Obituary News

Legendary Bassist Donald "Duck" Dunn Passes Away At Age 70

Source: Michael Ricci
May 13, 2012

Donald “Duck” Dunn, who played on hundreds of rock and soul classics as the bassist for Booker T. and the MGs, and later as a session player, passed away Sunday morning at the age of 70. Steve Cropper, the MGs guitarist, broke the news on his Facebook page at approximately 12:30AM Eastern time.

“Today I lost my best friend, the World has lost the best guy and bassist to ever live,” Cropper, his lifelong friend, wrote. “Duck Dunn died in ...

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Levon Helm: 1940-2012

Source: C. Michael Bailey
April 20, 2012

By C. Michael Bailey The aim of every artist is to arrest motion, which is life, by artificial means and hold it fixed so that a hundred years later, when a stranger looks at it, it moves again since it is life. —William Faulkner It might be a hard sell to claim that Levon Helm was the voice of The Band, considering he was part of a trio of the most distinctive voices in rock music during what some call ...

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Teddy Charles: (1928-2012)

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
April 19, 2012

Teddy Charles, a hard-swinging four-mallet vibraphonist, composer, pianist and player-producer who in the late 1940s and early '50s transformed the steel-plated instrument into a cooler, jazz-classical protagonist, died on April 16, He was 84.   Trained at the Juilliard School of Music, Teddy was able to reach effortlessly into modern classical music theory and deploy modal scales on solos—giving his compositions and recordings a fresh, hip sound. But what made Teddy's style special was he was able to combine long-hair ...

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Hal McKusick: 1924-2012

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
April 14, 2012

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
April 5, 2012

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
March 31, 2012

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
March 29, 2012

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
March 29, 2012

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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