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Von Freeman, 1922-2012

August 15, 2012

Von Freeman had everything it took to be a world-famous tenor saxophonist. He chose, instead, to remain in his native Chicago for his entire career. Appearances at a few jazz festivals in the US and abroad were the main exceptions. Freeman’s death on August 11 was announced today. He would have been 89 on October 3. ...

News: Obituary

NEA Statement on the Death of NEA Jazz Master Von Freeman

August 15, 2012

NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman's Statement on the Death of NEA Jazz Master Von Freeman “On behalf of the National Endowment for the Arts, it is with great sadness that I acknowledge the passing of 2012 NEA Jazz Master Von Freeman. An extraordinary saxophonist with a sound all his own, Von Freeman's contributions to jazz – and ...

News: Obituary

New Orleans Iconic Musician Uncle Lionel Batiste Dies

July 9, 2012

Treme Brass Band bass drum player “Uncle" Lionel Batiste passed away on Sunday at the age of 80 after a short illness. In a city filled with characters, Uncle Lionel may be the most recognizable. He began to play the bass drum at the age of ten and was a French Quarter tap dancer as a ...

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Pete Cosey, 1943-2012

June 7, 2012

Innovative guitarist 'knew what to do with just one note' Jazz guitarist Pete Cosey used electronic distortion and innovative methods of stringing and tuning his guitar to impress his signature sound on recordings by artists from bluesmen Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf to jazz great Miles Davis. “Pete's sound was something quite amazing," said Wendy Oxenhorn, ...

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Disco Queen Donna Summer dies at 63

May 18, 2012

Like the King of Pop or the Queen of Soul, Donna Summer was bestowed a title fitting of musical royalty — the Queen of Disco. Yet unlike Michael Jackson or Aretha Franklin, it was a designation she wasn't comfortable embracing. “I grew up on rock 'n' roll," Summer once said when explaining her reluctance to claim ...

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Legendary Bassist Donald "Duck" Dunn Passes Away At Age 70

May 13, 2012

Donald “Duck” Dunn, who played on hundreds of rock and soul classics as the bassist for Booker T. and the MGs, and later as a session player, passed away Sunday morning at the age of 70. Steve Cropper, the MGs guitarist, broke the news on his Facebook page at approximately 12:30AM Eastern time. “Today I lost ...

News: Obituary

Levon Helm: 1940-2012

April 20, 2012

By C. Michael Bailey The aim of every artist is to arrest motion, which is life, by artificial means and hold it fixed so that a hundred years later, when a stranger looks at it, it moves again since it is life. —William Faulkner It might be a hard sell to claim that Levon Helm was ...

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Teddy Charles: (1928-2012)

April 19, 2012

Teddy Charles, a hard-swinging four-mallet vibraphonist, composer, pianist and player-producer who in the late 1940s and early '50s transformed the steel-plated instrument into a cooler, jazz-classical protagonist, died on April 16, He was 84. Trained at the Juilliard School of Music, Teddy was able to reach effortlessly into modern classical music theory and deploy modal ...

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Hal McKusick: 1924-2012

April 14, 2012

Hal McKusick, an East Coast jazz saxophonist, composer and arranger whose seductively smooth sound, tireless work ethic and flawless technique were admired by Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Clark Terry, Art Farmer, Johnny Mandel and every other musician he worked with since the early 1940s, died on April 10 of complications from a fractured hip. He was ...

News: Obituary

Jazz Pianist Carol Whitney Britto Dead At 76

April 5, 2012

By Chantaie Allick Jazz pianist Carol Whitney Britto has died. She was 76. Britto died March 16 in New York City. She had her first gig at age 16 in Cleveland, Ohio, and began to make a name for herself in Toronto and New York. She studied with legendary pianist, Oscar Peterson and her style of ...