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Obituary

Willie Akins 1939 - 2015

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
October 3, 2015

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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Obituary

Phil Woods (1931-2015)

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
September 30, 2015

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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Obituary

Phil Woods, 1931-2015

Source: Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
September 30, 2015

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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Obituary

Jazz has lost another true master - Phil Woods

Source: Ken Franckling's Jazz Notes
September 29, 2015

Word spread very quickly through the jazz community this afternoon that alto saxophonist and NEA Jazz Master (Class of 2007) Phil Woods passed away today. He was 83. The news came less than a month after Woods told the audience at a September 4 concert at the Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild in Pittsburgh that he had just played his final gig. He had long suffered from emphysema and performed for several years while using oxygen. The Springfield MA native was a ...

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Obituary

Delaware Water Gap jazz legend Phil Woods dies

Source: Michael Ricci
September 29, 2015

Jazz legend Phil Woods died Tuesday morning, according to Bensing-Thomas Funeral Home in Stroudsburg. He was 83 years old. Woods, who lived in Delaware Water Gap since 1976 and is one of the founders of the prestigious DWG Celebration of the Arts jazz and arts festival, recorded with jazz visionaries as Quincy Jones, Clark Terry, Thelonious Monk, Benny Carter, John Coates Jr. and others during his distinguished career. Upon receiving the National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters award in ...

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Obituary

Legendary Crusaders Sax Man Wilton Felder Passes Away

Source: Michael Ricci
September 28, 2015

Houston and the world lost a giant today with the passing of Wilton Felder, saxophonist for the fabled Crusaders. Mr. Felder was 75. Word of his passing reached the internet via longtime collaborator Ray Parker, Jr.’s Facebook page around 2 p.m. today. Felder’s passing comes only a year after the death of his lifelong friend and fellow Crusader Joe Sample. Crusaders trombonist Wayne Henderson died in April, 2014, which now leaves drummer Nesbert “Stix” Hooper as the only living Crusader ...

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Obituary

Jazz loses one of its great advocates

Source: Ken Franckling's Jazz Notes
September 8, 2015

Jazz lost one of its finest ambassadors this holiday weekend. Broadcaster “Tom the Jazzman" Mallison died overnight in a head-on collision as he was driving home to Greenville after his weekly Sunday night radio show on North Carolina's Eastern Public Radio. He had been a steady volunteer broadcaster on the station in New Bern for more than 30 years. Mallison was a great friend, as well as a tremendous advocate for and promoter of jazz - and a mentor to ...

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Obituary

Cilla Black (1943-2015)

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
August 4, 2015

Cilla Black, a singing coat-check girl at Liverpool's Cavern Club when the Beatles were getting their start who went on to become one of Britain's most beloved female pop singers, died on Aug. 1 at her summer home in Spain. She was 72. Despite being produced by George Martin, managed by Brian Epstein and helped along by pals John Lennon and Paul McCartney by giving her songs, Black was virtually unknown in the States. She had only three pop hits ...

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