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Obituary

Wayne Henderson, Jazz Crusaders Co-Founder, Dies

Source: Michael Ricci
April 7, 2014

Wayne Henderson, trombonist and co-founding member of the popular jazz-funk band The Jazz Crusaders (later known as The Crusaders), died Friday, April 4, in Culver City, Calif. The cause of death was heart failure, according to The Crusaders' manager. Henderson was 74. Along with fellow Houston musicians Joe Sample (piano), Wilton Felder (tenor saxophone) and Stix Hooper (drums), Henderson moved to Southern California and rebranded the group The Jazz Crusaders. Their sound owed much to hard bop, the dominant straight-ahead ...

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Obituary

Med Flory dies at 87

Source: Michael Ricci
March 17, 2014

Med Flory, an alto saxophonist and founder of the Grammy-winning jazz group Supersax in addition to being an actor who appeared on numerous TV series, has died. He was 87. His son, Rex, who cared for his father during several years of heart maladies, reported that Flory died Wednesday at his home in North Hollywood. Flory had not been professionally active over the last few years, a shift from the busy demands of a career stretching over six decades. One ...

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Obituary

Med Flory (1926-2014)

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
March 17, 2014

Med Flory, a West Coast jazz saxophonist and actor who in 1972 founded the reed-centric band Supersax that played transcriptions of Charlie Parker solos in tight formation and won a Grammy in 1973, died on March 12. He was 87. Like many West Coast reed players, Med was relentlessly upbeat and easy-going—until he raised the mouthpiece to his lips. At that point, a transformation took place as aggression, competitiveness and a burning desire to excite the listener filled his face. ...

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Obituary

Med Flory, 1926-2014

Source: Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
March 17, 2014

Alto saxophonist Med Flory was best known to the general public as an actor, but jazz listeners are most likely to remember him as the co-founder and leader of Supersax. Flory died this week at the age of 87. He made hundreds of appearances in television shows and a few in motion pictures, usually as characters in westerns and action flicks. He’s the big man in the foreground in a scene from the 1966 film Night Of The Grizzly. He ...

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Obituary

Iola Brubeck, 90, Widow Of Jazz Great Dave Brubeck Dies, Helped Promote Music Genre Worldwide

Source: Keith Michaud
March 13, 2014

Iola Whitlock Brubeck, the widow and lifelong collaborator of jazz great Dave Brubeck, died March 12, 2014, at her home after a brave battle with cancer. The University of the Pacific alumna was 90 years old. Mrs. Brubeck earned a bachelor of arts degree in 1945 from College of the Pacific, which became University of the Pacific, where she first met the man who would be her husband. She became an educator, radio producer and writer and served as her ...

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Obituary

Vocalist/Pianist Patty Wicks: 1945-2014

Source: All About Jazz
March 11, 2014

Vocalist and pianist Patti Wicks, who divided her jazz life between New York and Florida for the past 40 years, recording several well-considered albums since the turn of the new century, died from heart failure March 7 in West Palm Beach, Fla. She was 69-years old. Wicks belonged to that rarefied group of performers that include Shirley Horn, Nina Simone and Blossom Dearie—vocalists who play piano. Her piano playing was informed by Bill Evans and her singing by Horn. Her ...

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Obituary

Renowned Spanish flamenco guitarist Paco de Lucia dies at 66

Source: Michael Ricci
February 26, 2014

Paco de Lucia, the influential Spanish guitarist who vastly expanded the international audience for flamenco and merged it with other musical styles, died suddenly on Wednesday of a heart attack in Mexico. The 66-year-old virtuoso, as happy playing seemingly impossible syncopated flamenco rhythms as he was improvising jazz or classical guitar, helped to legitimize flamenco in Spain itself at a time when it was shunned by the mainstream. “I learned the guitar like a child learns to speak," the guitarist ...

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Obituary

Trebor Tichenor 1940 - 2014

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
February 25, 2014

Trebor Tichenor, the St. Louis native who became internationally known as a ragtime pianist and historian, has died. He was 74. An obituary in Tuesday's Post-Dispatch says he died Saturday at Laclede Groves in Webster Groves after having suffered a stroke in December. As pianist for the St. Louis Ragtimers, Tichenor (pictured) was a regular performer on St. Louis stages and at ragtime and traditional jazz festivals across the country for five decades. He accumulated what was said to be ...

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