Obituary News

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 ...

Continue Reading...

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 ...

Continue Reading...

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 ...

Continue Reading...

New England Conservatory Mourns Death of President Daniel Steiner

Source: All About Jazz
June 12, 2006

June 12, 2006

New England Conservatory Mourns Death of President Daniel Steiner

First Non-Musician to Lead Conservatory, Steiner Set School on Path to Greatness

Boston, MA--Daniel Steiner, President of New England Conservatory, died Sunday at Beth Israel Hospital, succumbing to complications of chronic lung disease. He was 72. The first non-musician to head NEC, he was a passionate music lover who applied his legal expertise and extensive experience in higher education to make the Conservatory one of the premier music ...

Continue Reading...

Improvisational Violinist, Vietnam Veteran John Franklin (Ellington) Blair Passes Away

Source: All About Jazz
June 8, 2006

IMPROVISATIONAL VIOLINIST, VIETNAM VETERAN JOHN FRANKLIN (ELLINGTON) BLAIR PASSES AWAY

NEW YORK - Improvisational violin virtuoso and Vietnam veteran John Franklin (Ellington) Blair passed away at the V.A. Hospital of St. Aubins in Queens, NY on June 3, 2006 of heart failure.

Song and Sharing Memorial Service - All are welcome to come and celebrate John's life

Thursday, June 8, 2006 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. ET

V.A. Hospital of Manhattan - Chapel Ground Floor 423 East 23rd ...

Continue Reading...

Jazz Pianist Hilton Ruiz Dies at 54

Source: All About Jazz
June 7, 2006

Jazz Pianist and Composer Hilton Ruiz Dies at 54 After Fall in Front of New Orleans Bar

By JANET McCONNAUGHEY NEW ORLEANS Jun 6, 2006 (AP)-- Jazz pianist and composer Hilton Ruiz, who excelled in a wide variety of styles from Afro-Cuban rhythms to the blues, died early Tuesday, never regaining consciousness after a fall in front of a French Quarter bar. He was 54. Ruiz, who had come to New Orleans from his home in Teaneck, N.J., to work ...

Continue Reading...

Latinjazz Pianist Hilton Ruiz Passes

Source: All About Jazz
June 6, 2006

Pianist Hilton Ruiz Passes this Morning Latin music and Jazz artists get together for Hilton

New York, NYJune 6, 2006Famed Puerto Rican/New York Composer, Pianist and Jazz musician Hilton Ruiz passed away this morning at 3:51 a.m. at the East Jefferson General Hospital, in New Orleans, Louisiana. He was still on life support when he peacefully expired. His daughter and wife, both named Aida, were by his side.

Hilton Ruiz had been in a coma at the New ...

Continue Reading...

Jazzman Hilton Ruiz Dies

Source: All About Jazz
June 6, 2006

JANET McCONNAUGHEY Associated Press

NEW ORLEANS - Jazz pianist and composer Hilton Ruiz, who came to New Orleans to work on a Hurricane Katrina benefit recording, died early Tuesday, his agent and manager said.

Ruiz, who turned 54 on May 29, had been comatose at East Jefferson General Hospital since he fell early May 19 in front of a French Quarter bar.

He died about 3:50 a.m. Tuesday, agent Joel Chriss said in a telephone interview from New ...

Continue Reading...