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Obituary

George Gruntz Remembered

Source: Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
January 16, 2013

The death of George Gruntz last Thursday brought responses from dozens of the musicians who played in his Concert Jazz Band over the past 40 years. The Swiss pianist, composer and arranger hired an international who’s-who of players for his annual tours in Europe, the United States and South America, among other places around the globe. To name a few, his sidemen or guest soloists included established stars like Elvin Jones, Jimmy Knepper, Dexter Gordon, Sheila Jordan and Herb Geller. ...

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Obituary

Ada Louise Huxtable (1921-2013)

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
January 9, 2013

Ada Louise Huxtable, the country's most respected and feared architecture critic whose finely crafted articles, essays and books held architects and their works to high humanistic standards, died January 7. She was 91. Ada Louise was most recently the architecture critic for the Wall Street Journal, but she was an early mentor of mine when I worked as a college intern at The New York Times in the late 1970s and she was a member of the Editorial Board. A ...

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Obituary

TD Ottawa Jazz Festival's Jacque Emond (1934-2013)

Source: All About Jazz
January 8, 2013

Obit by James Hale, courtesy of Jazz Chronicles and CBC Music: Note: My longtime friend Jacques Emond, former programming director for the Ottawa International Jazz Festival, died Sunday night after suffering a stroke the previous day. Almost everywhere I've ventured in the global jazz community I've found them: obsessed, lifelong fans of the music with encyclopedic knowledge, massive collections of recordings, and a thousand stories—either firsthand or many times retold. Some, like broadcaster Phil Schaap, have turned their obsessions into ...

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Obituary

Fontella Bass 1940-2012

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
December 29, 2012

Singer Fontella Bass, the St. Louisan who had a huge soul and pop hit in 1965 with “Rescue Me" but also sang jazz while married to trumpeter Lester Bowie, died Wednesday night in St. Louis of complications from heart failure. She was 72. “Rescue Me," which Bass co-wrote as well as sang, sold more than a million copies. The song was the No. 1 R&B hit for four weeks, also reached the pop Top 10, and stayed on the charts ...

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Obituary

Ana Grace Marquez-Green, Daughter Of Jazzman Jimmy Greene Claimed In Newtown Tragedy

Source: Greg Simmons
December 23, 2012

All About Jazz and the entire jazz family offers its condolences to tenor saxophonist Jimmy Greene, his wife Nelba Marquez-Greene and their family at the loss of their daughter Ana Grace Marquez-Greene, who died during the tragic events in Newtown, Connecticut last Friday. Ana Grace was six years old. The family had recently moved to Newtown from Winnipeg, Canada after Mr. Greene accepted a position at Western Connecticut State University where he is an Assistant Professor of Music and Assistant ...

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Obituary

Ana Grace

Source: Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
December 17, 2012

Among the 20 elementary school children killed in yesterday’s mass shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, was Ana Greene, the 6-year-old daughter of saxophonist Jimmy Greene. She is on the right in the photograph with her father, her mother Nelba Marquez-Greene and her brother Isaiah, also a student at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Isaiah is reported unharmed. Six adults also died in the onslaught. A relative said that the Greenes moved to Newtown last summer after Greene accepted a teaching position in ...

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Obituary

Farewell Dave Brubeck

Source: RJ on Jazz by R.J. DeLuke
December 7, 2012

Iconic Pianist/Composer Is American Legend, Icon, Music Master, Worldwide Legend Dave Brubeck would have been 92 today. Instead, the world mourns the loss of his passing yesterday at the age of 91. A master of music, particularly that which we call jazz. He knew and composed much more music than that. He did so much in his storied career that the lengthy obits in major newspapers and the tributes that will come through jazz websites and periodicals can do little ...

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Obituary

On Dave Brubeck

Source: Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
December 7, 2012

There is no guarantee that a great artist will be an admirable person. Many sublimely gifted musicians, painters, sculptors, writers and actors fail as human beings. Dave Brubeck was on the positive end of the scale. Among the dozens, perhaps hundreds, of obituaries and remembrances of Brubeck that have emerged since his death yesterday morning, a thread becomes clear: those who knew him emphasize that his extraordinary musicianship went hand in hand with kindness, generosity, humor and concern for the ...

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