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Detroit Jazz Composer and Pianist Kenn Cox, 68, Dies
Source:
JazzStage Productions
Jazz pianist Kenneth Louis Cox II died of lung cancer on Friday. He was 68. Cox died at his Detroit home, said his wife of 42 years, Barbara Cox. He was known by some as Kenny, though he preferred Kenn. The Detroit native was a graduate of Cass Technical High School. He went on to study at the Detroit Conservatory of Music and the Detroit Institute of Musical Arts. Cox was not only a skilled pianist but also played bass, ...
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Davy Graham British Folk Musician Dies
Source:
Michael Ricci
Virtuoso guitarist Davy Graham, a leading figure in Britain's 1960s folk music revival, has died. He was 68.
Graham died of a seizure in his London home on Monday, his former manager Mark Pavey said Wednesday. The musician had long suffered from lung cancer, he said. Graham's innovative tuning and dexterity on the acoustic guitar inspired a range of artists. His 1962 song Anji became a folk classic and was covered, among others, by Simon and Garfunkel on their 1966 ...
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Davy Graham: 1940-2008
Source:
JamBase
Davy Graham: 1940 - 2008
Davy Graham English folk musician Davy Graham died last Monday (December 15). Graham was a legend in the folk world but never really got his due, often flying just under the radar. His talents caused Paul Simon (who would cover Graham's Anji" on Simon and Garfunkel's 1966 debut, Sound of Silence) call him Probably England's greatest guitarist." He was 68-years-old.
From daveygraham.com:
It is with great sadness that we have to announce that Davy ...
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Sam Bottoms Dies at 53; Actor Appeared in 'Apocalypse Now,' 'Last Picture Show'
Source:
Michael Ricci
Sam Bottoms, a film and television actor who played the role of California surfer- turned-GI Lance Johnson in Francis Ford Coppola's 1979 Vietnam War epic Apocalypse Now, has died. He was 53. Bottoms died Tuesday at his home in Los Angeles of glioblastoma multiforme, a virulent brain cancer, said his wife, Laura Bickford.
The brother of actors Timothy, Joseph and Ben Bottoms, Sam made his screen debut as a teenager in Peter Bogdanovich's 1971 film The Last Picture Show, in ...
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Pinup Queen Bettie Page Dies at 85
Source:
Michael Ricci
Bettie Page, the brunet pinup queen with a shoulder-length pageboy hairdo and kitschy bangs whose saucy photos helped usher in the sexual revolution of the 1960s, has died. She was 85. Page, whose later life was marked by depression, violent mood swings and several years in a state mental institution, died Thursday night at Kindred Hospital in Los Angeles, where she had been on life support since suffering a heart attack Dec. 2, according to her agent, Mark Roesler. A ...
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Actor Van Johnson MGM's Voiceless Sinatra Dies
Source:
Michael Ricci
Van Johnson, MGM's boy-next-door, dies at 92. Johnson rose to stardom in 'A Guy Named Joe' and 'Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo.' His World War II-era films drew such a huge bobby-soxer following that columnists dubbed him 'The Voiceless Sinatra.' Van Johnson, who soared to stardom during World War II as MGM's boy-next-door in films such as A Guy Named Joe" and Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo" and became one of the era's top box-office draws, died Friday. He was 92. Johnson, ...
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Omar Clay 1935 - 2008
Source:
St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
Omar Clay (pictured), a well-known jazz drummer, teacher and native of St. Louis, has died at age 73. His obituary was published today in the Marin (CA) Independent Journal:Omar Clay, a renowned drummer/percussionist who played with some of the greatest names in jazz and was a popular instrumental music teacher at Tamalpais High School in Mill Valley, died Dec. 4.Mr. Clay died of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, at the San Francisco VA ...
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Dave McKenna Memorial Service
Source:
Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
Rifftides readers in Rhode Island and nearby parts of New England who were friends or admirers of Dave McKenna may wish to attend a memorial service for him today, Sunday, December 7. The pianist, a mainstream jazz powerhouse for decades, died on October 18. He was seventy-eight.
The 2 p.m service will be at The St. Ann Arts and Cultural Center, 84 Cumberland Street in Woonsocket, RI, McKenna's home town. His sister, Jean O'Donnell, will sing at the service. Other ...
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