Obituary News

Ronnie Mathews: December 2, 1935 - June 28, 2008

Source: All About Jazz
July 1, 2008

The family of Ronnie Mathews is saddened to announce his passing on Saturday morning, June 28, 2008, in Brooklyn, NY. The cause of death was pancreatic cancer. A memorial service will be announced for September 2008 in New York City. Ronnie Mathews was one of the most respected jazz pianists and composers of the past 40 years who toured internationally and recorded extensively with Max Roach, Freddie Hubbard, Roy Haynes, Dexter Gordon, Louis Hayes, and Woody Shaw. He had long ...

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Dave Carpenter L.A.Times Obituary

Source: Michael Ricci
June 30, 2008

Dave Carpenter, 48; jazz bassist co-founded Santa Monica-based Lounge Art Ensemble

Dave Carpenter, a jazz bassist who worked with scores of legendary names, appeared on more than 200 recordings and was a founding member of the Lounge Art Ensemble, died June 23 of a heart attack at his home in Burbank. He was 48. Most recently, Carpenter had been playing in a trio with pianist Alan Pasqua and drummer Peter Erskine and had just released an album called “Standards." A ...

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Passings: Dave Carpenter, Ronnie Matthews

Source: Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
June 30, 2008

Last week, jazz lost two journeyman artists valued for their dependability, versatility and swing. On the west coast, bassist Dave Carpenter died suddenly of a heart attack at the age of forty-eight. Most recently, Carpenter had been in drummer Peter Erskine's trio, which also included pianist Alan Pasqua. A veteran of the Buddy Rich, Woody Herman, Maynard Ferguson and Bill Holman big bands, he also worked with Bill Perkins, Jack Nimitz, Al Jarreau, Herb Geller, Bill Cunliffe, Jan Lundgren, Terry Gibbs, ...

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Ira Tucker Sr. Lead Singer of Dixie Hummingbirds Gospel Group Dies

Source: Michael Ricci
June 29, 2008

Ira B. Tucker, lead singer of the Dixie Hummingbirds, performed a style of gospel music that erased boundaries

For 70 years Tucker and the Hummingbirds gave high-energy, emotion-drenched shows designed to please the Lord and wow audiences. He was 83 The group influenced a long list of R & B artists and could have crossed over from gospel to secular music. But that was one boundary Tucker and the group were not willing to erase. “I was in a record ...

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Pianist Ronnie Mathews R.I.P.

Source: Night Lights Classic Jazz
June 29, 2008

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Supreme Court on George Carlin

Source: All About Jazz
June 28, 2008

WARNING! The following is directly quoted from the Supreme Court Decision of FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION v. PACIFICA FOUNDATION, 438 U.S. 726, 98 S.Ct. 3026 (1978). Mr. Justice STEVENS (delivering the majority opinion) This case requires that we decide whether the Federal Communications Commission has any power to regulate a radio broadcast that is indecent but not obscene. A satiric humorist named George Carlin recorded a 12-minute monologue entitled “Filthy Words" before a live audience in a California theater. He began ...

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Mickey McMahan Trumpeter for Lawrence Welk Dies

Source: All About Jazz
June 28, 2008

Mickey McMahan, trumpet player with big-band leaders Lawrence Welk, Les Brown and others, died June 11.

McManhan 77, died at his home in Van Nuys of neuropathy and an unrelated blood disease, his stepson Steve Land said. McMahan played trumpet on “The Lawrence Welk Show" from 1967 to 1982. He also played with Les Brown's Band of Renown on “The Steve Allen Show" in the 1950s and '60s and toured with Brown's band when it accompanied comedian Bob Hope on ...

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Leonard Pennario Top Selling Recording Pianist Dies

Source: Michael Ricci
June 28, 2008

Pianist Leonard Pennario, a best-selling recording artist

Pennario who made his concert debut with the Dallas Symphony at age 12 after learning Grieg's Piano Concerto in a week so he could play it from memory, died Friday at his home in La Jolla after a long illness, according to his biographer, music critic Mary Kunz Goldman. He had been battling Parkinson's disease, she said. He was 83. “Playing with this musician has been one of the joys of my life," ...

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