Obituary News

English Improv Guitar Great Derek Bailey Dies

Source: All About Jazz
December 28, 2005

A giant in free improvised music, English guitarist Derek Bailey died of motor neuron disease on December 25th in London at age 75.

Bailey was born in Sheffield, England. A third generation musician, he began playing the guitar at the age of ten, going on to study with John Duarte among others. As an adult he found work as a guitarist and session musician in clubs, radio, dance hall bands, and so on, playing with many performers including Gracie Fields. ...

Continue Reading...

R&B singer Joe Jones dies at 79

Source: All About Jazz
December 3, 2005

LOS ANGELES -- Joe Jones, a musician-turned producer who sang the 1961 R&B hit “You Talk Too Much" and went on to become an independent music publisher and advocate for black artists' rights, has died. He was 79.

Jones died Sunday in a Los Angeles hospital of complications from quadruple bypass surgery, said his 40-year-old son Dwayne Jones.

The New Orleans native, who in recent years battled colon and prostate cancer, went into the surgery in good sprits.

“The last ...

Continue Reading...

Bob Enevoldsen dies

Source: All About Jazz
November 26, 2005

Bob Enevoldsen - Doug Ramsey, November 23, 2005 One of the joys of listening to The Bill Holman Band the past decade or so has been the opening minute of “No Joy In Mudville." Over an insistent one-bar riff figure repeated by the saxophones, Bob Enevoldsen plays a valve trombone solo of pure exuberance. It is the first track in Holman's CD A View From The Side. It was, almost invariably, the first piece he called when the band performed. ...

Continue Reading...

Jug band great Fritz Richmond dies at 66

Source: All About Jazz
November 24, 2005

PORTLAND, Ore. -- Fritz Richmond, a folk musician considered one of the world's finest players of the jug and washtub bass, died of lung cancer Sunday. He was 66.

Richmond became a key figure in the Boston folk music scene, where he worked as the house bassist at Club 47.

Drawing on his expertise as a U.S. Army helicopter mechanic, he strung the washtub bass with a steel cable, turning it into a usable instrument. To play it, he developed ...

Continue Reading...

Guitar King Link Wray Dies at 76

Source: All About Jazz
November 21, 2005

COPENHAGEN, Denmark - Guitar master Link Wray, the father of the power chord in rock 'n' roll who inspired such legends as Bruce Springsteen, David Bowie and Pete Townshend, has died. He was 76.

Wray died Nov. 5 at his home in Copenhagen, his wife and son said on his Web site. No cause of death was given, but his family said his heart was “getting tired." He was buried Friday after a service at Copenhagen's Christian Church.

“While playing ...

Continue Reading...

Bandleader Skitch Henderson dead at 87

Source: All About Jazz
November 3, 2005

NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- Skitch Henderson, the Grammy-winning conductor who lent his musical expertise to Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby before founding the New York Pops and becoming the first “Tonight Show" bandleader, died Tuesday. He was 87.

Henderson died of natural causes at his New Milford home, said Barbara Burnside, director of marketing and public relations for New Milford Hospital.

Henderson worked with stars such as Judy Garland, Mickey Rooney, Bob Hope and Bing Crosby in the 1930s and ...

Continue Reading...

Ron Simmonds ( www.jazzprofessional.com) just died this morning.

Source: All About Jazz
October 24, 2005

Ron Simmonds just died this morning. “http://www.jazzprofessional.com/" is silent. Ron Simmonds, a career trumpet player who played in very many of the great British, German and American jazz orchestras. For ten years he was Chief Editor (North America and the Far East) for the Deutsche Welle, Cologne and Studio Berlin. Ron had darm cancer and metastases in the liver and some more places. He got operated 2 days ago, the operation went OK, but still they gave him only 3 ...

Continue Reading...

Jazz musician Shirley Horn, 71, dies

Source: All About Jazz
October 22, 2005

Shirley Horn, the Grammy-winning singer and pianist whose richly expressive vocal style made her one of the most popular performers in jazz, died Thursday night in her hometown of Washington. She was 71. Horn died after a lengthy illness, the Verve Music Group, her record label, announced Friday. Horn had been ill for some time. She lost her right foot to diabetes in 2001 and later much of her right leg. She had also battled breast cancer and arthritis over ...

Continue Reading...