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Obituary

Jack Sheldon, 1931-2019

Source: Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
January 2, 2020

It is sad to report that the great trumpeter Jack Sheldon has died at the age of 88. Sheldon sang with spirit, style, phrasing and good humor that paralleled his trumpet playing. This video is from his 1984 appearance at Lulu White’s Mahogany Hall in the New Orleans French Quarter. The other members of his band were Dave Frishberg, piano; John Pisano, guitar; and Dave Stone, bass. The tune is Duke Ellington’s “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore.” For more about ...

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Obituary

Hugh "Peanuts" Whalum 1928 - 2019

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
December 27, 2019

Hugh “Peanuts" Whalum, a pianist, singer, and tenor saxophonist who was part of the St. Louis music scene from the late 1940s into the 21st century, has died. He was 91 years old. News of Whalum's passing on Christmas day spread on social media via Facebook posts from Jeff Anderson, who played bass with Whalum for the last 20 years of his career, and Jay Brandt, former owner of Brandt's in University City, where Whalum played many gigs during the ...

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Obituary

Harold Mabern: 1936-2019

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
September 23, 2019

Harold Mabern, a pianist who came relatively late to prominence but quickly carved out space as a hard-bop and soul-jazz legend, died September 17. He was 83. Born in Memphis, Tenn., Mabern was self-taught and came under the sway of local jazz pianist Phineas Newborn Jr. In 1954 he moved to Chicago, where he began recording with saxophonist Frank Strozier. He also was friend with Memphis saxophonists George Coleman and Booker Little. After moving to New York in 1959, Mabern ...

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Obituary

Cousin Mary: Keeper of the Coltrane Legacy (1927-2019)

Source: All About Jazz
September 2, 2019

Mary Lyerly Alexander was born July 23, 1927 to Bettie Blair Lyerly and Goler Lyerly in High Point, North Carolina. An only child, Mary and her parents lived as an extended family with her first cousin, saxophonist John W. Coltrane, his parents and their maternal grandparents. Her grandfather, Rev. William Wilson Blair, an activist who was elected a Chowan County Commissioner in 1896 who later became pastor of St. Stephens African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, built the family home at ...

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Obituary

Bob Wilber, RIP

Source: Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
August 13, 2019

We have learned that the superlative clarinetist and soprano saxophonist Bob Wilber died at his home in England earlier this month. He was 91. Wilber studied with the New Orleans reed pioneer Sidney Bechet and spent decades extending the Bechet legacy. Unusual among those who specialize in traditional music, Wilber also became adept in the bebop idiom and worked with, among others, trumpeter Clark Terry. In the Washington Post, arts writer Matt Schudel profiled Wilber in an extensive obituary. To ...

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Obituary

Arno Marsh (1928-2019)

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
July 23, 2019

Arno Marsh, a big band tenor saxophonist who recorded almost exclusively with Woody Herman's Third Herd in the 1950s and cited Chu Berry and Stan Getz among his major influences, died on July 12. He was 91. In addition to his work with Herman, Arno led a band in his home town of Grand Rapids, Mich., between 1951 and '53, but the ensemble isn't known to have recorded. Arno began playing in Las Vegas starting in the late 1950s and ...

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Obituary

João Gilberto (1931-2019)

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
July 8, 2019

João Gilberto, whose chiffon-soft vocal covers of Brazilian colleagues' songs, his romantic guitar arrangements and intoxicating rhythms helped the bossa nova gain worldwide attention in 1959, died July 6. He was 88. The bossa nova had been played in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, since 1957, when Antonio Carlo Jobim, Carlo Lyra, Sylvia Telles, Johnny Alf, Roberto Menescal and Luiz Bonfá played hotel lounges and small clubs. According to my interview with Carlos Lyra, this tight group of bossa nova composer-musicians ...

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Obituary

Joao Gilberto Is Gone At 88

Source: Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
July 7, 2019

The man often called the founding father of bossa nova, died today at home in Rio de Janeiro. Joao Gilberto was 88. Along with Antonio Carlos Jobim, Gilberto pioneered the form that became a phenomenon of popular music in the early 1960s. With varying degrees of authenticity, bossa nova was adapted by performers around the world. It sprang from traditions of Brazilian music that reached far into Brazil’s history and reflected aspects of American music that in the fifties and ...

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