Remembrance 2025, part II: Gordon Goodwin, Al Foster, Jack DeJohnette, Hal Galper & Ray Drummond

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This is the second installment of a tribute to jazz masters who left us in 2025.

The composer, arranger, pianist and bandleader Gordon Goodwin lost his battle with pancreatic cancer in December of 2025, just shy of his 71st birthday. Goodwin's Big Phat Band, an 18-member ensemble consisting of some of L.A.'s finest jazz musicians, gained remarkable popularity for its combination of classic swing and contemporary jazz.

The drummer Al Foster died in May 2025 at 82. Miles Davis said "He knocked me out because he had such a groove and he would just lay it right in there."

The bassist, composer and educator Ray Drummond, who was nicknamed the Bulldog, died in November 2025 at 78. Drummond can be heard on hundreds of albums as both a leader and a sideman for numerous artists. "Ray was incredibly brilliant, articulate, congenial, and one of the most melodic and inventive bassists we've ever had in this music."

Jack DeJohnette died in October 2025 at 83. DeJohnette was a drummer whose command and versatility made him one of the standout jazz instrumentalists of the past five decades.

Pianist Hal Galper died in July 2025 at 87. Galper played on great records with Sam Rivers and Cannonball Adderley before holding it down with Phil Woods. He eventually acquired a reputation as a revered teacher, even a guru.

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