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Obituary

Father John D'Amico, jazz piano player, composer and teacher

Source: Michael Ricci
November 6, 2013

If his smile was like a warm hug, as a fan put it, his piano playing was like a mellow caress. Father John D'Amico was not only an outstanding jazz pianist who gathered fans wherever he played throughout the city, but he was also a warm and fuzzy friend and a man devoted to social causes. When he died Thursday in Lankenau Hospital, doctors and nurses wept. “They really loved him," said his wife, Kathleen. “He was the kind of ...

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Obituary

Frank Wess, 91, Saxophonist and Flutist With the Basie Band, Dies

Source: Michael Ricci
November 3, 2013

Frank Wess, who helped popularize the flute as a jazz instrument in the 1950s and ’60s with the Count Basie Orchestra, where he was also a standout saxophone soloist, died on Wednesday in Manhattan. He was 91. The cause was a heart attack related to kidney failure, said his longtime companion, Sara Tsutsumi. Mr. Wess was not the first flutist in jazz. But his tonally rich and technically deft flute solos enjoyed an unusually prominent platform: the front row of ...

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Obituary

Frank Wess dies at 91; key player in major jazz ensembles

Source: Michael Ricci
November 1, 2013

Though the saxophonist never became as famous as other musicians of his time, he was a force in making the flute a jazz instrument. Long before jazz pianist Billy Taylor became world-famous, he planned in high school to switch to saxophone. But then he heard the new kid in school—Frank Wess—play the horn. “He's the reason I don't play the tenor saxophone," Taylor said in a 2008 Washington Post interview. “Even in his teens, he was really a remarkable player." ...

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Obituary

Frank Wess, January 4, 1922 - October 30, 2013

Source: Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
October 31, 2013

We have confirmation that Frank Wess died today. The flutist and saxophonist succumbed to kidney failure at 91. Wess played with undiminished spirit and creativity that kept him in the forefront of jazz soloists for decades after most of his contemporaries had retired or died. A professional from the age of 19, following service in World War Two Wess joined Billy Eckstine’s big band. After earning a conservatory degree in flute, he became a member of Count Basie’s reed section ...

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Obituary

Lou Reed (1942-2013)

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
October 28, 2013

Lou Reed, whose brutish pop-minimalist songs and flat vocals reflected his painful search for identity and helped influence art-rock, glam, punk, metal, New Wave and grunge, died unexpectedly yesterday (Oct. 27). He had undergone a liver transplant in June. He was 71. The news came as a particular shock to me, as I was preparing to interview Reed at home on Wednesday afternoon for a career-spanning Q&A. A voracious reader, Lou had agreed to the sit-down after reading my interviews ...

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Obituary

Dick Lapalm: 1927-2013

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
October 10, 2013

Dick LaPalm, one of the music industry's most committed and knowledgeable record promoters who ensured that singles and albums by jazz and pop artists such as Nat King Cole, Ahmad Jamal, Woody Herman, Sarah Vaughan, the Modern Jazz Quartet, Sonny Rollins and many others were played on the air, died October 7. He was 86. [Photo of Dick LaPalm, left, and Nat King Cole in Chicago] Dick's skills were honed in an age before the Internet, when music appeared on ...

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Obituary

Oscar Castro-Neves dies at 73; bossa nova guitarist and orchestrator

Source: Michael Ricci
October 2, 2013

Famous from age 16, Oscar Castro-Neves toured with Dizzy Gillespie and Stan Getz and orchestrated music for films and TV. Oscar Castro-Neves, a Brazil-born guitarist who helped to create the cool, sensuous rhythms of bossa nova and orchestrated music for movies including “L.A. Story" and “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels," has died. He was 73. Castro-Neves had cancer and died Friday in Los Angeles, his wife, Lorraine Castro-Neves, said. Castro-Neves, who was noted for both his virtuosity and his impish sense of ...

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Obituary

Oscar Castro-Neves dies at 73; bossa nova guitarist

Source: Michael Ricci
October 2, 2013

Oscar Castro-Neves, a Brazil-born guitarist who helped create the sensuous rhythms of bossa nova and orchestrated music for movies including “L.A. Story” and “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels,” died Sept. 27 in Los Angeles. He was 73. The cause was cancer, his wife, Lorraine Castro-Neves, said. Mr. Castro-Neves, who was noted for both his virtuosity and impish sense of humor, toured with jazz greats Dizzy Gillespie and Stan Getz. For 10 years, he was guitarist, musical director and vocal coach for Sergio ...

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