decades, is Dead

Source: Michael Ricci
November 13, 2009

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. ...

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Stacy Rowles, 1955-2009

Source: Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
November 13, 2009

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 ...

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Art D'Lugoff, Village Gate Impresario, Dies at 85

Source: Michael Ricci
November 8, 2009

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 ...

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Stacy Rowles, Jazz Musician, is Dead at 54

Source: Michael Ricci
November 7, 2009

Stacy Rowles, a jazz trumpeter, fluegelhorn player and singer who had been active on the Los Angeles jazz scene since the 1980s, died on Oct. 27 at her home in Burbank, Calif. She was 54. The cause was complications from a car accident on Oct. 13, said her sister, Stephanie Rowles. The daughter of the jazz pianist and composer Jimmy Rowles, Ms. Rowles was perpetually under-discovered: better known in Europe than in America, and much better known on the West ...

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Centrum Founder Joe Wheeler Dies

Source: Seattle Jazz Scene
November 5, 2009

PORT TOWNSEND The founding Centrum executive director, Joseph F. Wheeler, died today at Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle from complications relating to recently diagnosed cancer. Dr. Wheeler, who was 77, was surrounded by family members when he died, according to the nonprofit foundation that runs music and arts programs at Fort Worden State Park for more than 25,000 participants each year. Dr. Wheeler was a Wenatchee native who went on to play clarinet in swing bands in the Seattle ...

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Stacy Rowles Dies After Car Accident

Source: Michael Ricci
November 1, 2009

By Todd S. Jenkins Trumpeter and vocalist Stacy Rowles, a staple on the Los Angeles jazz scene, died on October 30, 2009, from complications following a car accident. Memorial information is pending. Stacy Rowles was the daughter of legendary pianist Jimmy Rowles, with whom she had recorded, and dancer Dorothy Rowles. Her brother, guitarist Gary Rowles, was a member of Love and Flo & Eddie; her sister Stephanie is an artist in Cambria, California. Stacy Rowles had been a member ...

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Harmonica Legend Norton Buffalo Dies

Source: All About Jazz
November 1, 2009

Blues harmonica virtuoso Norton Buffalo died Friday, following a brief battle with lung cancer.

Buffalo, 58, learned in September he had cancer and was attempting to beat the disease. Friends learned he went into a coma Thursday night and then died Friday afternoon, said Bill Bowker, a longtime Sonoma County DJ and music promoter and longtime acquaintance of Buffalos.

“He was really a master of the harmonica, said Bowker on Sunday. For years he was a mainstay of Sonoma County ...

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Roy Decarava, Harlem Insider Who Photographed Ordinary Life, Dies at 89

Source: Michael Ricci
October 29, 2009

Roy DeCarava, the child of a single mother in Harlem who turned that neighborhood into his canvas, becoming one of the most important photographers of his generation by chronicling the lives of its ordinary people and its jazz giants, died on Tuesday in Manhattan. He was 89 and lived in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn. His death was announced by Sherry Turner DeCarava, his wife and an art historian who has written about his work. Mr. DeCarava trained to be ...

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