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Singer's Sister Killed in Crossfire
Source:
St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
Patrice Thimes, the sister of St. Louis jazz singer Denise Thimes, was shot and killed Thursday night in St. Louis. Police reports say that Thimes was driving through the intersection of Page Ave. and North Euclid at 9:55 p.m. when she was hit by a stray bullet from a gun battle between two groups of young men thought to be gang members. The Post-Dispatch's story is here, and local NBC affiliate KSDK has a report that includes a brief interview ...
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Melvin Sparks - R.I.P.
Source:
Sound Insights by Doug Payne
Guitarist Melvin Sparks, a soul-jazz legend and acid-jazz pioneer, died yesterday at his Mt. Vernon, New York, home from heart failure. He would have turned 65 next week. Reports indicate he died from complications associated with diabetes. Sparks made his name in the late '60s and early '70s as a soulful guitarist—or “gittar" player, as he called himself—accompanying Jack McDuff, Lonnie Smith, Lou Donaldson, Charles Earland, Jimmy McGriff and countless other soul-jazz stars. “But for the last two decades," wrote ...
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R.I.P. Melvin Sparks
Source:
JamBase
ACID JAZZ GREAT PASSES AWAY AT 64 Legendary Soul/Jazz/Funk guitarist Melvin Sparks died yesterday due to complications from diabetes. He was 64 years old. Sparks was noted for his pioneering Acid Jazz guitar style in the 60s and 70s, influencing generations of musicians in his wake, including Galactic, The Greyboy Allstars, Karl Denson's Tiny Universe, Derek Trucks, Robert Randolph, Eric Krasno and more. In addition to his groundbreaking work as a bandleader, Melvin was a prolific session player for labels ...
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Melvin Sparks (1946-2011)
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Melvin Sparks, a much-in-demand soul-jazz guitarist who recorded with virtually all of the great organists of the late '60s and '70s and pioneered a sound that borrowed from Grant Green and Sly Stone, died on March 13 . He was 64. Sparks was at his best playing a muscular, groovy rhythm guitar behind organists like Leon Spencer and Charles Earland, breaking out occasionally with a melodic, groovy solo. He was a mainstay at Prestige during the '70s, where he was ...
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Joe Morello, Springfield Native and Jazz Drummer (1928-2011)
Source:
MassJazz: Jazz in Massachusetts
Joe Morello, drummer for the Dave Brubeck Quartet, died at his home in New Jersey on Saturday at age 82. A native of Springfield, Massachusetts, Morello was sight-impaired as a child and studied the violin, performing at age nine with Boston Symphony Orchestra as a soloist in the Mendelsohn Violin Concerto, according to his biography. He switched to the drums at age 15. Brubeck released a statement, saying: “Drummers worldwide remember Joe as one of the greatest drummers we have ...
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Owsley "Bear" Stanley: R.I.P.
Source:
JamBase
A KEY CULTURAL ICON PASSES Counterculture icon and LSD pioneer Owsley “Bear" Stanley died after an automobile accident in his adopted country of Australia on Sunday, March 13, 2011. A statement released on behalf of Stanley's family said the car crash occurred near his home in far north Queensland. He is survived by his wife Sheila, four children, eight grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. The highly reclusive, camera shy Stanley was believed to be 76. For more on his history click ...
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Joe Morello, Drummer with Dave Brubeck Quartet, Dies at 82
Source:
AAJ Staff
Joe Morello, a jazz drummer whose elegant, economical playing in the Dave Brubeck Quartet sounded natural and effortless even in unusual time signatures, died on Saturday at his home in Irvington, N.J. He was 82. His death was announced on his Web site, joemorello.net. No cause was given. Mr. Morello was most famous for his tenure in Mr. Brubeck's band, in which he was engaged initially for a brief tour in 1955. He became a member in late 1956, and ...
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Joe Morello Said It
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Joe Morello, long-time drummer in the Dave Brubeck Quartet, died on March 12. He was 82. In Doug Ramsey's superb book, Take Five: The Public and Private Lives of Paul Desmond, Doug writes of the song Take Five's origin: “Morello said that in concert he used to go into 5/4 time in the drum break of a Brubeck piece called Sounds of the Loop, which the group recorded in 1956 on its album Jazz Impressions of the USA." Doug then ...
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