Obituary News

Funeral Details for Bassist Hugh Hopper

Source: All About Jazz
June 19, 2009

Here are the details of bassist Hugh Hopper's funeral, to take place in Teynham, Kent, in the UK. Thanks to Hugh's wife Christine, and to drummer and close friend John Marshall for passing this information along:

Hugh's funeral will be on Thursday 25th June at 10am at Deerton Natural Burial Ground, which is situated close to the village of Teynham, in Kent (postcode: ME9 9LL).

It will be a Tibetan Buddhist Ceremony to respect Hugh's wishes and there will be ...

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Charlie Mariano Versatile Alto Saxophone Player Dies

Source: Michael Ricci
June 18, 2009

Charlie Mariano, 85, an alto saxophonist best known for his association with Stan Kenton's big band in the 1950s, his playing on two albums by Charles Mingus in the 1960s, and his later stint in Europe with Eberhard Weber's jazz-rock group Colours, died Tuesday of complications from cancer at a hospice in Cologne, Germany, according to his website.

A native of Boston, Mariano served in the Army during World War II and began studying music at what is now the ...

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Jack Nimitz Baritone Sax Player Dies

Source: Michael Ricci
June 16, 2009

Jack Nimitz played clarinet and alto saxophone before discovering the baritone sax and falling in love with the instrument's voice. “It sounded so warm and nice and dark and rich," he said.

Nimitz played with Woody Herman, Stan Kenton and Herbie Mann and had a busy career as a studio musician in Hollywood.

Jack Nimitz, a jazz baritone saxophonist who played in the Woody Herman and Stan Kenton big bands and in the group “Supersax," died Wednesday of complications from ...

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Barry Beckett Record Producer Worked with Big-Name Singers Passes

Source: Michael Ricci
June 16, 2009

Barry Beckett, 66, a keyboard player and record producer who had important roles in recordings by Bob Dylan, Percy Sledge, Hank Williams Jr. and Kenny Chesney, died June 10 at his home in Henderson, Tenn.

He had been in failing health for several years after a stroke and being diagnosed with cancer. “There's no way I would be where I am today in my life if it wasn't for Barry Beckett," country music star Chesney told the Tennessean newspaper.

Beckett ...

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Bob Bogle Co-Founder Rock Band the Ventures Dies

Source: Michael Ricci
June 16, 2009

The influential band's hits included 'Walk, Don't Run' and the theme from 'Hawaii Five-O.'

Bob Bogle, lead guitarist and co-founder of the rock band the Ventures, known for 1960s instrumental hits including “Walk, Don't Run," has died. He was 75. Don Wilson, the band's other co-founder, told the News Tribune of Tacoma that Bogle became ill over the weekend and died Sunday.

The band sold millions of albums and heavily influenced other rock guitarists. It was inducted into the Rock ...

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Hugh Hopper Bassist, Composer for Soft Machine

Source: Michael Ricci
June 15, 2009

Hugh Hopper, 64, a bassist and composer for the progressive rock group Soft Machine, died of leukemia June 7 in Kent, England.

After serving as the group's road manager, Hopper stepped up to offer compositions and virtuoso performances on six of the group's albums. His songs include “Facelift" and “Kings and Queens." He left the group in 1973 to pursue a variety of projects in experimental jazz and avant-garde rock.

Born in Canterbury, England, on April 29, 1945, he was ...

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Jack Nimitz: 1930-2009

Source: Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
June 14, 2009

Sometimes fate does not distribute her gifts based on merit. Jack Nimitz never achieved the recognition, popularity or record sales of Gerry Mulligan, Pepper Adams or Serge Chaloff. Nonetheless, he was fully their peer as a baritone saxophonist of the post-bop era. Nimitz died last week in Los Angeles at the age of 79. From the early 1950s in Washington, DC, with The Orchestra, through the bands of Bob Astor, Johnny Bothwell, Stan Kenton and Woody Herman, Nimitz was a ...

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Huey Long, Guitarist for Ink Spots, Dies at 105

Source: Michael Ricci
June 13, 2009

Frank Davis and his Louisiana Jazz Band were booked to play at the Rice Hotel in Houston in 1925. The banjo player never showed. For Huey Long, who shined shoes outside the hotel and occasionally got onstage to announce the bands, this was the unmistakable sound of opportunity knocking. Putting down his ukulele, he ran out to a music store, got a banjo on credit and stepped into the breach. And so began an 80-year career in jazz and popular ...

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