Obituary News

Len Dobbin: Montreal jazz connoisseur Len Dobbin Dies

Source: All About Jazz
July 10, 2009

Len Dobbin, one of Montreal's best known jazz experts, died in hospital early Thursday after suffering a stroke. He was 74. Dobbin fell ill Wednesday night, while waiting for a show to begin at the Upstairs Jazz Bar & Grill. Passionate about jazz ever since he was a teenager, Dobbin went on to have a long career in print and on radio, talking about the music he loved. His radio career began nearly five decades ago, in 1962. Since then, ...

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Marl Young Pianist and Arranger Memorial Service Set

Source: Michael Ricci
July 9, 2009

A memorial service for Marl Young, a pianist and arranger

Young who died April 29 at the age of 92, memorial will be held by Professional Musicians, Local 47, from noon to 3 p.m. Saturday at the Local 47 auditorium, 817 Vine St., in Hollywood.

Young played an important role in the merger of the black musicians union Local 767 and the white musicians union Local 47 in Los Angeles in the early 1950s. He became music director for Lucille ...

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300 Graves Tampered with at Historic Cemetery

Source: All About Jazz
July 9, 2009

As frantic relatives of the deceased descended on the Burr Oak Cemetery the final resting place of lynching victim Emmett Till, blues singers Willie Dixon and Dinah Washington investigators said it could be months before they fully understand what took place.

Prosecutors on Thursday charged three gravediggers and a manager in an elaborate scheme in which hundreds of corpses were dug up at a historic black cemetery near Chicago and strewn in a weeded area or reburied with other bodies ...

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Bob Mitchell Silent-Movie Organist Was House Musician for Dodgers

Source: Michael Ricci
July 9, 2009

Bob Mitchell improvised soundtracks for silent movies, starting when he was 12 years old at Strand Theater in Pasadena. The longtime director of the Robert Mitchell Boys Choir played at the Silent Movie Theatre in Los Angeles.

Bob Mitchell, an organist who was the first such house musician at Dodger Stadium and the last surviving working accompanist from the silent-film era, has died. He was 96.

Mitchell died Saturday from congestive heart failure at Hancock Park Rehabilitation Center in Los ...

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George Fullerton Musician Helped Leo Fender Create His Unique Guitars Dies

Source: Michael Ricci
July 8, 2009

George Fullerton, a longtime associate of Leo Fender who played a crucial role in the electric-guitar innovator's extraordinary success through his broad-based skills as a musician, artist and technician, has died. He was 86.

Fullerton died Saturday of congestive heart failure at St. Jude Medical Center in Fullerton, said his son Geoff.

While Fender tinkered away, coming up with improvements in guitar design that led to the creation of his revolutionary Telecaster and Stratocaster electric guitars, Fullerton was charged with ...

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Hugh Hopper: Memories

Source: All About Jazz
July 6, 2009

Hugh Hopper departed this world on June 7, 2009, victim of leukemia, as, curiously, his previous collaborator, keyboardist Alan Gowen had, almost three decades ago. Hopper was, on his own, a revolutionary bassist and composer who found early exposure in the 1960s but never gained the exposure he really deserved during his lifetime. He still, however, managed to put out an impressive body of work. Hopper started on guitar and Alto saxophone (brother Brian played tenor saxophone) and he started ...

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Drake Levin Guitarist with Paul Revere & the Raiders

Source: Michael Ricci
July 6, 2009

Drake Levin, lead guitarist for Paul Revere & the Raiders during the quintet's hit-making prime in the mid-1960s, died Saturday at his home in San Francisco after a long battle with cancer, according to his longtime friend and former Raiders bandmate Phil Volk. He was 62.

Levin's four-year stint with the Raiders, known for its campy Revolutionary War uniforms, thigh-high black riding boots and tri-corner hats, coincided with a string of top 10 hits including “Kicks," “Hungry" and “Good Thing." ...

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Shi Pei Pu Chinese Opera Singer Inspired M. Butterfly Dies

Source: Michael Ricci
July 5, 2009

Shi Pei Pu, a Chinese operatic soprano who along with his French lover was convicted of espionage and whose complicated affair inspired the Tony Award- winning Broadway play “M. Butterfly" and the movie of the same title, has died. He was 70.

Shi died Tuesday in Paris. An aide confirmed Shi's death to Agence France-Presse.

Shi had been working as a librettist and soprano for the Beijing Opera and taught Chinese to diplomats' families when he met Bernard Boursicot in ...

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