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Billy Taylor, Jazz Pianist and Educator, Dies at 89
Source:
AAJ Staff
Billy Taylor, a pianist and composer who was also an eloquent spokesman and advocate for jazz as well as a familiar presence for many years on television and radio, died on Tuesday in Manhattan. He was 89 and lived in the Riverdale section of the Bronx. The cause was heart failure, said his daughter, Kim Taylor-Thompson. Dr. Taylor, as he preferred to be called (he earned a doctorate in music education from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst in 1975), was ...
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Jazz Legend Dr. Billy Taylor Dies at 89
Source:
Michael Ricci
Jazz legend Dr. Billy Taylor died in New York on December 28 of heart failure. He was 89 years old.
Taylor was a noted pianist, and was the house pianist at Birldand early in his career, where he performed with Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis. He also appeared on stage with Cozy Coles' Quintet in Billy Rose's show, The Seven Lively Arts, and played in the pit band for Ethel Waters' show, Blue Holiday.
During his lifetime, he ...
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Trudy Pitts (1932-2010)
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Trudy Pitts, a Hammond B3 organist with a swirling, stinging style rich with technique and whose attack on the instrument was as aggressive as many of her male counterparts, died December 19. She was 78. A late jazz-soul bloomer, Pitts was signed by Prestige in 1967 just as jazz was losing young listeners to rock and soul. Unlike many organists of the period who had learned to play the Hammond B3 in church and on the road, Pitts studied music ...
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Trudy Pitts Carney, Jazz Organist, Vocalist -- R.I.P.
Source:
JazzStage.net
Trudy Pitts Carney, 78, a Philadelphia-born jazz organist, pianist, and vocalist who played with many jazz greats over a career that spanned more than four decades, died of pancreatic cancer Sunday, Dec. 19, at Chestnut Hill Hospital. She played with jazz greats John Coltrane and Rahsaan Roland Kirk, among others, her daughter said. Actually, “she didn't play with them; they played with her. Just about whoever you could mention played with her." Click here for complete obituary from philly.com. When ...
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Organist Trudy Pitts Carney Dies
Source:
Schicker
Philadelphia-based organist Trudy Pitts Carney died on Sunday, Dec. 19, of pancreatic cancer. She was 78.
During the 1950s and '60s, Pitts blended her church background and classical training to a classic blues-based organ sound, often alongside her husband, percussionist William Theodore Carney. She also delved into the burgeoning free-jazz movement and performed with John Coltrane and Rahsaan Roland Kirk. Her 1967 album Introducing The Fabulous Trudy Pitts (Prestige) also featured guitarist Pat Martino.
“She was a major, major artist ...
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Captain Beefheart: R.I.P.
Source:
JamBase
A TRUE ORIGINAL SHUFFLES OFF Don Van Vliet, better known to the world as Captain Beefheart, passed away last Friday, December 17, after a long battle with multiple sclerosis. He was 69 years old. An inspired madman, a true blues soul, a painter of some renown, a lyricist and singer like no other, the Captain was a true original in every sense. From collaborating with kindred spirits like Frank Zappa and Ry Cooder to launching the careers of countless musicians, ...
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