Obituary News

Max Roach, a Founder of Modern Jazz, Dies at 83

Source: All About Jazz
August 16, 2007

Max Roach, a founder of modern jazz who rewrote the rules of drumming in the 1940's and spent the rest of his career breaking musical barriers and defying listeners' expectations, died early today in Manhattan. He was 83. His death was announced today by a spokesman for Blue Note records, on which he frequently appeared. No cause was given. Mr. Roach had been known to be ill for several years. As a young man, Mr. Roach, a percussion virtuoso capable ...

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Jazz Musician Max Roach Dies at 83

Source: All About Jazz
August 16, 2007

Max Roach, the dazzling drummer who helped create the rhythmic language of modern jazz while expanding the expressive possibilities of the drums, died Aug. 15 in New York. He was 83 and had been ill for several years. Mr. Roach was a founding architect of bebop, the high-speed, harmonically advanced music of the 1940s that helped elevate jazz from dance-hall entertainment to concert-stage art. In dozens of landmark recordings with such musical giants as Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker and Thelonious ...

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Max Roach, Master Percussionist, Dies at 83

Source: All About Jazz
August 16, 2007

NEW YORK (AP) - Max Roach, a master percussionist whose rhythmic innovations and improvisations provided the dislocated beats that defined bebop jazz, has died after a long illness. He was 83. The self-taught musical prodigy died Wednesday night at an undisclosed hospital in Manhattan, said Cem Kurosman, spokesman for Blue Note Records, one of Roach's labels. No additional details were available, he said. Roach received his first musical break at age 16, filling in for three nights in 1940 when ...

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Jazz Trumpeter Herb Pomeroy Dies After Battle with Cancer

Source: All About Jazz
August 15, 2007

BOSTON --Jazz trumpeter Herb Pomeroy, who played with Charlie Parker, backed up Frank Sinatra, and influenced generations of musicians in four decades as a teacher at Berklee College of Music and MIT, has died. Pomeroy died at his Gloucester home on Saturday after a long struggle with cancer, his daughter said. He was 77. Pomeroy played at times with Parker, Charlie Mariano, Stan Kenton, Max Roach, Sonny Rollins and others. In addition to Sinatra, he backed Tony Bennett and Sarah ...

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Jazz Bassist Art Davis, 73; Later Became Psychologist

Source: All About Jazz
August 8, 2007

Art Davis, a virtuoso bassist who excelled in classical music and jazz, and who became a clinical psychologist later in life, died July 29 of a heart attack at his home in Long Beach, Calif. He was 73. Trained as a classical musician at leading conservatories, Dr. Davis won early renown in the 1950s working with celebrated jazz musicians Max Roach and Dizzy Gillespie. In the 1960s, he was one of saxophonist John Coltrane's favorite bassists and appeared on several ...

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Art Davis, Jazz Bassist, Activist Against Racism

Source: All About Jazz
August 8, 2007

LOS ANGELES - Art Davis, 73, the renowned double bassist who played with John Coltrane and other jazz greats, was blacklisted in the 1970s for speaking up about racism in the music industry, then later in life earned a doctorate in clinical psychology and balanced performance dates with appointments to see patients, has died. Dr. Davis, a player whom jazz critic Nat Hentoff once described as astonishing and “beyond category," died last Sunday of heart failure at his home in ...

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Double Bassist Art Davis, Who Played with Jazz Greats Such as Coltrane, Dies at 73

Source: All About Jazz
August 8, 2007

LONG BEACH, Calif. - Art Davis, the renowned double bassist who played with John Coltrane and other jazz greats, has died. He was 73. Davis died of a heart attack Sunday at his home in Long Beach, his son Kimaili Davis told the Los Angeles Times for a story in Saturday's editions. Davis was blacklisted in the 1970s for speaking up about racism in the music industry, then later earned a doctorate in clinical psychology and balanced performance dates with ...

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Art Davis Passed Away

Source: All About Jazz
August 8, 2007

The great jazz bassist Art Davis died in his Long Beach home on Sunday July 29 after suffering a heart attack. According to Nat Hentoff , Davis was the favorite bassist of John Coltrane. Davis played on Coltrane's Ole as well as Ascension and Africa/Brass Sessions, Vol. 1 and 2.

Mr. Davis' career suffered after he unsuccessfully sued the New York Philharmonic over what he contended were its racist hiring prctices. As the calls stopped coming for jazz gigs, Davis ...

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