Obituary News

Malachi Thompson: 1949-2006

Source: All About Jazz
July 19, 2006

Delmark Records has very sad news to report as our long time Delmark family friend and musician, Malachi Thompson, passed away yesterday morning at home, July 16th, 2006. Malachi (1949-2006) was a beautiful soul and an extremely kind man and will be dearly missed by so many people whose lives he has positively touched. Malachi was a brilliant trumpet player and composer, writer and jazz historian, and a highly influential advocate for jazz and arts education. As part of the ...

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Sinatra pianist Bill Miller dies at 91

Source: All About Jazz
July 18, 2006

Bill Miller, who was Frank Sinatra's pianist for nearly 50 years until the singer's last performance in 1995, has died. He was 91.

Miller died Tuesday at a Montreal hospital of complications from a heart attack, his daughter, Meredith, told the Los Angeles Times.

“Bill Miller was the greatest accompanist that any popular singer ever had," Sinatra's son, Frank Jr., told the Times. “There was no one who had his touch, no one who had his taste."

When Sinatra died ...

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Italian Jazz Artist Angelo Canelli Dies at Age 38

Source: All About Jazz
July 13, 2006

Dear Jazz Friends,

Our friend and very appreciated Italian pianist Angelo Canelli passed away in a tragic car accident, which occured the night of Friday, July 7th, in Italy. Aneglo was driving back home to his hometown Vasto from a concert, when a truck in front of him lost its gears and axle, and hit Angelo's car,leaving him no escape. Angelo Canelli was 38 years old.

Angelo graduated as a doctor in medicine, but his passion for jazz music led ...

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Pink Floyd Founder Syd Barrett dies at 60

Source: All About Jazz
July 13, 2006

LONDON - Syd Barrett, the troubled Pink Floyd co-founder who spent his last years in reclusive anonymity, has died, the band said Tuesday. He was 60.

A spokeswoman for the band said Barrett died several days ago, but she did not disclose the cause of death. Barrett had suffered from diabetes for years.

The surviving members of Pink Floyd -- David Gilmour, Nick Mason, Roger Waters and Richard Wright -- said they were “very upset and sad to learn of ...

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Trombonist Don Lusher Passed Away Wednesday, 5th July

Source: All About Jazz
July 6, 2006

Don Lusher, the jazz and big band trombonist best known for leading the Ted Heath Jazz Band, passed away on Wednesday afternoon, his wife said. He was 82 years old.

In a career spanning more than 60 years, he played with a number of groups and was twice president of the British Trombone Society.

Lusher was honoured in the 2002 New Year's Honours list with an OBE for services to the music industry. Born in Peterborough in 1923, he joined ...

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Eric Spiegel: 1946-2006

Source: All About Jazz
July 4, 2006

By Skip Heller

On July 3, Philadelphia pianist/vocalist Eric Spiegel, sometimes known as Eric Shaw, passed away after years of generally horrible health brought on by a drunken car accident about fifteen years ago.

If anyone were to write Eric's life story, it would read like an implausible version of Art Pepper's autobiography Straight Life. Eric was not as fortunate as was Pepper--the car accident that took him off the front lines was his own fault. Drunk on his way ...

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Mercury Records' Irving Green dies at 90

Source: All About Jazz
July 4, 2006

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. -- Irving Green, co-founder of Mercury Records who helped break the color barrier by promoting such artists as Sarah Vaughan, Dinah Washington and the Platters, died Saturday. He was 90.

Green died at Desert Regional Medical Center of natural causes, according to his grandson Jonathan Ross.

He co-founded Mercury in 1945 and helped turn the independent outfit into a major label. Mercury recorded Louis Armstrong's first No. 1 hit in 1964 with “Hello, Dolly!" and hits by ...

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Arif Mardin, Grammy Award-Winning Music Producer, co-General Manager of Manhattan Record Label, Dies

Source: All About Jazz
June 27, 2006

June 26, 2006, New York - Grammy Award-winning producer Arif Mardin died Sunday evening at the age of 74, after fighting a courageous battle with pancreatic cancer.

Mr. Mardin became co-General Manager of EMI Music's Manhattan record label in 2001. His many accomplishments for that division included multiple Grammy Awards for Norah Jones' Come Away With Me which also earned him a Grammy for producer of the year (the second time he received this award), a Grammy in 2004 for ...

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