Obituary News

Legendary Film Star Paul Newman Dies at 83

Source: Michael Ricci
September 27, 2008

Paul Newman, the legendary movie star and irreverent cultural icon who created a model philanthropy fueled by profits from a salad dressing that became nearly as famous as he was, has died.

Newman died Friday at his home near Westport, Conn., after a long battle with cancer, publicist Jeff Sanderson said. He was 83.

Stunningly handsome, Newman maintained his superstar status while protecting himself from its corrupting influences through nearly 100 Broadway, television and movie roles. As an actor and ...

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Connie Haines Dies Big Band Singer Co-Starred with Sinatra

Source: Michael Ricci
September 26, 2008

Connie Haines, a petite and dynamic big band singer who performed alongside Frank Sinatra in the Harry James and Tommy Dorsey orchestras

Haines died Monday in Clearwater, Fla. The cause of death was myasthenia gravis, an autoimmune neuromuscular disease. She was 87.

Haines was best known as a singer with a knack for rhythm, and many of her most successful recordings -- 25 of which each sold more than 50,000 copies -- featured her crisp, swinging vocal style. When Dorsey ...

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Earl Palmer Funeral Announced

Source: All About Jazz
September 25, 2008

Famed Drummer Earl Palmer Open Service

Friends: In case you haven't heard, we were asked by Earl's family to let our musicians know that Earl's viewing will be held this Sunday, September 28, from 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM and the burial services will be this Tuesday, September 30, at 2 PM.

Both the viewing and the service will take place at Angelus Funeral Home, 3875 South Crenshaw Blvd., Los Angeles 90008. Please pass this information on to as many ...

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Nappy Brown Blues and R&b Singer Dies

Source: Michael Ricci
September 25, 2008

Nappy Brown, a blues and R&B singer whose playful songs of the mid-1950s filled with nonsense syllables, eccentric pronunciation and a heavy beat had touches of early rock n roll style.

Brown died on Saturday in Charlotte, N.C., where he lived. He was 78. The cause was respiratory failure, said Scott Cable, his friend and producer. Mr. Cable said that Mr. Brown, who had returned to recording and touring in recent years, suffered from various ailments since he collapsed in ...

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Connie Haines: Peppy Singer Dies at 87

Source: Michael Ricci
September 25, 2008

Connie Haines, a peppy, petite, big-voiced singer with a zippy, rhythmic style who most famously teamed up with Frank Sinatra as lead vocalists with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra

Haines then went on to a prolific career of her own, died on Monday in Clearwater Beach, Fla. She was 87. The cause was myasthenia gravis, a neuromuscular disease, said Roseanne Young, a friend.

Miss Haines made 200 recordings, including 24 records that sold more than 50,000 copies; regularly filled up prestigious ...

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Mary Ann Russo: 1933-2008 - Vocalist Sang with Jazz and Big Bands

Source: All About Jazz
September 25, 2008

Mary Ann Russo, 75, a Toledo jazz band singer whose career began in childhood, died Monday in the Hospice of Northwest Ohio, Perrysburg Township. Her death followed a nine-month battle with lung cancer, her daughter, Lisa Young, said. Ms. Russo, of Sylvania, sang with many area jazz and big band groups and performed through nearly every decade of her life, starting at age 6 when she became a regular on WSPD-AM’s Kiddies Karnival program. While in her early teens, she ...

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John Peragallo Jr. Kept Organs on Key, Dies at 76

Source: Michael Ricci
September 24, 2008

John Peragallo Jr., the curator of the organs at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Peragallo who could not go to a church service there or anywhere else without straining to hear if there was anything the least bit amiss with his patient, died on Sept. 12 in Wayne, N.J. He was 76 and lived Paterson, N.J.

John Peragallo Jr. of the Peragallo Pipe Organ Company in the mid- 1990s, when he restored St. Patrick’s Cathedral’s organ. The cause was cancer, ...

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Correspondence: Frishberg on Sudhalter

Source: Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
September 22, 2008

Dave Frishberg's friendship and collaborations with Dick Sudhalter go back more than three decades. He sent this appreciation.

I want to say something about Dick Sudhalter and the sadness of his passing . I'm staggered by Sudhalter's contributions to jazz literature and criticism. There are plenty of good writers who write about the music, but for my money Sudhalter and Benny Green stand out as the enduring literary giants of the genre. Both of them were involved with ...

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