Obituary News

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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Harrison Ridley Jr., 70, Longtime Jazz Radio Host

Source: All About Jazz
February 23, 2009

Harrison Ridley Jr., 70, Philadelphia's sagacious jazz musicologist and radio host who expressed approval for a song with his on-air trademark “Yes, indeedy," died Thursday of complications of a stroke. Mr. Ridley, who was born and raised in West Philadelphia, educated and entertained jazz devotees listening to Temple University radio on Sunday nights. A proud and discriminating collector of jazz, Mr. Ridley often played songs from his personal collection of more than 8,000 recordings (most of them vinyl) and books, ...

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Elo Bass Player Kelly Groucutt Dies

Source: All About Jazz
February 21, 2009

Kelly Groucutt, former bass player with 1970s rock hitmakers ELO, died Feb. 19 in Worcester, central England, after having a heart attack. He was 63.

Formed in Birmingham, England, in 1971 by local musicians Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood, ELO -- short for Electric Light Orchestra -- combined rock 'n roll with orchestral arrangements replete with string sections, choirs and symphonic sweep.

Groucutt joined ELO in 1974 after leaving his previous band, Sight and Sound. He played bass and sang ...

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Cameraman Robert Ulland Dies

Source: All About Jazz
February 21, 2009

Operator worked on Fugitive, Batman Forever

Steadicam operator-cameraman Robert Ulland died Feb. 15 in an accident on his boat in Florida. He was 58. The accident was likely related to his lifelong battle with diabetes.

Ulland's work was seen in films including The Fugitive, Batman Forever, The Horse Whisperer, What Women Want, Domestic Disturbance, and The Guardian. In television, he worked on The West Wing, which was noted for its Steadicam sequences. He was considered one of the pioneers in ...

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WRTI Remembers Legendary Jazz Host Harrison Ridley, Jr.

Source: All About Jazz
February 20, 2009

Philadelphia, PA - February 20, 2009 - A Philadelphia jazz icon has been lost. WRTI's beloved and long-time jazz host Harrison Alexander Ridley, Jr. passed away on Thursday, February 19th after a brief illness. Harrison Ridley Jr. was 70 years old and dedicated 32 years of his life as a jazz broadcaster on WRTI. Harrison Ridley, Jr. was the host of WRTI's award-winning program, The Historical Approach to the Positive Music. Fans from all over the world who wanted to ...

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A Broadway Tribute to Gerald Schoenfeld

Source: Michael Ricci
February 20, 2009

The line to enter the Majestic Theater is always long — The Phantom of the Opera plays there, after all — but Monday the line stretched much farther than usual, as more than 1,500 people arrived for a memorial tribute to Gerald Schoenfeld, the influential theater owner and producer who died at 84 in November.

It was an unusual Broadway moment, as famous friends of the famous Mr. Schoenfeld — like Henry A. Kissinger and Barbara Walters — mixed with ...

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