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Jon Hendricks, George Avakian: RIP
Source:
Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
We can be thankful today that Jon Hendricks and George Avakian made so many important contributions to jazz during their long lives. Both died in New York yesterday. Hendricks was 96. Avakian was 98. Jon Hendricks, Dave Lambert and Annie Ross formed the vocal group Lambert, Hendricks and Ross for their album Sing A Song Of Basie album in 1958. Expanding the possibilities of a craft that had been pioneered by Eddie Jefferson and King Pleasure, Hendricks married words to ...
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Jon Hendricks (1921-2017)
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Jon Hendricks, a singer, songwriter and lyricist who pioneered vocalese—the art of crafting words to famed jazz solos—and was a co-founder of the vocal group Lambert, Hendricks and Ross, died November 22. He was 96. Jon died on the same day as producer George Avakian. I interviewed Jon in 2009 for JazzWax. Here is my complete interview with him: Jon Hendricks' pure sense of swing, poetic word-play and conversational vocalese remain unmatched. Truth be told, Jon' s splendid contribution to ...
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George Avakian (1919-2017)
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
George Avakian, who as an executive and producer at Columbia Records in the 1940s and '50s created a successful formula for packaging jazz as popular music and who signed Miles Davis, Dave Brubeck and Johnny Mathis to the label, among others, died November 22. He was 98. [Photo above by Ian Clifford] In the early 1950s, George was a dynamic force in the record business. During those years, the 33 1/3 long-playing album format had emerged along with new recording ...
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Della Reese (1931-2017)
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Della Reese, best known as the boss of a band of divine messengers on the 1990s TV series Touched By an Angel but started her career decades earlier as an earthy pop singer, died on Nov. 19. She was 86. Reese's deep and often rousing gospel-fueled voice was powerful and rested somewhere between Dinah Washington, Pearl Bailey and Eartha Kitt on the pop spectrum, depending on the song. Yet her talk-sing approach was an acquired taste. Only two of her ...
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Sol Schlinger: 1926-2017
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Sol Schlinger, a baritone saxophonist who played in several major big bands in the 1940s and was part of the East Coast sax section that handled a sizable amount of studio recording in the 1950s and beyond, died last week. He was 91. Among producers, contractors, arrangers and musicians, Sol was considered a rock-solid anchor in reed sections that recorded jazz and pop in New York in the 12-inch LP era, starting in 1955. Back then, many orchestral record dates ...
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Muhal Richard Abrams, RIP
Source:
Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
The Chicago avant-garde jazz patriarch Muhal Richard Abrams died today at 87. Named a National Endowment of The Arts Jazz Master in 2010, the pianist, composer and bandleader was at the center of Chicago’s free jazz movement, which was formalized in 1965 when he co-founded the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians. The Art Ensemble of Chicago became the best-known group that grew out of the AACM. Freedom and unfettered imagination were the hallmarks of Mr. Abrams’ piano improvisation, ...
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R.I.P. Fats Domino: His Musical Traits, Most Popular Songs Explored
Source:
HypeBot
Renowned musical icon Fats Domino passed away on Tuesday, but the artist's legacy endures. Here we use Pandora's Music Genome project to take a look at some of the traits which permeated Fats' music, and helped to make him so popular. Guest post by Glenn Peoples, Music Insights and Analytics at Pandora on Medium Music icon Antoine “Fats” Domino passed away Tuesday, leaving a legacy and an incalculable impact on future generations of musicians and fans. (Click here for a tribute station at Pandora, “Remembering Fats ...
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Jazz this week: Harold López-Nussa, Filippo Cosentino, Alice Ripley, and more
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St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
This week's calendar of jazz and creative music in St. Louis includes a pianist from Cuba, a guitarist from Italy, a cabaret show from a singer and actress who has earned Broadway's highest honor, and more. Let's go to the highlights... Wednesday, October 18 Cuban-born pianist Harold López-Nussa makes his St. Louis debut in the first of four evenings at Jazz at the Bistro. For more about López-Nussa and some video samples of him and his trio in action, see ...
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