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Obituary

Ethel Ennis (1932-2019)

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
February 22, 2019

Ethel Ennis, a female jazz-pop singer with an exceptional vocal range and a warm, seductive style that made listeners feel as if they just kicked off their shoes and extended their legs on a soft sofa, died on February 17. She was 86. There was a hint of Sarah Vaughan in Ennis's voice, but instead of deploying Vaughan's coy phrasing at the end of lyric lines, Ennis played it straight, releasing a warm, elegant vibrato. Starting in 1955, her albums ...

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Obituary

British Critic Alun Morgan Is Gone

Source: Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
February 13, 2019

Obituary

Bob Freedman (1934-2018)

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
February 11, 2019

Robert M. Freedman, a jazz pianist, saxophonist and Grammy-winning arranger who orchestrated for artists ranging from Sarah Vaughan and Harry Belefonte to Maynard Ferguson and Paul Simon, and scored theme music for TV shows including ABC's Monday Night Football, died on Dec. 22, 2018. He was 94. Bob was a long-time JazzWax reader and an avid email correspondent, especially when I posted on Ferguson or Pomeroy. I was informed late last year that Bob might have passed away, a fact ...

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Obituary

Michel Legrand (1932-2019)

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
January 28, 2019

Michel Legrand, a French pianist who began writing arrangements for jazz musicians in the early 1950s before becoming one of the new sophisticated sentimentalists of American film in the 1960s and beyond as a composer, arranger and conductor, died on January 26. He was 86. Legraand's jazz recordings began with Dizzy Gillespie and the Paris Operatic Strings in Paris in 1953 and then Blossom Dearie and Les Blue Stars mid-decade. His jazz turning point came in June 1958 when he ...

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Obituary

Michel Legrand, 1932-2019

Source: Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
January 27, 2019

Michel Legrand, the pianist, arranger and prolific composer of film scores, died today at his home in France. He was 86. Dozens of Legrand’s melodies became popular hits, among them “The Windmills OfYour Mind,” “What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life?” and “Watch What Happens.” The wide range of performers who collaborated with him includes such diverse stars as Miles Davis, Barbara Streisand and Kiri Te Kanawa. Early on, Legrand was the piano accompanist for Sarah Vaughan and ...

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Obituary

Urbie Green (1926-2018)

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
January 21, 2019

Urbie Green, one of jazz's smoothest and most polished trombonists who recorded more often than virtually any other post-war player, including Frank Rosolino, J.J. Johnson and Kai Winding, died on December 18, 2018. He was 92. Green's soft, yearning trombone on albums was unmistakable. His sound came off as a perfect high-register sigh, more akin to a vocalist than a horn player. His sultry solos stood out on albums ranging from Billie Holiday's Lady in Satin and Dizzy Gillespie's Gillespiana ...

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Obituary

Urbie Green, 1926-2018

Source: Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
January 6, 2019

We learned today that trombonist Urbie Green died last Monday, December 31, in the Poconos mountain region that he called home for many years. He was 92. A musician idolized by his contemporaries—and particularly by fellow players of the trombone—Green’s earliest big band years included stretches with Frankie Carle and Gene Krupa. His work with Woody Herman in the early 1950s brought him widespread attention and frequent mention in jazz polls and surveys. Green was a member of the all-star ...

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Obituary

Hargrove Memorial Reset

Source: Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
January 1, 2019

Plans have changed for a service in memory of trumpeter Roy Hargrove, who died on November 3. Frank Stewart of Jazz at Lincoln Center sent the announcement: The life and work of Roy Hargrove will be honored at a musical celebration on Tuesday, January 8 at Jazz At Lincoln Center’s Frederick P. Rose Hall on Broadway at 60thStreet, New York, New York. Doors will open at 6:30 pm and the event will begin promptly at 7pm. Originally scheduled to take ...

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