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Frank Wess, 91, Saxophonist and Flutist With the Basie Band, Dies
Frank Wess, who helped popularize the flute as a jazz instrument in the 1950s and ’60s with the Count Basie Orchestra, where he was also a standout saxophone soloist, died on Wednesday in Manhattan. He was 91. The cause was a heart attack related to kidney failure, said his longtime companion, Sara Tsutsumi. Mr. Wess was ...
Frank Wess dies at 91; key player in major jazz ensembles
Though the saxophonist never became as famous as other musicians of his time, he was a force in making the flute a jazz instrument. Long before jazz pianist Billy Taylor became world-famous, he planned in high school to switch to saxophone. But then he heard the new kid in school—Frank Wess—play the horn. “He's the reason ...
Frank Wess, January 4, 1922 - October 30, 2013
We have confirmation that Frank Wess died today. The flutist and saxophonist succumbed to kidney failure at 91. Wess played with undiminished spirit and creativity that kept him in the forefront of jazz soloists for decades after most of his contemporaries had retired or died. A professional from the age of 19, following service in World ...
Lou Reed (1942-2013)
Lou Reed, whose brutish pop-minimalist songs and flat vocals reflected his painful search for identity and helped influence art-rock, glam, punk, metal, New Wave and grunge, died unexpectedly yesterday (Oct. 27). He had undergone a liver transplant in June. He was 71. The news came as a particular shock to me, as I was preparing to ...
Dick Lapalm: 1927-2013
Dick LaPalm, one of the music industry's most committed and knowledgeable record promoters who ensured that singles and albums by jazz and pop artists such as Nat King Cole, Ahmad Jamal, Woody Herman, Sarah Vaughan, the Modern Jazz Quartet, Sonny Rollins and many others were played on the air, died October 7. He was 86. [Photo ...
Oscar Castro-Neves, 73
News comes of the death of Oscar Castro-Neves, one of the leading guitarists to emerge from Brazil’s bossa nova movement. As samba music moved north in the 1960s and became a powerful element in US popular music and jazz, Castro-Neves was an important player, coach, producer and catalyst. After hearing him at Seattle’s Jazz Alley with ...
Oscar Castro-Neves dies at 73; bossa nova guitarist
Oscar Castro-Neves, a Brazil-born guitarist who helped create the sensuous rhythms of bossa nova and orchestrated music for movies including “L.A. Story” and “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels,” died Sept. 27 in Los Angeles. He was 73. The cause was cancer, his wife, Lorraine Castro-Neves, said. Mr. Castro-Neves, who was noted for both his virtuosity and impish sense ...
Oscar Castro-Neves dies at 73; bossa nova guitarist and orchestrator
Famous from age 16, Oscar Castro-Neves toured with Dizzy Gillespie and Stan Getz and orchestrated music for films and TV. Oscar Castro-Neves, a Brazil-born guitarist who helped to create the cool, sensuous rhythms of bossa nova and orchestrated music for movies including “L.A. Story" and “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels," has died. He was 73. Castro-Neves had cancer ...
Guitarist Jimmy Ponder (1946-2013)
By Colter Harper I first met Jimmy when he was teaching at a jazz camp for high school students in Pittsburgh. I was 15, recently turned on to Wes Montgomery, and trying to make sense of the music. Ponder was the first guitarist I had heard in person who embodied the music. He poured himself through ...
Jimmy Ponder: 1946-2013
Soul-Jazz guitarist Jimmy Ponder was well known to serious jazz lovers for his recordings as a leader and appearances as a sideman on 80 albums. His unique bluesy sound, which incorporated Wes Montgomery's approach of playing octaves with the thumb, has influenced other guitarists. Ponder's playing was described as aggressive rhythm-and-blues figurations with swift and lucid ...
