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Graciela Perez Grillo Afro-Cuban Musician Dies
Source:
Michael Ricci
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
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
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
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
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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Graciela, the First Lady of Afro-Cuban Jazz, Passes at 94
Source:
Kim Smith Public Relations
Graciela, the legendary First Lady of Afro-Cuban Jazz, has passed at the age of 94 at New York Cornell-Presbyterian Hospital in New York City at 7:58 am, Wednesday, April 07, 2010. A pioneer in music, as a black Cuban woman, in a so-called mans world she opened doors for all those who followed her. She performed around the world, recording and sharing the stage with her foster brother Machito (Frank Grillo) and brother-in-law, Mario Bauza (originator of the genre Afro-Cuban ...
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Eddie Johnson Chicago South-Side Jazz Saxman Dies
Source:
JAZZzology by Richard Watters
Eddie Johnson (Edwin “Eddie" Johnson) a Chicago South-side jazz legend passed away this morning April 7th, 2010...born December 11, 1920 in Napoleonville, Louisiana, was a jazz and blues tenor saxophonist. Images of Eddie: on left the 1950s and on right the 1970s. In 1946, Johnson joined trumpeter Cootie Williams and His Orchestra, appearing on several Capitol and Majestic recordings until leaving to join Louis Jordan and His Tympany Five. He also played with Ella Fitzgerald. In 1981 and 1999 he ...
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Mike Zwerin, Jazz Critic and Author, is Dead at 79
Source:
Michael Ricci
Mike Zwerin, a jazz trombonist who became a prominent jazz critic and author, died Friday in Paris after a long illness. He was 79. When he was 18, nervously sitting in with Art Blakeys group at Mintons Playhouse, in Harlem, Mr. Zwerin was noticed by the trumpeter Miles Davis, who complimented the young player and used him briefly in his nonet at the Royal Roost, a New York club. Mr. Zwerin later played with the big bands of Maynard Ferguson ...
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