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Sérgio Mendes (1941-2024)
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Sérgio Mendes, a Brazilian jazz and hard-bossa pianist-arranger who relocated to the U.S. in 1964 and launched his Brasil '65 and '66 pop groups, died in Los Angeles on September 5 of complications from long Covid. He was 83. Mendes first performed in the U.S. at the famed Bossa Nova at Carnegie Hall concert in late 1963 and remained here the following year. Like many Brazilian musicians who became expatriates in America, Mendes felt he could be more successful in ...
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Dan Morgenstern (1929-2024)
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Dan Morgenstern, an eight-time Grammy winner for his album liner notes, the former director of Rutgers University's Institute of Jazz Studies, author and a “jazz advocate," as he liked to be called, died on September 7. He was 94. Despite all of those titles, Dan was the music's most well-regarded historian and paternal figure among writers and critics. But despite his seniority and in-depth, first-hand knowledge of post-war jazz, he never lost his wit, passion or ability to put jazz's ...
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Jim Rotondi (1962-2024)
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Jim Rotondi, a prolific hard-bop jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist, composer, arranger, educator and conductor whose horn appears on more than 80 recordings as well as 15 leadership albums, died on July 8 in Le Crest, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France. He was 61. Born in Butte, Montana, in 1962, Rotondi was the youngest of five siblings. All were given piano lessons by their mother. At 12, he switched to classical trumpet. Since Butte wasn't a major stop for touring jazz musicians, Rotondi picked up ...
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Tribute To Angela Bofill - Livestreamed funeral mass set for Friday, June 28, 2024 at 1pm Pacific time on St. Dominic’s Catholic Church's YouTube channel in Benicia, CA
Source:
Valerie Vaccaro
On June 13, 2024, jazz/R&B/pop singer-songwriter Angela Bofill's death at 70 years old was announced in a post on Angela Bofill’s Facebook page by Rich Engel—her long-time friend and manager: “On behalf of my dear friend Angie, I am saddened to announce her passing on the morning of June 13th.” Angela Bofill passed away at the Vallejo, California home where she lived with her daughter Shauna Portuguez and family. On Friday, June 28, 2024 at 4pm, Angela Bofill’s funeral mass ...
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John Pisano (1931-2024)
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
John Pisano, a Los Angeles studio guitarist who began recording in the mid-1950s and was so proficient that he appeared on some of jazz's finest chamber jazz recordings and pop's flashiest hits, died May 2. He was 93. [Photo above of John Pisano] Pisano, like dozens of other excellent Italian jazz guitarists of the era who came from working-class families, found that his home-encouraged passion for music, mastery of the inexpensive instrument and an ability to sight-read could lead to ...
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Bill Holman: (1927-2024)
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Willis “Bill" Holman, a three-time Grammy-winning arranger, composer and saxophonist and one of the last-surviving orchestrators who shaped West Coast jazz in the early 1950s, died May 6 in his sleep of natural causes. He was 96. Influenced most by Gerry Mulligan's arranging and the sound of Count Basie's band, Bill began writing for Kenton just as the popular brassy orchestra was facing musician defections over Kenton's drift into a neo-classical realm. Bill's composition and arrangement of Invention for Guitar ...
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Michael Cuscuna: 1948-2024
Source:
Michael Ricci
Michael Cuscuna, a titan in the world of jazz, passed away on April 20, 2024, leaving behind a legacy that will resonate for generations. Michael is survived by his wife Lisa, his children, Max and his wife Jackie, and Lauren, and two grandchildren, Nicolas and Penelope Cuscuna. His passing leaves a void in the hearts of all who knew him. May he rest in peace, and forever be remembered as he will be deeply missed. Throughout his career, Michael possessed ...
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Carlos Lyra (1933-2023)
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Carlos Lyra, a Brazilian singer-songwriter and guitarist, and one of the fathers of the bossa nova who, with Antonio Carlos Jobim, Vinicius de Moraes, Luiz Bonfá, Roberto Menescal and Ronaldo Bôscoli, among others, turned a new form of middle-class aspirational music into a global sensation, died in Rio de Janeiro on December 16. He was 90. In the same league as Jobim in terms of poetic lyricism and musical beauty, Lyra composed dozens of aching bossa-nova love songs that have ...
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