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Vinnie Riccitelli (1926-2025)
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Vinnie Riccitelli, a jazz composer-arranger, pianist and alto saxophonist who recorded one superb album as a playing leader in 1956 and then became a leading fixture in Broadway pit bands and jazz combos that played gigs and events in New York's tri-state area, died on July 9. He was 99. Riccitelli's desire to stay local in his native Yonkers in suburban Westchester County rather than tour as a leader was motivated by his close family ties, especially to his wife, ...
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Lalo Schifrin (1932-2025)
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Lalo Schifrin, an Argentine-American pianist and composer-arranger who began as a jazz musician and wound up in Hollywood creating suspenseful soundtracks for popular American films and TV shows, died on June 26. He was 93. Lalo not only had enormous admiration for jazz musicians but also worked with Dizzy Gillespie and virtually every major jazz star. His suite that has long been considered his jazz masterpiece, Gillespiana (1960), was written for Gillespie's big band. Thirteen years ago, on October 29, ...
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Roger Nichols (1940-2025)
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Roger Nichols, a sunshine-pop songwriter whose late 1960s and 1970s melodies were among the richest and catchiest of the genre, particularly when teamed with lyricist Paul Williams and groups such as the Carpenters and Three Dog Night, died May 17. He was 84. Nichols also wrote with lyricists Tony Asher and Bill Lane, and was noted for his debut album Roger Nichols and the Small Circle of Friends (A&M Records, 1968), which was produced by Tommy LiPuma. The best way ...
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Chris Youlden, Epochal Singer And Key Songwriter For Savoy Brown Dies At 82
Source:
The Last Music Company
Chris Youlden has died of bronchial pneumonia at the age of 82, on April 4th, 2025. Youlden is best known for his stint as the distinctive blues/rock singer and songwriter for Savoy Brown, over a quartet of albums considered to be their best, which drove them to the high watermark of their success between 1967 and 1970. He appeared on two albums in 1968, Getting to the Point, and Blue Matter. A Step Further was released the following year. The ...
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Roy Ayers (1940-2025)
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Roy Ayers, a vibraphonist, record producer and composer who created a new jazz sound in the mid-1970s that combined electronic jazz, trippy funk and soothing soul that rested heavily on mellow chord sequences and lyrical melodies, died on March 4. He was 84. Ayers began by recording hard bop in 1962 with Curtis Amy and recorded his first leadership album, West Coast Vibes (United Artists), a year later. He broadened his approach in 1966 when he teamed with jazz and ...
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Brazilian Vocalist: Dóris Monteiro (1934-2023)
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Dóris Monteiro was a Brazilian radio and recording vocalist and actress who became a national star before the bossa nova emerged on LPs in 1957. Once the pop craze took hold, Monteiro switched to the genre and had many hit albums and television appearances. What I love about her voice is her relaxed, lyrical approach and her superb song choices. Miraculously, all of her albums are great. Her first album in the bossa nova era was Doris (1961). Here's Tempos ...
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Martial Solal (1927-2024)
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Martial Solal, France's most gifted jazz pianist whose recording career began in 1953 with guitarist Django Reinhardt and included sessions, gigs and concerts with virtually every American great, from Sidney Bechet, Don Byas and Lucky Thompson to Kenny Clarke, Zoot Sims and Stan Getz, died on December 12. He was 97 years old. [Photo above of Martial Solal] Solal's interest in jazz began in his teens, just as French radio stations were gaining access to American 78s and American jazz ...
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Roy Haynes: 1925-2024
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Roy Haynes, whose power and sensitivity on the drums made him a first choice for leading jazz instrumentalists and singers and whose tasteful pokes, polyrhythms and grooves landed him on swing, bebop, cool, Third Stream, spiritual, free jazz and fusion recording sessions, died on November 12. He was 99. Born eight years after the first jazz 78 was recorded in 1917, Roy began his recording career in Luis Russell's band in New York in 1945. His first bebop recordings were ...
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