Obituary News

Obituary

Director John Hughes Has Died of a Heart Attack at Age 59

Source: Michael Ricci
August 6, 2009

John Hughes, director of such films as Home Alone, The Breakfast Club, Uncle Buck and Ferris Bueller's Day Off, has died of a heart attack, he was 59 years old.

Hughes died suddenly while taking a morning walk in New York City. The writer, director grew up in the Chicago area and directed such hits as Pretty In Pink, Planes, Trains & Automobiles and Weird Science. Many of his films were set in the Chicago suburbs.

Hughes had gotten his ...

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Obituary

Billy Lee Riley Rockabilly Pioneer Dies

Source: Michael Ricci
August 4, 2009

Billy Lee Riley dies at 75; rockabilly pioneer did 'Flyin' Saucers Rock and Roll'

The raucous performer and songwriter recorded for Sun Records for four years and later worked as a studio musician in L.A. His other big single was 'Red Hot.'

Billy Lee Riley, a rockabilly pioneer and songwriter who recorded for the legendary Sun Records label and is best remembered for his 1957 singles “Flyin' Saucers Rock and Roll" and “Red Hot," has died. He was 75.

Riley ...

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Obituary

Andy Parle Space Drummer Dies Suddenly at 42

Source: All About Jazz
August 3, 2009

Andy Parle the former drummer from Liverpool, England band Space, died on Saturday, in an incident police have described as “unexplained." He was 42.

Parle -- who drummed on Space hits such as 'Neighbourhood', 'The Female of the Species' and 'Me and You Versus the World' -- was crossing the road in Dingle, Liverpool on Saturday night when he collapsed.

Passersby and paramedics gave help at the scene, and he was then taken to the Liverpool Royal Hospital, where he ...

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Obituary

Baatin of Detroit's Slum Village Dead at 35

Source: Michael Ricci
August 1, 2009

Baatin dies at 35; rapper co-founded progressive hip-hop group Slum Village Born Titus Glover in Detroit, he formed the group with Jay Dee and T3 while in high school. Baatin, a rapper who co-founded the progressive hip-hop group Slum Village, was found dead Saturday morning in Detroit. He was 35. Ty Townson, a family friend, confirmed Baatin's death to the Detroit Free Press. Details were not released. Baatin, who left Slum Village around 2003, had said in interviews over the ...

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Obituary

George Russell, Composer Whose Theories Sent Jazz in a New Direction, Dies at 86

Source: Michael Ricci
July 30, 2009

George Russell, a jazz composer, educator and musician whose theories led the way to radical changes in jazz in the 1950s and ’60s, died on Monday in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston. He was 86 and lived in Boston. The cause was complications of Alzheimer’s disease, said his wife, Alice. Though he largely operated behind the scenes and was never well known to the general public, Mr. Russell was a major figure in one of the most important developments ...

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Obituary

George Russell, 1923-2009

Source: Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
July 29, 2009

George Russell died Monday night. Here are some of the facts of his life, outlined by the Associated Press.

BOSTON (AP) -- Jazz composer George Russell, a MacArthur fellow whose theories influenced the modal music of Miles Davis and John Coltrane, has died. His publicist says Russell, who taught at the New England Conservatory, died Monday in Boston at age 86 of complications from Alzheimer's.

Russell was born in Cincinnati in 1923 and attended Wilberforce University. He played ...

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Obituary

NEC Mourns the Death of Jazz Giant George Russell, Faculty Member from 1969

Source: Michael Ricci
July 29, 2009

NEC Mourns Death of Jazz Giant George Russell 05 Hon. D.M.

Composer, Theorist, Author of Lydian Chromatic Concept, was Distinguished Artist-in-Residence Emeritus

MacArthur Fellow, NEA Jazz Master, Living Jazz Legend Taught at NEC from 1969

George Russell, author of the Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization that under-girded the pioneering modal experiments of John Coltrane and Miles Davis, has died in Boston at age 86. He had been affiliated with New England Conservatory from 1969 when then President Gunther Schuller ...

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Obituary

Jazz Composer George Russell Dies at 86

Source: Michael Ricci
July 28, 2009

BOSTON--Jazz composer George Russell, a MacArthur fellow whose theories influenced the modal music of Miles Davis and John Coltrane, has died. His publicist says Russell, who taught at the New England Conservatory, died Monday in Boston at age 86 of complications from Alzheimer's. Russell was born in Cincinnati in 1923 and attended Wilberforce University. He played drums in Benny Carter's band and later wrote “Cubano Be/Cubano Bop" for Dizzy Gillespie's orchestra. It premiered at Carnegie Hall in 1947 and was ...

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