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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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Lou Donaldson (1926-2024)
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Lou Donaldson, a Charlie Parker-influenced alto saxophonist who played major roles in the invention of two major jazz movements and bridged the gap between jazz, soul and what he called “swinging bebop," died on November 9. He was 98. In 1952, Lou led a Blue Note recording that became one of the earliest hard bop sessions. The date included trumpeter Blue Mitchell, pianist Horace Silver, bassist Percy Heath and drummer Art Blakey. Seven months later he recorded with trumpeter Clifford ...
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Quincy Jones (1933-2024)
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Quincy Jones, whose name became synonymous with excellence in music and whose contributions to jazz opened a new age of swinging elegance influenced by French pop and modern classical, died on November 3. He was 91. Rather than write again about Jones's many accomplishments, I feel it's more illustrative to listen to his career in 14 clips. Please note that this merely scratches the surface: Here's Jones's composition Work of Art recorded by the Art Farmer Septet in July 1953, ...
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Benny Golson (1929-2024)
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Benny Golson, one of jazz's most prolific composers of sophisticated jazz standards and one of the most graceful powerhouse hard-bop tenor saxophonists, died on September 22. He was 95. Benny's long list of majestic compositions include Along Came Betty, Park Avenue Petite, Blues March, I Remember Clifford, Killer Joe, Stablemates and Whisper Not. He not only was a dynamic sideman in the 1950s but also a towering player on more than 40 leadership albums. He also co-led the Jazztet, a ...
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