Obituary News

Funeral Arrangements for Trumpeter Ian Carr

Source: All About Jazz
March 2, 2009

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Radio Broadcaster Paul Harvey Dies

Source: All About Jazz
February 28, 2009

Paul Harvey, 90, a Chicago-based radio broadcaster whose authoritative baritone voice and distinctive staccato delivery attracted millions of daily listeners for more than half a century, died Feb. 28 in Phoenix. A spokesman for ABC Radio Network told the Associatd Press that Mr. Harvey died at his winter home, surrounded by family. No cause of death was immediately available. Mr. Harvey was the voice of the American heartland. Decades before devoted listeners tuned in to Rush Limbaugh, Howard Stern or ...

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Lyman Woodard,a Detroit Jazz Scene Legend, Dies at 66

Source: JazzStage Productions
February 27, 2009

"Don't Stop the Groove" wasn't just the title of one of organist Lyman Woodard's best records. It was the immutable truth at the core of his being, the philosophy that transformed his live performances into four-alarm parties. Woodard, who died Tuesday at Owosso Memorial Hospital at age 66, was a stalwart on the local jazz scene for decades. But he really hit his stride in the 1970s, when his band, the Lyman Woodard Organization, took up residence at Cobb's Corner, ...

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Ian Carr: 1933 - 2009

Source: All About Jazz
February 26, 2009

The British trumpet player and author Ian Carr died in London on Wednesday 25th February aged 75. He began his musical career in Newcastle in a band led by his brother Mike. Among the younger musicians he played with were John McLaughlin, Eric Burdon and Alan Price. When he moved to London he co-led a quintet with sax player Don Rendell. His LPs with Rendell and with Michael Garrick, The New Jazz Orchestra and Neil Ardley in the late 60s ...

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Pylon Guitarist Randy Bewley Dies After Heart Attack

Source: All About Jazz
February 26, 2009

Randall Bewley, guitarist and founding member of new wave band Pylon, died Wednesday (Feb. 25) afternoon after a heart attack on Monday in his hometown of Athens, Georgia.

Bewley was driving on Monday (Feb. 23) when his van drifted off the road and tipped over, according to an email circulated by bandmate Vanessa Hay.

Pylon was formed in 1979 by University of Georgia art students Bewley, bassist Michael Lachowski, drummer Curtis Crowe and Hay - then Vanessa Briscoe - on ...

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Remembering Odetta, Who Sang of Freedom

Source: Michael Ricci
February 26, 2009

The poet Maya Angelou sat perched on a tall stool along with Pete Seeger in Riverside Church in Manhattan on Tuesday night, both mimicking and remembering the folk singer Odetta, her longtime friend, who died on Dec. 2 at 77.

“We were both tall black ladies with attitude, and most people were really scared of us,” Ms. Angelou told a crowd that filled the pews and balconies as Pete Seeger warmed up offstage. “To be in the ’50s, black and ...

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Snooks Eaglin Blind Musician Was a New Orleans Legend

Source: Michael Ricci
February 24, 2009

R&B singer and guitarist Snooks Eaglin, a New Orleans legend who counted platinum- selling rockers among his fans, has died. He was 72.

The blind musician died Wednesday of a heart attack at Ochsner Medical Center in New Orleans after falling ill and being hospitalized, said John Blancher, a close family friend. Eaglin was diagnosed with prostate cancer last year, Blancher said.

Eaglin, known for picking strings with his thumbnail, played and recorded with a host of New Orleans giants, ...

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Remembering Monk

Source: Michael Ricci
February 23, 2009

February 18, 1982 Thelonious Monk, Created Wry Jazz Melodies and New Harmonies

Thelonious Monk, the pianist and composer whose wry, angular melodies and unusual harmonic progressions are among the most striking contributions to the jazz repertory, died yesterday in Englewood Hospital in New Jersey at the age of 64. He had suffered a stroke on Feb. 5.

Although Mr. Monk's music was rooted in the stride-piano tradition of Willie (The Lion) Smith, James P. Johnson and Duke Ellington, ...

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