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Paul Smith (1922-2013)
In the late 1940s and 1950s, few pianists moved as effortlessly and deftly between jazz and pop as pianist Paul Smith—who died June 29 at age 91. Instrumental pop, as a genre, came into its own after 1948, with the advent of the 10-inch LP. Pop back then still had plenty of swing but was really ...
Bengt Hallberg RIP
Bengt Hallberg, honored as one of the finest pianists in modern jazz, died today in Uppsala, Sweden, of congestive heart failure. He was 80 years old. Hallberg’s keyboard touch and harmonic inventiveness came to the attention of musicians and listeners outside his native Sweden on Stan Getz’s 1951 recording of the traditional song “Ack Värmeland du ...
Paul Smith, 1922-3013
Another pianist, primarily noted for his impeccable accompaniment of singers but who was also a soloist of wide ranging abilities, died today. Paul Smith was 91. He was probably best known for his work with Ella Fitzgerald. He also played for Mel Tormé, Sarah Vaughan and Doris Day, among others. Early in his career, he worked ...
Jazz Face: Jeanne Arland Peterson, 1921-2013
If Minnesotans only know one area jazz musician by name, it's most like Jeanne Arland Peterson. Maybe they remember her as the organist for the Minnesota Twins 40 years ago. Or remember her voice and piano skills over two decades on WCCO radio. More recently, she was often heard with three (and later four) generations of ...
Jeanne Arland Peterson, matriarch of Minnesota jazz, dies at 91
Her two daughters escorted the frail woman to the piano at Hopkins Center for the Arts. After she sat down and put her fingers on the keys, Jeanne Arland Peterson couldn’t have seemed more at home. Her timing was impeccable, her melodies ornate and her sense of rhythm swinging. For her swan-song performance on a cold ...
Sam Most, Johnny Smith...Gone
Risking the appearance of Rifftides becoming an obituary service, I must note the deaths in the past week of two supreme artists of the bebop era, flutist Sam Most and guitarist Johnny Smith. Each of them blazed trails on his instrument and was a major influence on generations of players who followed him. Sam Most From ...
Johnny Smith, Venerable Jazz Guitarist, Dies at 90
Johnny Smith, a jazz guitarist who was considered one of the emerging greats of his generation when he left the limelight in 1958 to move to Colorado, open a record store and become a full-time parent, died on June 11 at his home in Colorado Springs. He was 90. Mr. Smith was revered by guitarists for ...
Jean Bach, 1918-2013
The death this week in New York of Jean Bach at 94 spurred memories of her role in the jazz community going back to the early 1940s. Ms. Bach was not a musician but an advocate whose enthusiasm for and understanding of the art endeared her to several generations of musicians. Her knowledge of the music ...
Jazz Face: Mulgrew Miller, 1955-2013
I first encountered pianist Mulgrew Miller at a performance of the Contemporary Piano Ensemble at O'Shaughnessy Auditorium in St. Paul, probably around 1993 given the ensemble's touring history and my limited memory. The ensemble was a unique collaboration of five jazz pianists ranging from a 20-something-year-old Geoffrey Keezer to veteran Harold Mabern, with Miller, James Williams ...
Jean Bach, Jazz Documentarian and Fan, Dies at 94
Jean Bach, a lifelong jazz zealot whose fascination with a photograph of the titans of jazz gathered in front of a Harlem brownstone in 1958 led her to make a prizewinning movie about that moment, “A Great Day in Harlem,” 36 years later, died on Monday at her home in Manhattan. She was 94. The photographer ...
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