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Al Stewart (1927-2016)
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Al Stewart, a first-chair swing trumpeter who recorded on some of the most significant New York big-band recordings of the late 1940s and '50s and toured with many marquee jazz orchestras, died on Oct. 17 in Sarasota, Fla., according to his daughter, Amy Abigail Stewart. He was 89. A superb studio sight-reader, Al was in the trumpet section on Benny Goodman's bebop recordings of 1949, Machito's Afro-Cuban Jazz Suite (1950), Chico O'Farrill's Second Afro Cuban Jazz Suite (1951), Maynard Ferguson's ...
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Claus Ogerman (1930-2016)
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Claus Ogerman, an achingly beautiful jazz-pop orchestral arranger whose signature sound behind singers and instrumentalists featured violins scored in a high register with the violas, cellos and bass playing sensually voiced chords below, died in Germany on March 8. He was 85. News of Ogerman’s passing more than seven moths ago seems to have escaped traditional media in the States and other countries largely because his family was unavailable by phone to officially confirm his death. His family also decided ...
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Rudy Van Gelder (1924-2016)
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Rudy Van Gelder, a New Jersey optometrist who in the late 1940s extended his passion for ocular precision to professional recording and wound up becoming one of jazz's finest and most enigmatic studio engineers, died on Aug. 25. He was 91. When Rudy started recording at his parents Hackensack, N.J., home (above), he knew virtually nothing about jazz. And throughout his career, he never developed much of a passion for it, despite being an ear-witness to some of jazz greatest ...
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Rudy Van Gelder, 1924-2016
Source:
Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
Rudy Van Gelder, who recorded thousands of albums by musicians including some of the most important in jazz, died today at 91. As a young man, Van Gelder began recording in a room in his parents’ house in Teaneck, New Jersey. Among his recordings were early albums by Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk. He was a practicing optometrist, but he said in recent years that when he first found himself in a recording studio, he had a feeling that “this ...
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Toots Thielemans (1922-2016)
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Toots Thielemans, a highly gifted swing-jazz guitarist, accordionist, harmonicist and whistler who began recording in his native Belgium just after World War II before relocating to the States in 1952 and was the composer of the jazz standard Bluesette, died Aug. 22. He was 94. In many respects, Thielemans brought a new level of respect to the harmonica in jazz circles. For years, the chromatic variety was viewed either as a classical reed instrument in the hands of Larry Adler ...
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Toots Thielemans 1922-2016
Source:
Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
Toots Thielemans, the man who made the harmonica a well-known jazz instrument died today in Brussels, Belgium, his hometown. He was 94. Thielemans was recently hospitalized after a fall that resulted in a broken arm, but neither his family nor management representatives specified the cause of his death. On an instrument often dismissed as a novelty, Thielemans’ advanced musicianship and individuality made him a respected colleague of Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Benny Goodman and George Shearing, with all of whom ...
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Bobby Hutcherson: 1941-2016
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Bobby Hutcherson, whose swinging, ringing modal approach on the vibraphone not only revolutionized the instrument's role and personality but also soulfully mirrored the tumultuous 1960s and early 1970s, died on Aug. 15. He was 75. Of all the jazz musicians who recorded important albums in the 1960s, Hutcherson (and Wayne Shorter, to some extent) captured a feel that perfectly illustrated the era's growing frustration and confusion. During this period, the artistic landscape shifted in favor of pop, leaving African-American jazz ...
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Bobby Hutcherson: 1941-2016
Source:
Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
Bobby Hutcherson, whose vibraphone playing developed deep and complex harmonies, died on Monday at home in Montara, California. He was 75. When Hutcherson came to prominence in the early 1960s, he was in the forefront of young musicians already adept at bebop but seeking greater freedom. He expanded his instrument’s range of tonal colors, with particular attention to dramatic use of resonance, and he was open to ideas pioneered by free jazz saxophonist Ornate Coleman. Along with alto saxophonists Eric ...
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