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Obituary

George Shearing, 1919-2011

Source: Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
February 15, 2011

George Shearing died early today at the age of 91. With his quintet, Shearing used a locked-hands technique at the piano, blending with vibes and piano to develop a style that resonated with listeners and became one of the most recognizable sounds in an era when jazz was still at the core of popular music. He was already a success because of his hit version of “September in the Rain" when the record of his 1952 composition “Lullaby of Birdland" ...

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Obituary

George Shearing dies at 91

Source: Michael Ricci
February 14, 2011

NEW YORK—Sir George Shearing, the ebullient jazz pianist who wrote the standard “Lullaby of Birdland" and had a string of hits both with and without his quintet, has died. He was 91. Shearing, blind since birth, died early Monday morning in Manhattan of congestive heart failure, his longtime manager Dale Sheets said. “He was a totally one-of-a-kind performer," said Sheets. “It was something wonderful to see, to watch him work." Shearing had been a superstar of the jazz world since ...

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Obituary

Allen Smith RIP

Source: Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
February 12, 2011

From San Francisco comes word that trumpeter Allen Smith died last week at the age of 85. Smith's musical career got underway at the same time as those of his San Francisco State College classmates Paul Desmond and Cal Tjader. He worked with both in various bands and with other Bay Area jazz mainstays, including guitarist Eddie Duran. Although Smith's work as a musician never stopped, he fit it around his schedule as an educator who earned a masters degree ...

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Obituary

Gary Moore (1952-2011): An Appreciation

Source: Something Else!
February 8, 2011

By Something Else Reviews Gary Moore, former guitarist with Thin Lizzy and Skid Row, has died at age 58. The Belfast-born Moore, perhaps most famous for his 1979 hit “Parisienne Walkways" with the late Phil Lynott, was found dead in a hotel room Sunday while vacationing at the Costa del Sol, Spain. The cause of death was not immediately known. After his career-making stint in Thin Lizzy (highlighted by 1979's Black Rose: A Rock Legend, featuring “Waiting for An Alibi" ...

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Obituary

John Barry - R.I.P.

Source: Sound Insights by Doug Payne
February 1, 2011

The film world lost one of its greatest composers with the death of John Barry, who died yesterday in New York at age 77. Barry, who had long lived in New York, is said to have died of a heart attack. But official details have not yet been released. John Barry, born November 3, 1933, in York, England, composed the scores to dozens of films and TV shows over the past half century, a period known as film music's “silver ...

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Obituary

Dr. Billy Taylor's Memorial Service in NYC - Video

Source: JazzStage.net
January 23, 2011

Any thought that the Harlem memorial service for Dr. Billy Taylor would be a somber, mournful affair was dispelled after the opening prayers at Riverside Church of New York. First, Reverend Calvin O. Butts (from the nearby Abyssinian Baptist Church) delivered the evening's gathering prayer; then, he said, “One of the things I never got to do in this church or for this great man, Billy Taylor, was to ask the whole congregation to stand ...

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Obituary

Correspondence (Illustrated): RIP Margaret Whiting

Source: Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
January 14, 2011

Rifftides reader Mark Stryker sent this reaction to the previous entry. Mr. Stryker is the music critic of The Detroit Free Press. He has good ears.Just a coda re: “Moonlight in Vermont," whose unusual lyrics were written by John Blackburn. The A section words are actually in the form of a haiku, with 5-7-5 syllable pattern. Nor do the lyrics rhyme. Also, a note on the interpretation: Whiting takes a big (and to my ear unfortunate) breath leading from the ...

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Obituary

Margaret Whiting

Source: Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
January 13, 2011

News of Margaret Whiting's death at 86 on Monday must have sent her fans to the shelves in search of her recording of “Moonlight in Vermont." She recorded the song in 1943 when she was 19. It helped make her a star, and she stayed on the charts well into the 1960s, surviving even as rock and roll displaced scores of her pop music contemporaries. Johnny Mercer did not write the lyric for “Moonlight in Vermont," but when he was ...

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