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Hal McKusick: 1924-2012
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Hal McKusick, an East Coast jazz saxophonist, composer and arranger whose seductively smooth sound, tireless work ethic and flawless technique were admired by Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Clark Terry, Art Farmer, Johnny Mandel and every other musician he worked with since the early 1940s, died on April 10 of complications from a fractured hip. He was 87. If all that you owned were the albums Hal recorded, you would have a sizable chunk of post-war jazz history. Though other jazz ...
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Jazz Pianist Carol Whitney Britto Dead At 76
Source:
Karen Carter
By Chantaie Allick Jazz pianist Carol Whitney Britto has died. She was 76. Britto died March 16 in New York City. She had her first gig at age 16 in Cleveland, Ohio, and began to make a name for herself in Toronto and New York. She studied with legendary pianist, Oscar Peterson and her style of forceful, energetic playing was often compared to his. She was “Mother Jazz,” according to violinist Joe Venuti. Britto played with some of legendary jazz ...
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Sonny Igoe, 1923-2012
Source:
Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
Sonny Igoe, who played drums with a succession of prominent leaders, died this week at the age of 88. In 1939 when Igoe was 16, he won the first Gene Krupadrum competition. After four years in the United States Marine Corps in World War Two, he worked briefly in a band of former Marines, then began a career that included work with Les Elgart, Ina Ray Hutton, Benny Goodman, Woody Herman, Chuck Wayne and Charlie Ventura. Herman’s featuring Igoe on ...
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Bill Caldwell, Noted Wichita Jazz Musician, Dies
Source:
Ted Ricci
Bill Caldwell, a gifted musician who brightened the lives and the musical arrangements of jazz enthusiasts all over the country, died this week at his home in Wichita. He was 49. Tim Henry, Mr. Caldwell's Wichita-based business partner and fellow jazz musician, found him dead in his home early Monday after he missed a rehearsal Sunday night. Henry and Richard Couch, who owns Couch Music at 131 S. Hydraulic, said Mr. Caldwell was a world-class musician who could play all ...
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Khalil Shaheed, Noted Jazz Trumpet Player, Dies
Source:
Michael Ricci
Khalil Shaheed, a trumpet player who served as one of the Bay Area's most prominent jazz music educators and performed for several years with the drummer Buddy Miles, died Friday in Oakland. He was 63. His family confirmed the death. In 2009, the trumpeter was diagnosed with lung cancer. Mr. Shaheed's music career began in the 1960s as a horn player with Miles, a founding member of the Electric Flag and drummer for the Band of Gypsys, and, briefly, Jimi ...
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Leon Spencer Jr. (1945-2012)
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Leon Spencer Jr., one of the most melodically funky organists during Prestige's Hammond B-3 era in the early 1970s and whose voicings and guitar-like touch on the instrument provided a powdery groove behind lead horn players, died on March 11. He was 66 and lived in Houston. Spencer's recording career began in 1968 but didn't become significant in small-group settings until Lou Donaldson's Pretty Things in June 1970. Spencer's style wasn't as bombastic as Charles Earland's nor was it as ...
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Khalil Shaheed, Oakland Jazz Trumpeter And Educator, Dies At 63
Source:
Michael Ricci
A genre-bending trumpeter known for his ability to bridge distinct styles, Khalil Shaheed had a passion for music matched only by his desire to teach. That passion kept him active despite the toll lung cancer was taking on his body. Three weeks ago, the Oakland resident was teaching at Oaktown Jazz Workshops, the youth music program he founded in 1994. “He kept doing it as long as he could," said his widow, Kate Shaheed. The renowned jazz musician died Friday ...
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Jazz Radio Host Chuck Workman Dies
Source:
Michael Ricci
Popular WICR host, a veteran broadcast professional, died Sunday at his home harles “Chuck" Workman, a veteran of Indianapolis broadcasting who was best-known as a courtly, smooth-voiced spokesman for jazz, died Sunday at his home. He was found after failing to report to WICR-FM, where he hosted two jazz shows three days a week. A station employee, not getting a response at Workman's address Sunday afternoon, called police, who forced entry and discovered the body. “Chuck was a special person ...
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