Obituary News

Muppet Show's Jack Parnell die

Source: Michael Ricci
August 9, 2010

British bandleader, drummer and composer Jack Parnell, who led The Muppet Show's music for its five-year run, died on Sunday at age 87 after a year-long battle with cancer. London-born Parnell's musical career stretched almost seven decades. The son of a showbiz family—his father was a music hall performer and his uncle ran a chain of theatres—he studied piano as a child, but found his niche on the drums, making his professional debut as a teenager in the English seaside ...

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Martin Drew (1944-2010)

Source: Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
August 1, 2010

Martin Drew died in London on Thursday of a heart attack. Drew was the house drummer at Ronnie Scott's club for 20 years beginning in 1975. He gained his greatest fame during the same period and into the new century playing around the world in Oscar Peterson's trios and quartets. Recently he led his quintet The New Couriers, formed in tribute to the late saxophonist Tubby Hayes, with whom he played in the '60s and early '70s.

A master of ...

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Martin Drew and Chris Dagley died this week in London

Source: Stephen Keogh
August 1, 2010

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Willem Breuker, Dutch Composer and Bandleader, Dies at 65

Source: AAJ Staff
July 29, 2010

Willem Breuker, a Dutch composer, multireedist and bandleader whose jump-cut style and theatrical panache made him a contrarian hero of European jazz, died on July 23 in Amsterdam. He was 65. His death was announced on the Web site of his band, the Willem Breuker Kollektief. No cause was given. During more than 35 years at the helm of the Kollektief, a well-traveled ensemble of 10 or 11 pieces, Mr. Breuker pursued an almost textbook postmodern agenda. His compositions drew ...

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Remembering Daniel Schorr

Source: Groove Notes
July 29, 2010

One of my job responsibilities is to host the local end of NPR's Weekend Edition Saturday for 88.5 KPLU. One of the benefits of doing that for the last several years has been the opportunity to hear Dan Schorr speak to Scott Simon every Saturday. Schorr, who covered the news for more than 60 years, from the Cold War to the important issues of today, offered some of the most knowledgeable, well-researched commentary, combined with an incredible memory of past ...

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Remembering Karl Watt

Source: Jazz Lives by Michael Steinman
July 28, 2010

One of the many delights of having a blog is meeting people--not always in person--who enrich your life with their presence, their music, their stories. One such person is banjo player Candace Brown, who's a member of Chris Tyle's Silver Leaf Jazz Band. I had posted a clip of that band in full flower, playing the hot jazz we live for.

Candace told me a little bit about the jazz drummer Karl Watt--much beloved and a swinging presence--who is no ...

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Award-Winning Blues Guitarist and Vocalist Phillip Walker, 1937 - 2010

Source: AAJ Staff
July 26, 2010

Celebrated blues guitarist and vocalist Phillip Walker passed away as the result of heart failure in Palm Springs, CA (near his hometown of Los Angeles) on July 22, 2010. He was 73. Over the course of his 50-plus year career, Walker recorded many solo albums, toured with zydeco master Clifton Chenier and played behind countless blues stars, including Etta James, Jimmy Reed and Lowell Fulson. He won a 1999 Blues Music Award for his collaboration with Lonnie Brooks and Long ...

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Phillip Walker R.I.P.

Source: JamBase
July 24, 2010

PHILLIP WALKER 1937-2010

From Delta Groove Music:

“It is with deepest sorrow that we report on the sudden and unexpected passing of legendary blues guitarist Phillip Walker. He died of apparent heart failure at 4:30 AM, early Thursday morning, July 22, 2010. He was 73 years old.

Born February 11, 1937 near Lake Charles, Louisiana, in the small town of Welsh, Phillip Walker's earliest musical influences came via the Cajun and Creole rhythms he heard as a youngster. A second ...

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