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Horace Silver (1928-2014)
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Horace Silver, a pianist who in 1952 and '53 pioneered two prominent jazz styles—funk and hard bop—and went on to lead one of the most exciting and successful hard bop quintets of the 1950s and early '60s before helping to develop jazz-boogaloo starting in the mid-'60s, died on June 18. He was 85. Discovered by Stan Getz in Hartford, Conn., in 1950, Silver moved to New York in 1951and in October 1952 recorded The Horace Silver Trio, with bassist Gene Ramey ...
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Aaron Sachs and Jimmy Scott, Gone
Source:
Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
It is sad to hear of the recent deaths of Aaron Sachs and Jimmy Scott. Sachs was a gifted clarinetist and tenor saxophonist who never became as well known as many of hiscontemporaries despite yeoman work in bands led by Van Alexander, Red Norvo, Benny Goodman, Earl Hines, Benny Goodman, Tom Talbert and Buddy Rich, among others. In the 1960she became a stalwart in Latin jazz, playing for Machito, Tito Puente, and Tito Rodriguez. Sachs would have been 91 on ...
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Tony Simmons 1963 - 2014
Source:
St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
Keyboardist Anthony “Tony" Simmons, who played with many St. Louis jazz, R&B and gospel performers over the last three decades, has died. According to messages from friends on his Facebook page, Simmons passed away on Saturday, June 7 from a heart attack. He was 50 years old. Tony Simmons (pictured) was born in Kansas City, MO and started playing the piano at the age of 5. Afflicted from birth with glaucoma, he lost his vision completely by the age of ...
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Herb Jeffries, Singer
Source:
Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
After Herb Jeffries died on Sunday in Los Angeles, headlines around the world remembered him for his career as a singing cowboy in a succession of low budget 1930s Hollywood movies. Appreciative listeners are more likely to recall Jeffries as the singer who worked with the Earl Hines Orchestra, then joined Duke Ellington when the classic Blanton-Webster edition of the band was taking shape. With Ellington, he recorded “Flamingo.” The record, with its remarkable Billy Strayhorn arrangement and a lovely ...
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In Memoriam: Frank Strazzeri
Source:
Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
Reports that the veteran pianist Frank Strazzeri had died began circulating a couple of weeks ago. They were impossible to confirm until now. Strazzeri died at 84 on May 9 in his hometown, Rochester, New York, but hespent most of his career in Los Angeles. He moved back to Rochester in late April following a final engagement at the Glendale club Jax, where he often played in his final years. After attending the Eastman School of Music, in 1952 the ...
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Mark Flugge | 1962-2014: Jazz pianist was busy performer, teacher
Source:
Michael Ricci
As his hearing grew worse and the distortion in his head louder, Mark Flugge struggled to perform the jazz music he loved. The double-punch proved particularly painful for the lifelong pianist. He battled nonstop tinnitus and hearing loss — as well as related depression — for nearly two years. On Sunday, the Bexley pianist took his own life at age 52. Increasingly in recent months, the pleasant tones of music and conversation resembled the din of robots and jackhammers. “A ...
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Remembering Joe Wilder
Source:
Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
Joe Wilder, admired for his trumpet tone, range, stylistic flexibility and for his elegance as a musician and person, is gone. Wilder died at the age of 92 last Friday in New York. Despite his modesty and disinclination to assert himself, his skill put him in demand by big band leaders including Lionel Hampton, Count Basie, and Benny Goodman, as well as a wide range of Broadway and television producers. Among the dozens of musicians with whom Wilder recorded were ...
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Joe Wilder, trumpeter and NEA jazz master, dies at 92
Source:
Michael Ricci
Joe Wilder, a trumpeter of understated lyricism and breathtaking range, who toured with some of the biggest names in jazz, helped integrate Broadway pit orchestras and enjoyed a late-career renaissance as a rediscovered master, died May 9 at a rehabilitation facility in New York City. He was 92. He had congestive heart failure, said a daughter, Elin Wilder-Melcher. Mr. Wilder performed with such jazz giants as Count Basie, Jimmie Lunceford, Billie Holiday and Dizzy Gillespie, but he seemed to spend ...
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