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Melvin Rhyne (1936-2013)
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Organist Melvin Rhyne—who died of lung cancer on March 5 at age 76 in his hometown of Indianapolis—is perhaps best known for the four spectacular Riverside albums he recorded with Wes Montgomery between 1960 and 1963. Thanks to Resonance Records, we also have recordings with Rhyne and Montgomery from Indianapolis circa 1957 or '58—just before producer Orrin Keepnews lured Montgomery to Riverside and the road. [Photo above by Mark Sheldon] Upon a relisten to the Riverside material, it's hard to ...
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Ross Gentile, Former WSIE DJ, Dead at 60
Source:
St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
Ross Gentile, known to St. Louis jazz fans for more than 15 years as the host of “Standards In Jazz" on WSIE (88.7 FM), has died. He was 60. Gentile, a longtime resident of Glen Carbon, IL, reportedly had been in poor health for some time, and according to friends and published accounts, had been undergoing regular dialysis treatments. A report published on the website Berger's Beat says he died of a massive heart attack on Friday night at Anderson ...
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Innovative Jazz Trumpeter Donald Byrd Dies at 80
Source:
Seattle Jazz Scene
DOVER, DE: Jazz musician Donald Byrd, a leading hard-bop trumpeter of the 1950s who collaborated on dozens of albums with top artists of his time and later enjoyed commercial success with hit jazz-funk fusion records such as “Black Byrd," has died. He was 80. He died Feb. 4 in Delaware, according to Haley Funeral Directors in the Detroit suburb of Southfield, Mich., which is handling arrangements. It didn't have details on his death. Byrd, who was also a pioneer in ...
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Donald Byrd (1932-2013)
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Death is a devastating event for loved ones. The finality of loss is crushing and leaves family members feeling helpless, particularly when the deceased is notable and the media seeks information. Over the past week or so, rumors circulated about the passing of trumpeter Donald Byrd. Some blogs and radio disc jockeys decided that a Facebook mention of Byrd's death by a distant relative was sufficient to announce the trumpeter's passing and pay tribute—even though word surfaced that there may ...
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Donald Byrd, 1932-2013
Source:
Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
On several blogs and websites, a man name Alex Bugnon, a nephew of trumpeter Donald Byrd, is quoted as saying that Byrd died on Monday in Dover, Delaware, his home in recent years. According to the reports,Bugnon said that other members of Byrd‘s family were keeping the death of the 80-year-old jazz artist under “an unnecessary shroud of secrecy.” I have tried to get at least one further confirmation; a coroner’s report, word from an immediate family member in Delaware, ...
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"Unchain My Heart" Songwriter Bobby Sharp Dies At Age 88
Source:
Natasha Miller
Bobby Sharp, 88, of Alameda, passed away on Monday, January 28. His passing marked the end of a life filled with generosity toward friends, colorful storytelling about mid-century times in Los Angeles, New York, and California, and a long songwriting career highlighted by his 1961 hit, “Unchain My Heart." Bobby was born in 1924 in Topeka, Kansas, and after spending his early years in Lawrence, Kansas, moved to Los Angeles to live with his grandparents. His parents, Louis and Eva, ...
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Butch Morris, RIP
Source:
Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
The ceaselessly innovative and searching composer and Butch Morris died yesterday in New York. He had been under treatment of cancer for several years. Morris was 65. He developed an approach to big band music that he called conduction. It made demands on musicians by insisting on intensive, intuitive listening, reaction and interaction. The effort involved adjustment to Morris’s highly personalized methods of conducting while simultaneously composing and arranging through a system of cues and hand motions. Sometimes combined with ...
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Norwegian Guitarist Morten Molster: 1963-2013
Source:
All About Jazz
By Jon Trygve Utne Morten Mølster, aged 50, died from a sudden cardiac arrest Monday this week during physical exercise. To fans of trumpeter Nils Petter Molvær, he will be remembered for playing on the iconic album Khmer (ECM, 1997), but in Norway he was best known as the guitarist in The September When, in the period 1990-1996, during which time the band had great success in its native country. Mølster was also involved in many other collaborations, especially in ...
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