Obituary News

Rubin 'Zeke' Zarchy Big Band Trumpeter Dies

Source: Michael Ricci
April 17, 2009

He was best known for his association with Glenn Miller's orchestra, but he also played with Joe Haymes, Tommy Dorsey and Bob Crosby, among others.

Rubin “Zeke" Zarchy, a trumpeter for a number of leading big bands who was best known for his association with Glenn Miller's orchestra in the 1940s, has died. He was 93.

Zarchy died Saturday of complications from pneumonia at Kaiser Permanente Hospital in Irvine, according to his daughter Carol Hettmansberger.

From the mid-1930s on, Zarchy ...

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Charles Teitel Theater Operator Brought Foreign Art Films to Chicago Dies

Source: Michael Ricci
April 16, 2009

Charles Teitel, who operated one of the first foreign art houses in Chicago, screening such seminal films as “The Bicycle Thief" and “Z" as well as movies that city censors tried to ban for racy content, died of congestive heart failure April 4 at his home in Laguna Woods, his daughter Roberta Teitel Zweig said. He was 93.

Teitel followed his father, Abraham, into the film distribution and theater business. Abe Teitel opened the World Playhouse Theater in the Fine ...

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Wally Marks Delevoper Made Room for the Jazz Bakery

Source: Michael Ricci
April 15, 2009

Wally Marks, whose family real estate firm helped develop Santa Monica's Third Street Promenade and preserve the Helms Bakery building, has died. He was 78.

Marks, who was also a philanthropist and human rights activist, died Monday of cancer at his West Los Angeles home, said his wife, Suzy.

In 1956, his father founded the Beverly Hills real estate firm that he named for himself -- Walter N. Marks Inc. -- and sold or created many complexes on Wilshire Boulevard ...

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Manny Oquendo, Latin Band Leader and Stylistic Innovator, Dies

Source: Michael Ricci
April 13, 2009

Manny Oquendo, the Latin band leader, timbale player and percussionist who was an expert with the tpico Cuban rhythmic style and later infused it into Latin jazz, died on March 25 in the Bronx. He was 78.

The cause was complications from a kidney operation, said Andy Gonzlez, his musical director of 35 years in their band, Libre.

Mr. Oquendos involvement with Cuban rhythms on the timbales and bongos dated back to his childhood. Born in 1931 in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, ...

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Charlie Kennedy Alto Saxophonist Played in Gene Krupa's Big Band Dies

Source: Michael Ricci
April 13, 2009

Charlie Kennedy was in many bands and, as a studio musician, played on the scores for West Side Story and My Fair Lady.

Charlie Kennedy, a talented alto saxophonist who was best known for his association with Gene Krupa's big band in the 1940s, has died. He was 81. Kennedy died April 3 of pulmonary disease at his home in Ventura, according to his daughter Lorraine Sutton.

The best years of Kennedy's career were the 1940s, when he played with ...

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Nancy Overton, Singer for the Chordettes Dies

Source: Michael Ricci
April 11, 2009

Nancy Overton, who joined the pop group the Chordettes in 1958 and melded her mellifluous low tones into their barbershop-quartet-like harmonies on some of their later hits, died on Sunday in Blairstown, N.J. She was 83 and lived in Hackettstown, N.J.

The cause was esophageal cancer, her son Rick said.

Ms. Overton sang on the original recordings of two Chordettes hits: Zorro, a vocal version of the theme from the hit television show that climbed to No. 17 on the ...

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David 'Pop' Winans Sr. Patriarch of Gospel Music Family Passes

Source: Michael Ricci
April 10, 2009

David “Pop" Winans Sr., the Grammy-nominated patriarch of the award-winning gospel music family, died Wednesday. He was 74.

A statement from his family said he died at a Nashville hospice, where he had been since January after suffering a heart attack and stroke in October.

In 1999, Winans was nominated for a Grammy Award for his solo CD Uncensored. He and his wife, Delores, known as Mom Winans, were nominated for their CD Mom & Pop Winans in 1989. She ...

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Bud Shank, 1926-2009

Source: Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
April 6, 2009

Bud Shank's honesty, forthrightness and cheerfulness came through in his playing. Those qualities and his transcendent musicianship were evident to all but those deafened by categorical imperatives having to do with geography, race and style. He lived to be 82, and he worked to the end, one of the great alto saxophonists in jazz. Shank died Thursday night shortly after arriving home in Tucson, Arizona, from Southern California. He had been putting the finishing touches on his next album. He ...

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