Obituary News

African singer Jockey Shabalala dies at 62

Source: All About Jazz
February 16, 2006

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa -- Jockey Shabalala, a member of Ladysmith Black Mambazo, South Africa's most famous a cappella ensemble, has died, the group's record company said Tuesday. He was 62.

Shabalala, whose brother Joseph founded and still leads the ensemble, died Saturday of natural causes surrounded by family at his home in Ladysmith, said Mike Wilpizeski, a spokesman for the U.S.-based Heads Up International record label. Shabalala had suffered from various ailments.

Shabalala joined Ladysmith Black Mambazo in the 1960s ...

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Former Soft Machine Saxophone Player Elton Dean Dies

Source: All About Jazz
February 8, 2006

British jazz saxophonist Elton Dean died on the evening of February 7th, 2006, in a London hospital. For the last year in particular he had been suffering from heart and liver related health problems. He was 60.

Dean first gained acclaim as a member of the Keith Tippett Group, led by the English pianist and featuring the horn section of Dean, Marc Charig and Nick Evans, in 1969. Later that year, Dean, Charig and Evans were hired by Soft Machine ...

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Jazz pianist Edwin Raymond McKinley Dies

Source: All About Jazz
February 5, 2006

Jazz pianist Edwin Raymond McKinley died on Wednesday, January 25th, 2006 from heart problems.

Funeral services were held at St. Catherine of Sienna Church -- 118-22 Riverton Street in St. Albans, New York on Saturday, February 4th, 2006. Body viewing at 9:30 A.M. and Mass and service was held at 11:00 A.M.

Many jazz luminaries came by to pay respects. Some of the jazz artists were bassist David Jackson composer/pianist Stuart H. Tresser, drummers Revels Bay and Carl Allen trumpeters ...

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Drummer Sherman Ferguson Dies at 61

Source: All About Jazz
January 31, 2006

Sherman Ferguson, a jazz drummer and a member of the faculty in the UCLA Jazz Studies Program, died from complications of diabetes on Jan. 22 at his home in La Crescenta, Calif. He was 61. Ferguson joined the UCLA faculty as a lecturer in January 2001 and taught a jazz ensemble class and private drum lessons.

“Sherman Ferguson was an extraordinary talent and a major figure in the Los Angeles music scene," said Kenny Burrell, founder and director of the ...

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Dancer Fayard Nicholas dies at 91

Source: All About Jazz
January 26, 2006

LOS ANGELES -- Fayard Nicholas, the elder half of the show-stopping Nicholas Brothers tap-dancing duo that thrilled audiences during the 1930s and beyond with their elegance and daring athleticism, has died. He was 91.

Nicholas, who had been in failing health since suffering a stroke in November, died of pneumonia Tuesday at his home in the Toluca Lake area of Los Angeles, said Paula Broussard, a friend.

The self-taught Nicholas Brothers -- Fayard and younger brother Harold -- tap-danced their ...

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Soul legend Wilson Pickett dies at 64

Source: All About Jazz
January 20, 2006

RESTON, Va. -- Wilson Pickett, the soul pioneer best known for the fiery hits “Mustang Sally" and “In The Midnight Hour," died of a heart attack Thursday, according to his management company. He was 64.

Chris Tuthill of the management company Talent Source said Pickett had been suffering from health problems for the past year.

“He did his part. It was a great ride, a great trip, I loved him and I'm sure he was well-loved, and I just hope ...

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Drummer Tony Corbiscello dead at 53

Source: All About Jazz
January 18, 2006

HARRINGTON PARK, N.J.--Anthony Corbiscello, a drummer and big band leader who performed at Lincoln Center and once opened for Frank Sinatra, died Sunday. He was 53.

Corbiscello died of cancer at his home in Bergen County, according to The Vander Plaat Memorial Home.

As a younger man, Corbiscello, who graduated from Fairleigh Dickinson University, played the drums and led the Tony Corbiscello Big Band.

The group played with such entertainers as Bob Hope and performed at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln ...

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Bob Weinstock, 77, recorded jazz greats on Prestige label

Source: All About Jazz
January 18, 2006

Bob Weinstock, who founded the independent jazz record label Prestige in 1949 and ran it for more than 20 years, died Saturday at a hospice in Boca Raton, Fla. He was 77 and lived in Deerfield Beach, Fla.

He died of complications of diabetes, said his daughter-in-law, Barbara Weinstock.

Weinstock produced and released some of the most important jazz recordings in the beginning years of the LP era. Prestige releases -- and those of its related imprints, including Par, Swingville, ...

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