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Obituary

Astrud Gilberto (1940-2023)

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
June 7, 2023

Astrud Gilberto, who as the wife of Brazilian singer João Gilberto was urged to record “The Girl From Ipanema" and “Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars" in English in March 1963 because he didn't speak the language and whose hit vocals helped send the bossa nova into the pop stratosphere and her into stardom, died on June 5. She was 83. Astrud Gilberto would go on to record numerous bossa nova and pop albums. Rather than return to Brazil with her ...

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Obituary

Tina Turner (1939-2023)

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
May 25, 2023

The moment I heard that Tina Turner had died yesterday at 2:45 p.m., I started writing. I knew what was about to happen. Within minutes, I heard from the arts editor asking for an appreciation needed asap. An hour and 45 minutes later, my essay was done, fact-checked and filed. Tina was a force of nature. Driven, high-energy and charismatic, she had three careers. As a member of the Ike & Tina Turner Revue, she was instrumental in their many ...

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Obituary

Don Sebesky (1937-2023)

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
May 2, 2023

Don Sebesky, a composer and arranger best-known for his jazz orchestrations for albums produced by Creed Taylor at Verve, A&M and CTI and for his Broadway scores for a large number of updated popular musicals, died on April 29. He was 85. Over the course of his long, prolific career, Don played and arranged for a wide range of bands and artists. He could write and score swingers with heavy brass, he could arrange contemporary pop-rock hits for big bands ...

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Obituary

Ahmad Jamal: 1930-2023

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
April 17, 2023

Ahmad Jamal, whose spare but highly melodic piano style on trio recordings beginning in 1951 transformed the sound of the jazz piano and deeply influenced Miles Davis and Red Garland, died on April 16. He was 92. At the dawn of the 1950s, Jamal's gleeful and relaxed style was a radical departure from other piano approaches at the time, when thick chords and a strong left hand held sway on the jazz piano. While critics would scoff at Jamal's recordings ...

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Obituary

Toni Harper (1937-2023)

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
March 10, 2023

Toni Harper, a child singer in Los Angeles in the late 1940s who grew up to become a superb jazz stylist in the mid-1950s and early 1960s, recorded with Oscar Peterson, Buddy Bregman, Marty Paich and many other leading jazz artists only to quit the business at age 29, died on February 10. She was 86. Toni was active into her late years and corresponded with me often by email. She was upbeat, mischievous and remarkably modest. Her first recording ...

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Obituary

Burt Bacharach (1928-2023)

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
February 12, 2023

At 10:15 on Thursday morning, I received an email from the Wall Street Journal's Arts in Review editor letting me know that Burt Bacharach had died. He also asked how quickly I could turn around an appreciation essay. I had interviewed Burt at length twice for the WSJ—once in 2011 for a feature and again in 2021 for my “Anatomy of a Song" column on Walk on By. I asked when he needed it. He said between noon and 1p.m. ...

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Obituary

Dennis Budimir (1938-2023)

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
February 8, 2023

Dennis Budimir, whose credits as a session guitarist on movie soundtracks and rock, folk and jazz recordings rank him as one of the most diverse and prolific in-demand studio musicians in the second half of the 20th century, died in January 2023. He was 84. On films alone, Budimir reportedly recorded on more than 900 movies from the early 1960s to the 2000s. He also appeared on albums by pop and rock artists ranging from Linda Ronstadt and the Carpenters ...

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Obituary

Carol Sloane (1937-2023)

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
January 26, 2023

Carol Sloane, a superb singer with remarkable pitch who was widely considered to be the last great female big-band and club jazz vocalist to emerge at the dawn of the 1960s, just before the British Invasion swept over the record industry, died on January 23, 2023. She was 85. “Sloaney," as she was known to friends, had Sarah Vaughan's phrasing in the 1960s but also shared the round richness and twinkle of Ella Fitzgerald. With a husky, rich and caressing ...

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