Obituary News

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 ...

Continue Reading...

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 ...

Continue Reading...

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 ...

Continue Reading...

Kenny Rankin, Melder of Jazz and Pop, Dies at 69

Source: Michael Ricci
June 10, 2009

Kenny Rankin, a singer, songwriter and guitarist whose easygoing style straddled the worlds of pop, jazz and folk, died on Sunday in Los Angeles. He was 69 and lived in Los Angeles. The cause was complications of lung cancer, his family said. Singing in a soft, lilting voice and accompanying himself on acoustic guitar, Mr. Rankin was often categorized as an introspective singer-songwriter in the James Taylor mold. But he drew inspiration from a wide range of sources: the Brazilian ...

Continue Reading...

Singer-Songwriter Kenny Rankin Dead of Lung Cancer

Source: All About Jazz
June 9, 2009

Kenny Rankin, a brilliant pop vocalist and highly regarded musician-songwriter whose stylings ranged from jazz to pop to the world music influences he picked up as a child in New York, has died of complications related to lung cancer, his record company announced Monday. He was 69. Rankin died Sunday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Mack Avenue Records spokesman Don Lucoff said. The musician, who first gained acclaim as one of the guitarists on Bob Dylan's landmark 1965 album, “Bringing it ...

Continue Reading...

Kenny Rankin Dies at 69; Singer-Songwriter's Long Career Almost Defied Categorization

Source: Michael Ricci
June 9, 2009

A well-regarded guitarist, he wrote the hit song 'Peaceful' for Helen Reddy and played in Bob Dylan's backup band on the influential 1965 album 'Bringing It All Back Home.' Kenny Rankin, a singer-songwriter and musician whose song “Peaceful" was a hit for Helen Reddy and who had popular covers himself of a pair of Beatles hits, has died. He was 69. Rankin died Sunday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. The cause of death, according to his management company, ...

Continue Reading...

Kenny Rankin Singer-Songwriter's Long Career Almost Defied Categorization Dies

Source: Michael Ricci
June 8, 2009

A well-regarded guitarist, he wrote the hit song 'Peaceful' for Helen Reddy and played in Bob Dylan's backup band on the influential 1965 album 'Bringing It All Back Home.'

Kenny Rankin, a singer-songwriter and musician whose song “Peaceful" was a hit for Helen Reddy and who had popular covers himself of a pair of Beatles hits, has died. He was 69.

Rankin died Sunday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. The cause of death, according to his management company, ...

Continue Reading...

Funeral Arrangements Announced for Blues Singer Koko Taylor

Source: All About Jazz
June 6, 2009

WAKE/VISITATION AND FUNERAL ARRANGEMENTS FOR KOKO TAYLOR

Wake/Visitation (Lie in State) Thursday, June 11, 2009 4:00 pm - 9:00 pm Rainbow Push Coalition National Headquarters 930 East 50th Street (at Drexel) Chicago, IL 60615

Funeral Services Friday, June 12, 2009 6:00 pm (4:00 pm - 6:00 pm Visitation) Rainbow Push Coalition National Headquarters 930 East 50th Street (at Drexel)

Continue Reading...