Obituary News

Steve Reid: 1944-2010

Source: Something Else!
April 14, 2010

On Monday night, drumming great Steve Reid died at the age of sixty-six after a battle with cancer. He leaves behind a legacy that's explicitly known by few but surely felt by many. A couple of years ago we profiled what is sadly now his last record released in his lifetime, the superb Daxaar, the result of an inspired collaboration with Kieren Hebden (Four Tet). Below is a reprint of that original review, which also sheds light on his amazing ...

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RIP Steve Reid

Source: Giant Step
April 14, 2010

“Devastated by the news that my friend drummer Steve Reid passed away last night in New York--a true inspiration who will be greatly missed." --Gilles Peterson 4/13/2010

We were lucky enough to have Steve Reid, the legendary drummer at a classic Giant Step 2005 event in NYC: Gilles Peterson Presents 'The BBC Sessions Live'. The night featured Steve Reid and Kieran Hebden (aka Four Tet) with artists like Larry Mizell, Dwele, Bilal, Jazmine Sullivan, Amp Fiddler, Robert Glasper and Heavy. ...

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R.I.P.: Jazz Drummer Steve Reid Dies at 66

Source: Michael Ricci
April 13, 2010

Domino Records announced today that percussionist Steve Reid, who performed with artists as varied as Martha Reeves, Miles Davis and Four Tet's Kieran Hebden, died in his sleep Monday after a fight with cancer. Perhaps most heard on Martha & the Vandellas' “Dancing in the Street," he also had a brief stint backing James Brown (that's him on the funk standard “Popcorn"). Reid also performed with Fela Kuti in Africa before his career was briefly derailed by serving time for ...

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Graciela Perez Grillo Afro-Cuban Musician Dies

Source: Michael Ricci
April 12, 2010

Graciela Perez Grillo, an Afro-Cuban music pioneer who was known as the First Lady of Latin Jazz, has died. She was 94. Graciela, as she was known professionally, died April 6 of natural causes at the Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York, where she had been hospitalized for some time, according to her representative, Richie Viera. “She was almost the last of those great musicians who came here from Cuba in the 1940s and early 1950s," WSKQ-FM (97.9) radio ...

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Hollywood Mourns Passing of the Oldest Munchkin from "The Wizard of Oz"

Source: Michael Ricci
April 11, 2010

Hollywood said goodbye on Saturday to Meinhardt Raabe, one of the original Munchkins in the “Wizard of Oz." Flowers were placed on the Hollywood Walk of Fame star for the Munchkins, according to the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce. Raabe, 94, was considered the oldest living Munchkin and died Friday in Florida. Raabe was on hand with other cast members in 2007 when the Munchkin star was finally dedicated on the Walk of Fame. Many considered the honor long overdue. In ...

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'Designing Women' Actress Dixie Carter Dies at 70

Source: All About Jazz
April 11, 2010

Dixie Carter, best known for her role on “Designing Women" died Saturday at 70. Publicist Steve Rohr, who represented Carter as well as her husband actor Hal Halbrook, would not disclose where she died or the cause of death. “This has been a terrible blow to our family," Holbrook said in a written statement. “We would appreciate everyone understanding that this is a private family tragedy." She had been married to Holbrook since 1984. Carter made her professional stage debut ...

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Raabe, Munchkin Coroner in 'Wizard of Oz,' Dies

Source: All About Jazz
April 10, 2010

Meinhardt Raabe, who played the Munchkin coroner in “The Wizard of Oz" and proclaimed in the movie that the Wicked Witch of the East was “really most sincerely dead," has died. He was 94. His caregiver, Cindy Bosnyak, said Raabe died Friday morning at a hospital in Orange Park, Fla. He was one of the few surviving Munchkins from the 1939 film. Bosnyak said he complained of a sore throat at his retirement community before collapsing and going into cardiac ...

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Eddie Carroll, Voice of Jiminy Cricket and Jack Benny Impersonator Dies

Source: Michael Ricci
April 10, 2010

Eddie Carroll, an actor who for decades gave voice to Jiminy Cricket in Disney projects and impersonated Jack Benny in a noted one-man stage show, has died. He was 76. Carroll died Tuesday from a brain tumor at the Motion Picture & Television Hospital in Woodland Hills, said his wife, Carolyn. “He was so proud to do both roles," his wife said. “He just admired the whole fantasy of Jiminy Cricket, and he loved the man . . . who ...

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