Obituary News

A Tribute to Karlheinz Stockhausen

Source: All About Jazz
December 9, 2007

By Gary Gomes Karlheinz Stockhausen died December 5, 2007. Along with John Cage, and perhaps his teacher Olivier Messiaen, Shoenberg and Stravinsky, and fellow Messiaen students Boulez and Xenakis, Stockhausen is one of the pivotal figures of 20th century classical music. Stockhausen was one of the pivotal figures of post World War Two music. His range of performance and works was astonishing, as was his arrogance and eccentricity. He was one of the pioneers of total serialism in music (although ...

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Karlheinz Stockhausen: Influential Experimental Composer of Grandiose Works

Source: Michael Ricci
December 8, 2007

Karlheinz Stockhausen, the great German composer who envisioned music as a force of cosmic revolution and who himself became a musical force of nature, having an unprecedented impact on both high and popular post-World War II culture, has died. He was 79. Stockhausen died Wednesday at his home in Kurten, Germany, according to an announcement on his website. No cause of death was given. At the height of his fame in the 1960s, his name became synonymous with the future ...

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Carlos Valdes, a Conga King of Jazz, Dies at 81

Source: Michael Ricci
December 6, 2007

Carlos Valdes, better known as Patato, whose melodic conga playing made him a giant of Latin jazz in Cuba and then for more than half a century in America, died on Tuesday in Cleveland. He was 81 and lived in Manhattan. The cause was respiratory failure, said his manager, Charles Carlini. Born in Havana, Patato (a reference from Cuban slang to his diminutive size) played in the 1940s and early '50s with important groups like Sonora Matancera and Conjunto Casino. ...

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Elaine Lorillard, 93, a Founder of the Newport Jazz Festival, is Dead

Source: Michael Ricci
November 29, 2007

Elaine Lorillard, a socialite who with her husband, Louis, lured jazz greats to their hometown in Rhode Island for a two-day concert series in the summer of 1954, starting the Newport Jazz Festival and creating the model for what became a worldwide circuit of outdoor jazz festivals, died on Monday near her home in Newport. She was 93. Her daughter, Didi Cowley, confirmed the death. It was a casual remark during intermission at a classical concert in Newport in 1953 ...

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Founder of Newport Jazz Festival Passes Away

Source: All About Jazz
November 28, 2007

Elaine Lorillard, the socialite who encouraged a club owner to start the Newport Jazz Festival, died this week of dementia, nursing home officials said. She was 93.

Lorillard died early Monday at the Heatherwood Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Newport, said Lori Curtin, director of quality assurance.

Lorillard is best remembered for inspiring jazz club owner George Wein to create the Newport Jazz Festival, the first such gathering in the United States and the model for hundreds of similar celebrations ...

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Cecil Payne Dies at 84

Source: All About Jazz
November 27, 2007

Cecil Payne: Dec. 14, 1922 - Nov. 27, 2007 Born in Brooklyn on December 14, 1922, Cecil Payne proved one of the bebop eras strongest baritone saxophonists; nonetheless, he has always worked in undeserved obscurity. After leaving the military service in 1946, Payne cast aside the guitar, alto, and clarinet to pick up the bari for a brief stint with Roy Eldridges Big Band. Payne soon joined the most progressive big band of the era, Dizzy Gillespies, where he made ...

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Cees Slinger (Jazz Pianist) Dead at 77

Source: All About Jazz
September 30, 2007

The Hague (Netherlands), Sept 30 - Cees Slinger (jazz pianist) has died yesterday of heart problems at the age of 77. Cees has played with innumerable American and European jazz greats, such as: trumpet players: Dizzy Gillespie, Freddie Hubbard, Clark Terry, Dusko Goykovich and Benny Bailey trombonists: Slide Hampton, Al Grey, Bob Brookmeyer, Curtis Fuller, Bart van Lier, Bert Boeren, and Jimmy Knepper tenorists: Ben Webster, Dexter Gordon, Zoot Sims, Johnny Griffin, Sal Nistico, Sonny Stitt, Jimmy Heath, James Moody, ...

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Blues Harmonica Ace Gary Primich Passes Away September 23

Source: All About Jazz
September 24, 2007

Austin, Texas, September 24-- Gary Primich, considered by many to be one of the greatest harmonica players in the world, passed away suddenly on September 23rd. Not only is this the loss of a world-class talent, but also of a true world-class person. Offstage, Gary was a caring and gentle soul -- a real Regular Joe of the best kind. Onstage he played with a ferocity and indescribable sound that was often mind-blowing. He'd say Thank You to his fans ...

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