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Sheila Jordan (1928-2025)
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Sheila Jordan, a jazz and scat vocalist whose passion for bebop and the friendship of Charlie Parker lasted for much of her professional life, transforming her into a heroic figure and mentor to a generation of younger singers, died on Aug. 11. She was 96. [Photo above of Sheila Jordan at a 52nd St. club in 1953, courtesy of Sheila Jordan] Back in 2012, I interviewed Sheila in three parts. In tribute to her and her legacy, here are all ...
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Eddie Palmieri (1936-2025)
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Eddie Palmieri, a pianist, composer and leader who pioneered a smoldering Latin-jazz sound fronted by trombones and incorporated the jazz jam session into his approach, helping him widen his music and win eight Grammy Awards, died on August 6. He was 88. Eddie was the younger brother of Charlie Palmieri, a Latin pianist with enormous rhythmic power. Eddie bypassed the boogaloo in the 1960s, preferring instead to lay the instrumental groundwork for what would become salsa in the early 1970s. ...
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Cleo Laine (1927-2025)
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Cleo Laine, Britain's finest and most-celebrated jazz-pop singer who, with tenor saxophonist Johnny Dankworth, began recording together in 1951 but became much better known in the U.K. than in the U.S., died on July 24. She was 97. Dankworth and Laine married in 1958, and over the course of her career, she was showered with British awards and royal titles. In the U.S., she won a Grammy in 1986 for her Cleo at Carnegie album and was awarded the Grammy ...
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Chuck Mangione (1940-2025)
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Chuck Mangione, a trumpeter, flugelhornist and keyboardist who, along with George Benson, and a few other jazz musicians, successfully crossed over to pop in the late 1970s and pioneered what became known as smooth jazz, died on July 22, He was 84. Mangione, along with his brother, Gap, was born in Rochester, N.Y., a region with a significant Italian population that produced a sizable number of jazz greats. The Mangiones began their recording careers in a group they formed in ...
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Vinnie Riccitelli (1926-2025)
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Vinnie Riccitelli, a jazz composer-arranger, pianist and alto saxophonist who recorded one superb album as a playing leader in 1956 and then became a leading fixture in Broadway pit bands and jazz combos that played gigs and events in New York's tri-state area, died on July 9. He was 99. Riccitelli's desire to stay local in his native Yonkers in suburban Westchester County rather than tour as a leader was motivated by his close family ties, especially to his wife, ...
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Lalo Schifrin (1932-2025)
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Lalo Schifrin, an Argentine-American pianist and composer-arranger who began as a jazz musician and wound up in Hollywood creating suspenseful soundtracks for popular American films and TV shows, died on June 26. He was 93. Lalo not only had enormous admiration for jazz musicians but also worked with Dizzy Gillespie and virtually every major jazz star. His suite that has long been considered his jazz masterpiece, Gillespiana (1960), was written for Gillespie's big band. Thirteen years ago, on October 29, ...
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Roger Nichols (1940-2025)
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Roger Nichols, a sunshine-pop songwriter whose late 1960s and 1970s melodies were among the richest and catchiest of the genre, particularly when teamed with lyricist Paul Williams and groups such as the Carpenters and Three Dog Night, died May 17. He was 84. Nichols also wrote with lyricists Tony Asher and Bill Lane, and was noted for his debut album Roger Nichols and the Small Circle of Friends (A&M Records, 1968), which was produced by Tommy LiPuma. The best way ...
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Chris Youlden, Epochal Singer And Key Songwriter For Savoy Brown Dies At 82
Source:
The Last Music Company
Chris Youlden has died of bronchial pneumonia at the age of 82, on April 4th, 2025. Youlden is best known for his stint as the distinctive blues/rock singer and songwriter for Savoy Brown, over a quartet of albums considered to be their best, which drove them to the high watermark of their success between 1967 and 1970. He appeared on two albums in 1968, Getting to the Point, and Blue Matter. A Step Further was released the following year. The ...
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