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Daniel Smith, The World’s Most Recorded Bassoon Soloist dies at 77
Source:
Michael Ricci
Daniel Smith, who was one of the few bassoonists recording and performing in both Jazz and Classical music, described as the “Gerry Mulligan of The Bassoon", in the world of Jazz and the “Rampal of The Bassoon" in classical music, dies at 77 on December 19, 2015 in Brooklyn, NY. The cause of death was an aggressive infection that led to cardiac arrest. His daughter Jacqueline Smith confirmed his death. Bronx-born Daniel Smith studied music at Manhattan School of Music, ...
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Don Wolff 1935 - 2015
Source:
St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
Don Wolff, longtime local broadcaster, jazz advocate, and attorney, has died. He was 80 years old and had been undergoing treatment for both leukemia and cancer for several years. Instantly identifiable thanks to his signature on-air introduction, “I'm Don Wolff, and I love jazz," Wolff was best known for his radio broadcasts, which began in 1987 on KXOK and continued in various forms on WSIE, KMOX and KFUO until 2010. After KFUO was sold, he kept his radio program going ...
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Allen Toussaint (1938-2015)
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Allen Toussaint, a highly influential pianist, songwriter and producer who wrote dozens of hit songs that many Americans know but are surprised to learn he wrote, died on Nov. 9 while on tour in Spain. He was 77. Allen was probably best known in New Orleans, where his lyrical and eclectic happy-time piano style rich in Mardi Gras syncopation was impossible to duplicate. Songwriting came naturally to Allen, as if waiting their turn to come through his fingers. As a ...
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Mark Murphy, 1932-1915
Source:
Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
Mark Murphy died last night in his sleep following a long illness. He was 83. Murphy’s eagerness to take artistic chances combined with his innate musicianship to make him one of the most interesting singers in jazz. He died at the Lillian Booth Actors Home in Englewood, New Jersey. Born in Fulton, New York, in 1932, He sang from the age of four and studied acting at nearby Syracuse University. Following graduation in 1953, he played piano and sang in ...
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Larry Rosen Legendary Jazz Music Visionary & Entrepreneur Dies At 75
Source:
EastWest Media
LARRY ROSEN, LEGENDARY JAZZ MUSIC VISIONARY & ENTREPRENEUR, PIONEERED THE MERGE OF MUSIC AND TECHNOLOGY It is with great sadness we announce the passing of beloved jazz music visionary and entrepreneur, Larry Rosen, who passed away at his New Jersey home surrounded by family, Oct. 9, 2015 at the age of 75 after a valiant battle with brain cancer. In a legendary career that spanned over five decades, Rosen was a lifelong jazz lover who among his many achievements helped ...
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Willie Akins 1939 - 2015
Source:
St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
Friends and musical colleagues of Willie Akins reported Friday night on social media that the veteran saxophonist has died. He was 76, and had battled heart disease for more than a decade. A native of Webster Groves, Akins gained early experience with local bands including Eddie Randle's Blue Devils and a group led by his music teacher, bassist Walter Latham. After graduating from Douglass High School, he moved to New York City in May, 1957 to try to make it ...
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Phil Woods (1931-2015)
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Phil Woods, a highly accomplished alto saxophonist who married Charlie Parker's widow, developed one of the most signature sounds on the instrument in small-group and big-band settings, carried on the bebop tradition long after others had moved on, became an exquisite composer-arranger and was perhaps best known for his solo on Billy Joel's Just the Way You Are, died yesterday, on Sept. 29. He was 83. As an artist, Phil had an admirable and elevated level of intensity, determination and ambition—not ...
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Phil Woods, 1931-2015
Source:
Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
Phil Woods died today, less than a month after he announced his retirement from playing. He was 83. Woods’ longtime drummer Bill Goodwin told me this afternoon that the veteran alto saxophonist “went out on his own terms,” electing to stop treatment for the emphysema that for years slowed—but did not stop—his career as a performer and bandleader. One of the most renowned of the saxophonists inspired by Charlie Parker, Woods was a perennial poll winner. His quartet with bassist ...
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