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Acker Bilk: Legendary jazz clarinettist dies aged 85
Source:
Michael Ricci
Clarinettist Acker Bilk, who personified the trad jazz revival of the 1950s and '60s, has died after a lengthy illness at the age of 85. His most famous song Stranger on the Shore was the UK's biggest selling single of 1962 and made him an international star. Born Bernard Stanley Bilk, he changed his name to Acker - Somerset slang for “mate" - after learning to play the clarinet in the Army. His last concert was in August 2013. Pamela ...
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Kenny Wheeler is Gone
Source:
Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
Kenny Wheeler, a Canadian who became a towering figure in British music and an icon of jazz musicians around the world, has succumbed to a long illness. He was in a London nursing home for several months and was moved recently to the hospital where he died. He was 84. Wheeler’s brilliance as a composer and arranger, dating from from the 1960s, came to be generally acknowledged fairly late in his career. From the 1968 suite based on Don Quixote ...
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Kenny Wheeler, contemporary jazz musician, dies aged 84
Source:
Michael Ricci
Trumpeter and composer became part of the free-improvisation movement after joining the London jazz scene Kenny Wheeler, one of the giants of British jazz, has died aged 84. Born in Canada in 1930, the trumpeter and composer joined the London jazz scene after moving to Britain in 1952. He played in groups alongside the likes of Ronnie Scott, John Dankworth and Tubby Hayes as well becoming part of the free-improvisation movement. He gained critical attention in the 1970s with a ...
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Jackie Cain (1928-2014)
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Jackie Cain, a vocalist who gave bebop a carefree vocalese spin in the late 1940s with her singer-pianist husband Roy Kral and, as Jackie and Roy, became one of the most beloved jazz-pop singing duos and recording artists of the 1950s and beyond, died Sept. 15 at her home in New Jersey. She was 86. Throughout her career, Jackie was widely admired by jazz and pop vocalists but never duplicated or bested. The ringing sound of her voice, ease of ...
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Losses: Jackie Cain, Joe Sample
Source:
Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
Following a long illness, Jackie Cain died Monday afternoon in her New Jersey home. She was 86. She and Roy Kral combined their talents in 1946. They incorporated the spirit of bebop in their work with Charlie Ventura’s sextet, capturing the public imagination with “East of Suez” and “I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles.” Recorded with Ventura at a concert in Pasadena, California, in 1949, the records received widespread radio airplay in the days when that was still a route to jazz ...
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Gerald Wilson dies at 96; multifaceted jazz musician
Source:
Michael Ricci
Gerald Wilson, a bandleader, trumpeter, composer, arranger and educator whose multifaceted career reached from the swing era of the 1930s to the diverse jazz sounds of the 21st century, has died. He was 96. Wilson, who had been in declining health, died Monday at his home in Los Angeles, two weeks after contracting pneumonia, said his son, jazz guitarist Anthony Wilson. In a lifetime that spanned a substantial portion of the history of jazz, Wilson's combination of articulate composition skills ...
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Gerald Wilson, 1918-2014
Source:
Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
Word has come that Gerald Wilson died today in Los Angeles. A swing eratrumpeter, he became the pioneering leader, composer and arranger of a modern big band that was a significant presence for more than sixty years. Wilson enriched the language of large ensembles by employing expanded harmonic structures. He was noted for, among other things, his colorful music inspired by Mexican bull fighting. For an obituary, see Don Heckman’s article in today’s Los Angeles Times. In a post to ...
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Jazz This Week: Trebor Tichenor Memorial Concert, Dave Dickey Big Band, and More
Source:
St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
With tensions easing somewhat even as protest demonstrations continue in Ferguson, and hot, steamy weather settling in for a few days, it's starting to seem a bit more like a typical late August in St. Louis. And while the weather forecast has prompted cancellations of a couple of outdoor shows, there's still jazz happening around town during these “dog days." Let's go to the highlights... On Friday, singer Anita Rosamond will be performing a free outdoor concert at Ferguson CityWalk, ...
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