Obituary News

Big band trumpeter Chris Griffin dead at 89

Source: All About Jazz
June 29, 2005

DANBURY, Conn. -- Chris Griffin, a member of the acclaimed trumpet section in Benny Goodman's big-band orchestra, has died.

Griffin, 89, died June 18 at Danbury Hospital. The cause was melanoma, according to his fiancee, Louise Baranger.

Griffin was a member of what critics called “The Biting Brass" trumpet threesome in Goodman's orchestra, playing alongside Harry James and Ziggy Elman. Duke Ellington once called the three “the greatest trumpet section that ever was."

Griffin played with the orchestra from 1936 ...

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Legendary rock promoter Chet Helms dead at 62

Source: All About Jazz
June 27, 2005

SAN FRANCISCO -- Chet Helms, the revered father of the 1967 Summer of Love and a music promoter who launched the career of singer Janis Joplin, has died of complications from a stroke. He was 62.

Helms, who once stood at the center of the 1960s Bay Area music scene, died Saturday surrounded by friends and family at San Francisco's California Pacific Medical Center.

“It was a beautiful death," said his wife Judy Davis. “It was a goodbye party. We ...

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Jazz guitarist Billy Bauer dead at 89

Source: All About Jazz
June 23, 2005

MELVILLE, N.Y.- Billy Bauer, a jazz guitarist who worked with Lennie Tristano, Benny Goodman and Charlie Parker, has died in Melville. He was 89.

Bauer, who lived in Albertson, N.Y., died Friday of complications from pneumonia, said his daughter, Pamela.

He developed much of his solo technique while playing with Tristano's group, which he joined in 1946. Before that, he had played mostly rhythm parts.

Bauer recorded both with the band and with individual members, such as saxophonists Lee Konitz ...

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Philly soul DJ Georgie Woods dead at 78

Source: All About Jazz
June 20, 2005

PHILADELPHIA - Radio broadcaster Georgie Woods, who introduced Philadelphia to the sounds of Stevie Wonder and the Temptations and was active in the 1960s civil-rights movement, has died. He was 78.

Woods died Saturday in Boynton Beach, Fla., likely the victim of a heart attack, according to his longtime companion, Doris Harris. He had moved to Florida in 1996.

Woods came to Philadelphia from New York in 1953 and went on to use the airwaves of WDAS-AM and WHAT-AM to ...

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Chico O'Farrill Celebration - Free Concert and Street Corner Renaming on June 29, 2005 starting at 6:30 PM

Source: All About Jazz
June 2, 2005

June 2, 2005 To: Listings/Critics/Features From: JAZZ PROMO SERVICES The Chico O'Farrill Legacy Committee Press Contacts: Lynne Mueller, [email protected] Ivan Acosta, [email protected] For Immediate Release A Celebration: Free Concert and Street Corner Renaming Event In Honor of Composer, Arranger and Band Leader Arturo “Chico" O'Farrill Wednesday, June 29, 2005 at 6:30 PM Riverside Park at Soldiers and Sailors Monument Between 88th and 89th Streets on Riverside Drive, New York, NY A Free Concert for the People of the City of ...

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Oscar Brown Jr., Entertainer and Social Activist, Dies at 78

Source: All About Jazz
May 31, 2005

Oscar Brown Jr., a singer, songwriter, playwright and actor known for his distinctive blend of show-business savvy and social consciousness, died on Sunday in a Chicago hospital. He was 78 and lived in Chicago. The cause was complications of a blood infection, his family said. Mr. Brown was most often described as a jazz singer, and he initially achieved fame by putting lyrics to well-known jazz instrumentals like Miles Davis's “All Blues" and Mongo Santamaria's “Afro Blue," but efforts to ...

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Singer Monica Zetturlund dies at 67

Source: All About Jazz
May 16, 2005

STOCKHOLM, Sweden - Jazz singer Monica Zetterlund, who became one of Sweden's best-known artists during a career that spanned five decades, died in an apartment fire, police said Friday. She was 67.

Firefighters found Zetterlund's charred body in her bed Thursday night, after a fire broke out in her central Stockholm apartment. It was not clear what sparked the blaze, but Swedish media reports said she had been smoking in bed.

Zetterlund was born Monica Nilsson on Sept. 20, 1937. ...

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Swedish jazz legend Monica Zetterlund is dead.

Source: All About Jazz
May 14, 2005

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