Obituary News

Jay Fiondella Flamboyant Owner of Chez Jay Santa Monica Landmark Dies

Source: Michael Ricci
November 13, 2008

Jay Fiondella, the flamboyant owner of Chez Jay, the scruffy restaurant-bar he opened almost 50 years ago that became a Santa Monica landmark and something of a shrine to his exploits as an adventurer, has died. He was 82.

Fiondella died Nov. 6 at a Santa Monica care facility after a long battle with Parkinson's disease, his family said.

In 1959, he was hustling for small acting parts and tending bar on the Santa Monica Pier when he heard about ...

Continue Reading

Phillip Wilson Remembered

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
November 11, 2008

Phillip Wilson, the drummer and St. Louis native who was an early member of the Art Ensemble of Chicago, broke into the musical big time with the Butterfield Blues Band, and went on to play with many of the important free jazz musicians of the 1970s and 1980s, is remembered fondly in a recent post by Brian Olewnick at his blog Just Outside.To interject a personal note, I've had an interest in Wilson and his music since my ...

Continue Reading

Miriam Makeba South African Singer Dies in Italy

Source: Michael Ricci
November 10, 2008

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa Miriam Makeba, the South African singer who wooed the world with her sultry voice but was banned from her own country for 30 years under apartheid, died early Monday after a concert in Italy. She was 76. The Pineta Grande Clinic, a private clinic near the southern city of Naples, said the singer died after being brought there. The ANSA news agency reported that Makeba apparently suffered a heart attack after performing for 30 minutes ...

Continue Reading

Rosella Hightower, American Indian Ballet Dancer, Dies at 88

Source: Michael Ricci
November 9, 2008

Rosella Hightower, a prominent American Indian ballet dancer who rose to an illustrious career in the 1940s and 1950s and later started one of the premier dance schools in Europe, died overnight Nov. 3 at her home in Cannes, in the south of France. She was 88 and had had several strokes. Hightower was one of five Oklahoma-born American Indians to emerge as world-class ballerinas. The others were Yvonne Chouteau, Moscelyne Larkin and the sisters Maria and Marjorie Tallchief. Their ...

Continue Reading

Shakir Stewart of Def Jam Recordings Dies at 34

Source: Michael Ricci
November 7, 2008

Def Jam executive Shakir Stewart died at his home in suburban Atlanta from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, police say.

Shakir Stewart, the executive who succeeded Jay-Z as the head of the hip-hop music label Def Jam Recordings, died Saturday from a self-inflicted gunshot wound at his home in suburban Atlanta, police said. He was 34. Stewart was found in the bathroom of his home in Marietta, Cobb County police spokeswoman Cassie Reece said. He was pronounced dead at a nearby ...

Continue Reading

Rosella Hightower Prima Ballerina and School Founder Passes

Source: Michael Ricci
November 6, 2008

Rosella Hightower, an Oklahoma-born ballerina of enormous flair and virtuosity who followed up a celebrated international career by founding the Centre de Danse Classique in Cannes, France, one of the worlds leading ballet schools, has died at her home in Cannes, her daughter said Tuesday. Miss Hightower was 88. Her daughter, Dominique Monet Robier, told Agence France-Presse that her mother died overnight, late Monday or early Tuesday, after suffering several strokes. Miss Hightower was adored in Europe. After winning praise ...

Continue Reading

Zappa Drummer Jimmy Carl Black Passes

Source: JamBase
November 6, 2008

Frank Zappa Drummer Jimmy Carl Black Passes Away

Jimmy Carl Black Original Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention drummer Jimmy Carl Black (born James Inckanish Jr. in El Paso Texas) - the self-proclaimed “Indian of the group" - passed away on Saturday, November 1. Black suffered from lung cancer and was 70-years-old. On Black's website, a simple note reads:

Jimmy passed away peacefully last night Saturday 11/01/08 at 11:00 o'clock pm. Jimmy says hi to everybody and he ...

Continue Reading

Studs Terkel: 1912-2008

Source: Michael Ricci
November 6, 2008

The Chicago fixture used his knack for conversation to capture oral histories on World War II, the Great Depression and more.

Studs Terkel, who made his name listening to ordinary folks talk about their ordinary lives -- and who turned that knack for conversation into a much-honored literary career -- died Friday. He was 96. Terkel died of old age at his home in Chicago, his son Dan said. “He lived a long, eventful, satisfying, though sometimes tempestuous life," Dan ...

Continue Reading