Obituary News

Chris Connor Jazz Vocalist Legend Passes at 81 Years

Source: JAZZzology by Richard Watters
September 6, 2009

Legendary jazz vocalist Chris Connor, who first came to prominence with the orchestras of Claude Thornhill and Stan Kenton and went on to record dozens of successful albums and singles, died on Saturday evening, August 29 at the Community Medical Center in Toms River, NJ following a long bout with cancer, according to her publicist Alan Eichler. She was 81. Among her many hits were “All About Ronnie," “Trust in Me" and “I Miss You So." Nearly her entire recorded ...

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Marie Knight Dies at 84; Gospel Vocalist Sang with Sister Rosetta Tharpe

Source: Michael Ricci
September 4, 2009

Marie Knight was best known for her gospel duets with Sister Rosetta Tharpe, including “Up Above My Head" and “Didn't It Rain." She toured with the gospel legend in the late 1940s and made a late-in-life comeback as a solo artist.

Marie Knight, a gospel singer who came to fame singing duets with gospel-music star Sister Rosetta Tharpe in the late 1940s and made a noteworthy late-in-life comeback as a solo artist, has died. She was 84.

Knight died Sunday ...

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Michael Jackson Laid to Rest

Source: Michael Ricci
September 3, 2009

Michael Jackson will be buried today, September 3rd, 7 PM at Forest Lawn, Glendale. A private ceremony will be held as the icon is laid to rest at the sprawling cemetery's Holy Terrace section, in the Great Mausoleum.

Plans for the burial have been the subject of much debate for weeks. Some family members said they wanted Jackson buried at Neverland Ranch in Santa Barbara County. Joe Jackson said he favored having the pop star laid to rest in Las ...

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Chris Connor, Jazz Singer Whose Voice Embodied a Wistful Cool, Dies at 81

Source: Michael Ricci
September 3, 2009

Chris Connor, the great jazz singer whose lush, foggy voice and compressed emotional intensity distilled a 1950s jazz reverie of faraway longing in a sad cafe, died on Saturday in Toms River, N.J. She was 81 and lived in Toms River. The cause was cancer, her publicist, Alan Eichler, said. A singer who used little vibrato and was admired for her inventive rhythmic alterations of ballads, Ms. Connor belonged to the cool school of jazz singers that included Anita O’Day, ...

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Eddie Higgins, 1932-2009

Source: Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
September 3, 2009

Eddie Higgins died on August 31st of lung cancer. Those who knew him called him by his given name, Haydn. He was a pianist of uncommon sensitivity, taste, subtlety and adaptability. He was equally accomplished and enthusiastic working with singers (his wife is Meredith d'Ambrosio), traditional bands (he unabashedly enjoyed the Sacramento Jazz Jubilee) and fiery young bebop lions (he wrote “Expoobident" for Lee Morgan and played on Morgan's album of that name).

His admirer and sometime colleague Ben Riley, ...

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Chris Connor (1927-2009)

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
September 3, 2009

Chris Connor, a breathy jazz singer whose powerful caressing voice could ignite a big band as easily as steam up a trio or quartet, died on Saturday of cancer in Toms River, N.J. She was 81.

Unfairly compared over the years to June Christy and Anita O'Day--both of whom preceded her in Stan Kenton's big band--Chris actually was in a league of her own. Though all three singers shared a smoky saxophone-like timbre, a careful ear could detect in Chris ...

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Jesse Fortune Chicago Blues Singer Passes

Source: Michael Ricci
September 2, 2009

Jesse Fortune, 79, a veteran Chicago blues singer, died Monday after collapsing on stage while performing at a West Side club. He was pronounced dead at Mt. Sinai Hospital, and an autopsy showed he died of coronary atherosclerosis.

Fortune, better known as the “Fortune Tellin' Man," was born and raised in Mississippi. In 1952 he migrated to Chicago, where he worked as a barber during the day and sang at blues clubs at night.

Perhaps best known for his 1963 ...

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Chris Connor Dies at 81; Big-Band and Solo Jazz Singer

Source: Michael Ricci
September 1, 2009

She was known for 'All About Ronnie,' which she did as part of the Stan Kenton Orchestra. She became a soloist in the 1950s and had hits with 'Trust in Me' and 'About the Blues.'

After recording hits with the Stan Kenton Orchestra, Chris Connor became a soloist who often worked with small groups. Some of her best-known songs include “Trust in Me" and “About the Blues."

Chris Connor, a smoky-voiced jazz vocalist who gained renown for her recording of ...

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