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Gil Scott-Heron. 1949-2011...
Source:
Digital Music News
Poet and musician Gil Scott-Heron passed away late this (Friday) afternoon. He was a too-young 62, though that voice and soul remain as vibrant as ever. The passing was confirmed by Scott-Heron's publishing and label partners. Scott-Heron is probably best known for “The Revolution Will NotBe Televised," though he is also credited for influencing a range of musical genres, including hip-hop. This was a diverse and talented artist, one with an unmistakeable voice and impact. That influence stretches into the ...
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Gil Scott-Heron (1949-2011): An Appreciation
Source:
Something Else!
Musician and street poet Gil Scott-Heron, best known for “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised," died today. Cause of death was not immediately known; he was 62. Scott-Heron started out at the dawn of the 1970s as a jazz-inclined R&B singer and spoken-word performer, a rapper years before the genre was formally invented. “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised"—which appeared on Scott-Heron's conversational debut recording, 1970's Small Talk at 125th and Lenox—was so influential that the saying ultimately moved into ...
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Bill Donahoe, Founder of the Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Jazz Band, Has Died
Source:
Michael Ricci
E. William “Bill" Donahoe Known among his fellow Dixieland jazz fans as “the Fastest Washboard in the East," Bill Donahoe died May 22nd in Lady Lake, Florida. He was 83 years old. Introduced to the music of Bix Beiderbecke by his cousin, Mr. Donahoe became a passionate fan of the legendary cornetist. Beginning in 1965 and continuing through 1982, he and his wife Mary Cay nee Wadelton, hosted gatherings known as Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Stomps at their New Jersey home. ...
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Bruce Ricker, Documentarian, RIP
Source:
Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
Bruce Ricker, the producer-director of a series of documentaries about American musicians, has died. He succumbed to pneumonia on Friday, May 13, at a hospital in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He was 68. Ricker's most recent release was last year's Dave Brubeck: In His Own Sweet Way. Among his other films were the stories of Jim Hall, Tony Bennett, Johnny Mercer and Thelonious Monk. He also produced the 1997 TV special Eastwood After Hours: Live at Carnegie Hall. Born in Staten Island, ...
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Snooky Young, 1919-2011
Source:
Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
Reports emerged late last night that Snooky Young died on May 5 at the age of 92. Young was that rare combination, a great lead trumpeter who was also a soloist of exceptional imagination, taste and humor. He began as a professional musician when he was a teenager in Dayton, Ohio. At 20, he joined he joined the Jimmie Lunceford band and in the course of his career played key roles in virtually every big jazz band of importance except ...
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Jazz Genius Zim Ngqawana dies at 52
Source:
Chris Rich
South African musician Zim Ngqawana has died in the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Hospital after suffering a stroke on Monday. He was 52. Manager Ayanda Nhlapo said Ngqawana, who played the flute and saxophone, had been rehearsing at his home in Troyeville for a show at Wits on the weekend when he had the stroke. “I think Zim was extremely insightful and he was very much aware of a lot of things that a lot of people seem not to want ...
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Cornell Dupree - R.I.P.
Source:
Sound Insights by Doug Payne
The legendary guitarist Cornell Dupree died on Sunday, May 8, 2011. He was 68 years old. Dupree had earlier been diagnosed with emphysema and was to have had a lung transplant. A benefit concert was held at BB King's New York City club on March 11 to help raise funds for Dupree's medical expenses. Born on December 19, 1942, in Fort Worth, Texas, Dupree was discovered by King Curtis, who brought the young guitarist to New York City, where his ...
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Billy Bang
Source:
Music and More by Tim Niland
Like many other jazz fans, I was saddened to hear of the passing of the great violinist and composer Billy Bang at the age of 63. Bang's story was a harrowing and inspiring one, after surviving traumatic experiences as a soldier during the Vietnam War, Bang returned to the States, and employed his violin in many jazz contexts from swinging tributes to Stuff Smith to experimental recordings as a leader and a member of the String Trio of New York. ...
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