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November 1 .
1942: Hugo Distler (34) German composer, born in Nuremberg, he is known mostly for his sacred choral music. He attended Leipzig Conservatory for composition and organ. He became organist at St. Jacobi in Lübeck in 1931. He also taught at the School for Church Music in Spandau, and became a professor of church music in Berlin in 1940. (Hugo became increasingly depressed from the death of friends, aerial attacks, job pressures, and the constant threat of conscription into the German army, he committed suicide) b. June 24th 1908.
1952: Dixie Lee/Wilma Winifred Wyatt (40) American actress, dancer, and singer born in Harriman, Tennessee; she married Bing Crosby at the age of 18, and had four sons with him, two of whom, eventually committed suicide. (sadly died from ovarian cancer) b. November 4th 1911.
1986: Serge Garant, OC (57) Canadian composer, conductor, professor of music at the University of Montreal and radio host of Musique de notre siècle on Radio-Canada. In 1966 he cofounded with Jean Papineau-Couture, Maryvonne Kendergi, Wilfrid Pelletier and Hugh Davidson the Société de musique contemporaine du Québec. In 1979, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.The Prix Serge-Garant was created in his honor by the Fondation Émile Nelligan (?) b. September 22nd 1929.
2003: Anton Maiden/Anton Gustafsson (23) Swedish singer and music fan born in Kinna, Västergötland, he achieved Internet fame around 1999 by singing over MIDI and MOD-versions of Iron Maiden songs. He started by publishing some songs on the Internet for a small group of friends. After being encouraged by them, he made some songs available to the public in his album Anton Gustafsson tolkar Iron Maiden, which was distributed under Lunacy and Nihilism record labels. In an interview with the Swedish newspaper Expressen, he told journalist Martin Carlsson that Iron Maiden fans "think that my interpretations are a disgrace to Iron Maiden. But that was never my intent." (Apparently led by feelings of depression Anton committed suicide) b. February 24th 1980.
2004: Terry Knight/Richard Terrance Knapp (61) American rock n roll music producer, singer-songwriter, radio personality, promoter and founded and frontman of The Pack. He enjoyed some success in radio, modest success as a singer, but phenomenal success as the original manager-producer for Grand Funk Railroad and the producer for Bloodrock. Between 1970-72, he was a successful and controversial promoter in the rock business, racking up an eight gold albums. He retired from show business in 1973, and evenually, after sorting his drug prblem out he settled in Yuma AZ with his wife and daughter Danielle. He jelled into the community working in advertising sales for a weekly newspaper. (died from multiple stab wounds in a fight with his daughter's boyfriend, Donald A. Fair, against whom Terry was trying to protect his daughter, in their apartment in Temple, Texas) b. April 9th 1943.
2004: Mac Dre/Andre Hicks (34) American gangsta rap artist,was one of the originators of hyphy and is generally considered the creator of Thizz music. He worked with well-known artists such as Snoop Dogg, Pisi-P,Warren G, Richie Rich, Keak da Sneak, E-40, Daz Dillinger, Baby Bash, B-Legit, San Quinn, Yukmouth, PSD, Andre Nickatina, Mac Mall, Ray Luv and Too Short. (shot to death while returning to his hotel after a performance in Kansas City, Missouri) b. July 5th 1970... read more
2005: Skitch Henderson/Lyle Russell Cedric Henderson (87) American bandleader, pianist, conductor, and composer, born in Halstad, Minnesota. He started his professional career in the 1930s playing piano in the roadhouses of the American Midwest, his major break being as an accompanist on a 1937 MGM promotional tour featuring Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney. After the war, he worked for NBC Radio, where he was the musical director for Frank Sinatra's Lucky Strike Show and The Philco Hour with Bing Crosby and he also played on Bob Hope's Pepsodent Show. He went on to found the New York Pops Orchestra in 1983 and served as the music director and conductor of the orchestra until his death. He conducted numerous symphonic orchestras throughout the world. Skitch also succeeded Toscanini as music director for NBC Television and was the original conductor of the orchestras for The Tonight Show and The Today Show (?) b. January 27th 1918.
2008: Yma Sumac/Zoila Augusta Emperatriz Chávarri del Castillo (86) Peruvian soprano; one of the most famous proponents of exotica music, who became an international success, based on the merits of her extreme vocal range, a span of near five octaves. Born in Ichocán, Cajamarca, Peru, at the age of 13, she was invited to appear on Argentinean radio. Soon South America was quite enchanted with this amazing voice. In 1943, she recorded around 16 songs in Argentina, most have been released on CD in this last decade. A now classic record, 'Voice of the Xtabay' was recorded in 1950 and sold over 100,000 copies without major publicity. After a massively successful concert at the Hollywood Bowl in 1950, Yma would became world famous and traveled the globe and become a vocal phenomenon. In the 50's, she also appeared in at least 4 films, had worldwide fan clubs and was eventually declared "the 8th wonder of the world." She performed globaly throughout her life and on May 6th 2006, Yma flew to Lima, where she was presented the Orden del Sol award by Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo and the Jorge Basadre medal by the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos (cancer) b. September 13th 1922.
2008: Nathaniel Mayer (64) American rhythm & blues singer born in Detroit, Michigan, who started his career in the early 1960s at Fortune Records. He had a raw, highly energetic vocal style and wild stage show. At aged 18 years old he scored a Top 40 hit record in 1962 with "Village of Love," credited to Nathaniel Mayer and The Fabulous Twilights, followed by "Leave Me Alone," and "I Want Love and Affection (Not The House Of Correction)". After a 35 year absence from music, in 2002 Nat began recording and touring again, realeasing albums with Fat Possum, Alive Records and Norton Records. (stroke) b. February 10th 1944.
2008: Jimmy Carl Black/James Inkanish Jr (70) Cheyenne Native American drummer, vocalist and founding member of the Mothers of Invention; he also worked as a guest vocalist with Muffin Men, with Jon Larsen on the surrealistic Strange News From Mars project, featuring several other Zappa alumni, such as Tommy Mars, Bruce Fowler, Arthur Barrow and several of his own bands. His trademark line was "Hi Boys and Girls, I'm Jimmy Carl Black, and I'm the Indian of the group." (lung cancer) b. February 1st 1938... read more
2008: Shakir Stewart (34) American record executive; afer graduating from Morehouse College in Atlanta, he build a small studio with a couple of friends. The group then signed several young producers in the Atlanta area. He went to work at Hitco Music Publishing, where he signed Beyoncé. He was then appointed A&R consultant at LaFace Records signing Ciara to the label. He stayed there until 2004. At the time of his death he was the Senior Vice President of Island Def Jam Music Group and the Executive Vice President of Def Jam (Shakir was found dead in the bathroom of his home in the Atlanta suburb of Marietta with a self-inflicted gunshot wound) b. April 12th 1974.
2011: André Hodeir (90) French author, jazz arranger and composer born in Paris. He studied at the Conservatoire de Paris, and won first prizes in fugue, harmony, and music history. While pursuing these studies, he discovered jazz, and embarked on an exploration of all music forms, jazz as well as classical. In 1954, he was a founder and directed the Jazz Groupe de Paris, made up of nine musicians, including Bobby Jaspar, Pierre Michelot and Nat Peck. He was the author of two books of Essais (1954 and 1956), of numerous film scores, including Le Palais Idéal by Ado Kyrou, the Jazz Cantata for the film Chutes de pierres, danger de mort by Michel Fano, anong others. André also founded his own orchestra during the Sixties. In 1966 he composed the monumental jazz cantata Anna Livia Plurabelle, on James Joyce's text, and in 1972 of Bitter Ending, by The Swingle Singers and a jazz quintet, on the final monologue of Finnegans Wake (?) b. January 22nd 1921.
2011: Christiane Legrand (81) French jazz singer born in Paris; she was the original lead soprano of the Swingle Singers and was the vocalist who dubbed the part of Madame Emery in Les parapluies de Cherbourg, the music for which was composed by her brother Michel Legrand. She also sang the part of Judith in his Les demoiselles de Rochefort. Christiane was also the featured soprano on the track "Fires (Which Burn Brightly)" on the 1973 Procol Harum album Grand Hotel. (?) b. 21 August 21st 1930.
2012: Mitch Lucker (28) American vocalist, born in Riverside, California; he was a founding member and frontman of the deathcore metal band Suicide Silence. The band was formed in 2002, they toured and played many festivals including Mayhem Festival in 2008 and 2011. Mitch and the band released a self-titled EP in 2005. This has been followed by three studio albums, most recently The Black Crown in 2011 (tragically Mitch died from injuries he sustained in a motorcycle, when early on Halloween eve he lost control of his motorcycle and crashed into a light pole in Huntington Beach; sadly he died in hospital the following morning) b. October 20th 1984.

November 2 .
1887: Jenny Lind (67) Swedish singer often known as the Swedish Nightingale; She is known for her performances in soprano roles in Sweden and Europe, as well as for an extraordinarily popular tour of America beginning in 1850, and for her philanthropic work. After years of world tours she retired to England (she died at Wynd's Point, behind the Little Malvern Priory, and is buried in the Great Malvern Cemetery, Worcestershire, UK) b. October 6th 1820.
1960: Dimitris Mitropoulos (64) Greek conductor and composer, born in Athens, he studied music at the Athens, Brussels and Berlin. From 1921 to 1925 he assisted Erich Kleiber at the Berlin State Opera and then took a number of posts in Greece. He went on to work with many top orchestras, he conducted opera extensively in Italy and from 1954 until his death was the principal conductor of the Metropolitan Opera in New York. He had made his U.S. debut in 1936 with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, he later settled in the country, becoming a naturalized citizen in 1946. He was noted for having a photographic memory, which enabled him to conduct without a score, even during rehearsals. (died of heart failure while in Milan, Italy) b. March 1st 1896.
1966: Mississippi John Smith Hurt (74) American blues singer and guitarist; his first releases had coincided with the Great Depression, his later career could hardly have been better timed. A stellar performance at the 1963 Newport Folk Festival saw his stardom rise amongst the new "folk revival" audience. He played extensively in colleges, concert halls, coffee houses and the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, as well as recording three further albums. His influence spans music genres bluegrass, blues, country, folk and contemporary rock and roll (?) b. March 8th 1892. (date on his grave stone)
1996: Eva Cassidy (33) American vocalist born in Washington, DC, known for her interpretations of jazz, blues, folk, gospel, country and pop classics. She released her first album "The Other Side", a set of duets with Chuck Brown in 1992 followed by a live solo album "Live at Blues Alley" in 1996. Sadly she was virtually unknown outside of her native Washington DC at the time of her death. Four years later, Eva's music was brought to the attention of British audiences when her version of "Over the Rainbow" was played by Terry Wogan on BBC Radio 2. Following the overwhelming response, a camcorder recording of "Over the Rainbow", taken at the Blues Alley, was shown on BBC Two's Top of the Pops 2. Shortly afterwards, the compilation album Songbird climbed to the top of the UK Albums Charts, almost three years after its initial release. The chart success in the United Kingdom and Ireland led to increased recognition all over theworld (melanoma) b. February 2nd 1963.
2007: Witold "Vitek" Kieltyka (23) Polish drummer and percussionist for the technical death metal band Decapitated. He had been with the band ever since it was founded in 1996, when he was only 12 years of age. He also did work for the heavy metal bands Dies Irae and Panzer X. (Decapitated's tour bus collided with a truck, he died from serious head injuries) b. January 24th 1984
2009: Beverley O'Sullivan (28) Irish singer born in the Donaghmede, Dublin. As a child she had glue ear and had to wear a hearing aid. She lost a further 10% of her hearing later as a result of a plane journey. Beverley was a member of the pop group Fifth Avenue and toured with Westlife for three consecutive years before they split. She also played a cabaret singer in the 2009 film "Happy Ever Afters", her voice is heard on six songs on the film's soundtrack. Her vocals also appeared on the tracks "Through the Light" and "Don't Look Back" on John O'Callaghan's 2009 album Never Fade Away (tragically died in car crash while holidaying in India) b. January 16th 1981.
2010: Eddie Hazell (76) American jazz singer-guitarist, who recorded his first album in 1961 at age 27. He was familiar to jazz aficionados from his numerous albums and TV appearances including the “Merv Griffin Show”, “AM New York”, the “Today Show”, “Kraft Music Hall” with Ed McMahon and “Broadway Tonight”. He performed for five decades in clubs and concerts in the U.S. and Canada, and he was particularly well known in the New York area, playing in clubs ranging from Michael’s Pub and Stryker’s in New York to the Newport Jazz Festival. His work was also popular in Japan. He also did TV commercial work as a singer and performer for various products including Chase & Sanborn coffee (died from Parkinson’s Disease) b. February 6th 1934.
2010: Jim Clench (61) Canadian bassist; he joined the rock band April Wine in 1972, he also took part in some lead vocals on songs such as "Oowatanite" and "Weeping Widow". His last album with the band was Stand Back, released just before he left in 1975. In 1978, Jim was asked to join Bachman Turner Overdrive as bassist, he stayed with BTO until its demise in the late 1970s, appearing on the albums Street Action and Rock n' Roll Nights. In 1992, April Wine was reformed and Jim recorded four more studio albums since the band Attitude, Frigate, Back to the Mansion, and Roughly Speaking in 2006. (sadly died after battling lung cancer) b. May 1st 2006.
2010: Rudolf Barshai (86) Russian conductor and viola player born in Stanitsa Lobinskaya, and studied at the Moscow Conservatory. He performed as a soloist as well as together with Sviatoslav Richter, David Oistrakh, and as a member of a trio with Mstislav Rostropovich and Leonid Kogan. He won numerous Soviet and international competitions. He was the founding violist of the Borodin Quartet in 1945 and was a member until 1953. In 1955, he formed the Moscow Chamber Orchestra, which he led and conducted until he emigrated to the West in 1977. He was the artistic director of the Israel Chamber Orchestra from 1976 to 1981. From 1981 until 1982 Rudolf was principal conductor of Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. Principal Guest Conductor of Orchestre National de France 1985-1986. He was principal conductor of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra from 1982 to 1986. He achieved fame as a musical interpreter and arranger of Shostakovich's and Prokofiev's music. He is particularly noted for his arrangement of Shostakovich's String Quartet No. 8 for chamber orchestra. In 2000, he produced a completion of Gustav Mahler's Tenth Symphony, which was left unfinished at his death (?) b. September 28th 1924.
2011: Richárd Weninger (77) Hungarian composer and harpist. Beginning of his career was répétiteur, chorus, musical director, between 1963 and 1977 he played as a member of the Szeged Symphony Orchestra and from 1976-2000 he was Division Director to the Franz Liszt Academy of Szeged. In 1979 he founded and has since conducted the Chamber Orchestra of Szeged Weiner. He has premiered many works or is associated with the Hungarian premiere of his name, together with success in Europe has occurred. He was honored in 1989 with the Liszt Prize; in 1992 the Artisjus Prize; in 1994 the Leo Weiner music teaching awards; commemorative medals in 1995 and in 2000 the Higher Education emlékplakettel recognized his work (?) December 21st 1934.
2011: Angelos Skordilis (52) Greek influencial rock guitarist, who got his break in 1986 as a member of the band "Knockout" recording the hit song "Do not cry for me Greece". That same year they released the album "On the way to Ithaca" which contained the hit "Lost One". For the last eight years he has worked with the band Chania, touring and regular visitors on the concert scene (?) b. December 12th 1959.
2011: Sickan Carlsson/Anna-Greta Carlsson Adamson (96) Swedish actress and singer, born in Stockholm. At the age of 10 she was already singing on radio and through the 1930s–50s, Sickan was Sweden's most popular film actress and its highest paid, topping the salary of the most popular male performer. She was also an accomplished singer recording artist performing on stage and in musical revues. In 2005 she was honoured with an Honorary Guldbagge Award at the Guldbagge Awards in Sweden (passed away peacefully) b. August 12th 1915.
2011: Papa Bue/Arne Bue Jensen (81) Danish trombonist and bandleader born in Copenhagen; after WW II, he became a sailor for a few years, visiting ports all around the world, fascinated by jazz he was able to listen and enjoy many lively music venues. In 1956, back in Copenhagen, along with six other jazz musicians, he founded the New Orleans Jazz Band, after a jam session in the establishment 'Cap Horn'. Since he was the eldest he became the bandleader and being a father he was given the nickname "Papa Bue" which stuck. Renamed, they released their first album as the Viking Jazz Band in 1958 and in 1960 their "Schlafe Mein Prinzchen" sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. In 1969, Papa Bue's Viking Jazz Band was the only non-American band to participate in the New Orleans Jazz Festival and Arne was honored with the "Golden Keys to the City. The group remained active into the 1990s, and recorded with musicians such as George Lewis-1959, Champion Jack Dupree-1962, Art Hodes-1970, Wild Bill Davison-1970 & 1974, Wingy Manone, Edmond Hall and Albert Nicholas. They also played with George Lewis, Earl Hines, Stuff Smith, Ben Webster and recorded Bent Fabricius-Bjerre's theme music for the Olsen Gang series, now a legendary sequence for the Danes (?) b. May 8th 1930.

November 3 .
1964: John Henry Barbee/William George Tucker (58) American blues guitarist and singer born in Henning, Tennessee; he toured in the 1930s throughout the American South singing and playing slide guitar. He teamed up with Big Joe Williams, and later on, with Sunnyland Slim in Memphis. He also played with Sonny Boy Williamson I, on and off for several years. John was known for being an amazing storyteller. In the 60s the blues revival was in full swing, Willie Dixon searched out John and in 1964 he joined the American Folk Blues Festival on an European tour with fellow blues players, including Lightnin' Hopkins and Howlin' Wolf (he was involved in an auto accident and suffered a heart attack while in jail waiting for the case to come to court) b. November 14th 1905.
1976: Charles Dean Dixon (61) American conductor, born in New York City, where he later studied conducting with Albert Stoessel at the Juilliard School and Columbia University. When early pursuits of conducting engagements were stifled because of racial bias, he formed his own orchestra and choral society in 1931. In 1941, he guest-conducted the NBC Symphony Orchestra, and the New York Philharmonic during its summer season. He later guest-conducted the Philadelphia Orchestra and Boston Symphony Orchestra. In 1948 he won the Ditson Conductor's Award. He went on to work in many major opera and music houses in Europe and America (?) b. January 10th 1915.
1983: Alfredo Antonini (82) Italian-American symphony conductor and composer born in Milan, who was active on the international concert stage as well as on the CBS radio and television networks from the 1930s through the 1960s. In 1971 he received an Emmy Award for best musical performance on television for his conducting of the premiere of Ezra Laderman's opera And David Wept for CBS television (?) b. May 31st 1901.
1986: Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis (64) American jazz tenor saxophonist, born in New York City; he played with, Andy Kirk, Cootie Williams, Lucky Millinder, Sonny Stitt, Louis Armstrong and Count Basie, as well as leading his own bands and making many recordings as a leader. He played in the swing, bop, hard bop, Latin jazz, and soul jazz genres. Some of his recordings of the 1940s also could be classed as rhythm and blues. Eddie can also be heard playing his saxophone on the 1973 CBS album "Ella Fitzgerald at the Newport Jazz Festival Live at Carnegie Hall" on the song "Young Man with a Horn" (?) b. March 2nd 1922.
1990: Mary Martin (76) US actress, singer; born in Weatherford, Texas, he originated many roles over her career including Nellie Forbush in South Pacific and Maria in The Sound of Music. She also became popular on Broadway and received attention in the national media singing "My Heart Belongs to Daddy". In 1955 and 1956, she received, first, a Tony Award for Peter Pan, and then an Emmy for appearing in the same role on television. She also received Tony Awards for South Pacific, and, in 1959 for The Sound of Music. Mary made an appearance in 1980 in a Royal Variety Performance in London, performing "Honeybun" from South Pacific (colon cancer) b. December 1st 1913.
1991: Chris Bender (19) American R&B singer from the Boston, Massachusetts area. At the age of 16, he recorded his first album, titled Baby Doll, which didn't chart. The album Draped hit No.92 on the Billboard R&B album chart. He charted two singles "I Knew" and "That's Not The Way" on the Hot R&B Singles chart. Other songs he was known for included "Who Will I Choose" and "Kiss and Make Up". (Chris was shot and killed in Brockton, while sitting in his car outside of the Crescent Court housing project where his mother lived) b. August 2nd 1972.
1991: Mort Shuman (55) American singer, pianist and songwriter; on his own or teamed with songwriting partner Doc Pomus, his songs were recorded by artists such as Dion, Andy Williams, Bobby Darin, Fabian, The Drifters, and Elvis Presley, among others, most famous songs include "A Teenager in Love", "Turn Me Loose", "This Magic Moment", "Save The Last Dance For Me", "Little Sister", "Can't Get Used to Losing You", "His Latest Flame" and "Viva Las Vegas" (complications due to a liver operation) b. November 3rd 1991.
2002: Lonnie Donegan (71) Scottish singer, guitar, banjo, songwriter and pioneer, who launched the skiffle craze in the UK, sometimes called the King of Skiffle. Born in in Bridgeton, Glasgow, Scotland he was a huge influence on the generation of British musicians who became famous in the 1960s. The Guinness Book of British Hit Singles & Albums states Lonnie was "Britain's most successful and influential recording artist before The Beatles. He chalked up 24 successive Top 30 hits, and was the first UK male to score two U.S. Top 10s". His many hits include "Rock Island Line", "Gamblin' Man", "Lost John", "Don't You Rock Me Daddy-O", "Cumberland Gap", "My Dixie Darlin'", "Jack O' Diamonds", "The Grand Coulee Dam", "Sally Don't You Grieve", "Tom Dooley", "Does Your Chewing Gum Lose It's Flavour (On The Bedpost Over Night)", "Battle of New Orleans", and My Old Man's A Dustman (sadly lost to heart problems) b. April 29th 1931.
2004: Joe Bushkin (87) World renowned American jazz pianist, composer; he began by playing trumpet and piano with New York City dance bands. He joined Bunny Berigan's band in 1935, then left to join Muggsy Spanier's Ragtime Band in 1939. From the late 1930's through to the late 1940's he worked with Eddie Condon on records, radio and TV. After service in WWII he worked with Louis Armstrong and Benny Goodman. He might be best known for co-writing Oh! Look at Me Now, with John DeVries, when he worked in Tommy Dorsey's band. That song would become Frank Sinatra's first hit. Over the course of his seven-decade career, he aslo accompanied Artie Shaw, Judy Garland and many more. (sadly died of pneumonia) b. November 7th 1916.
2006: Arthur "Art" Wood (69) British blues, pop and rock singer, born in West Drayton, Middlesex, he enrolled at Ealing School of Art in 1950. While in the army he formed a skiffle group after which he returned to London. By 1962, he was one of several singers regularly featured with Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated, which also included Charlie Watts and Cyril Davies. However, as that group firmed up its line-up with Long John Baldry as the main lead singer, Art re-formed his own group, which he called The Artwoods. The group included organist Jon Lord, and drummer Keef Hartley. In 1969 he formed the short-lived group Quiet Melon, with his brother Ronnie Wood, Rod Stewart, Ronnie Lane, Kenny Jones, Ian McLagan and Kim Gardner. Art went on to join his other brother Ted in setting up a graphic design business and continued to perform on a semi-professional basis with the Downliners Sect and reunited versions of the Artwoods, with occasional guest appearances by his brother Ronnie. (sadly Art died while fighting prostate cancer) b. July 7th 1937.
2006: Paul Mauriat (81) French conductor, arranger, orchestra leader born in Marseille, a classically trained musician but decided to specialize in light music. His first major success came in 1962, as a co-writer of the European hit "Chariot". He is best known in the US for his million selling remake of André Popp's "Love is Blue", which was No.1 for 5 weeks in 1968. Other recordings for which he is known include El Bimbo, "Toccata" and "Penelope". He has a large recording catalog, featuring more than 1,000 titles just from his Polygram era, 1965-1993. He sold over 40 million albums worldwide and held 28 tours in Japan from 1969 to 1998, where in the early-mid 1980s, Paul's orchestra featured in several Japanese coffee and wine TV commercials (?) b. March 4th 1925.
2009: Sotiris Sgouros (80) Greek folk musician, clarinetist and singer (?) b.????
2009: Erik Sædén (85) Swedish bass-baritone and hovsångare born in Vänersborg, his career was principally centred on Stockholm, both on the operatic stage as well as the concert platform. He made a few recordings and appeared in the 1975 Bergman film of The magic flute. He first appeared at the Royal Opera in Stockholm in 1952 and was a member of the company until 1981. Among over 100 roles which he sang were the Count (Le Nozze di Figaro), Beckmesser, Wolfram (Tannhäuser), Scarpia, Jochanaan, Golaud, Pimen, Wozzeck, and Nick Shadow in The Rake's Progress. He appeared at the Edinburgh Festival in 1959 and 1974, and at the Covent Garden in 1960 and 1981. He also appeared in Savonlinna, Hamburg, Montreal, Moscow, Munich and Oslo (?) b. September 3rd 1924.
2010: Jerry Bock (81) American musical theatre composer, born in New Haven, Connecticut and raised in Flushing, Queens, New York. He made his Broadway debut in 1955 when he and Larry Holofcener contributed songs to Catch a Star. In 1956 the duo collaborated on the musical Mr. Wonderful, designed for Sammy Davis, Jr., after which they worked on Ziegfeld Follies of 1956, which closed out-of-town. He went on to received the Tony Award for Best Musical and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama with Sheldon Harnick for their 1959 musical Fiorello! and the Tony Award for Best Composer and Lyricist for the '65 musical Fiddler on the Roof with Sheldon Harnick. Other collaborations with Harnick include Tenderloin, Man in the Moon, She Loves Me, The Apple Tree, and The Rothschilds, and contributions to Never Too Late, Baker Street, and The Madwoman of Central Park West (?) b. November 23rd 1928.
2010: Rubén Basoalto (63) Argentine drummer and founder member of the legendary rock band Vox Dei, formed in 1967. Vox Dei is the oldest band in Argentina, and over the last 43 years which Rubén aka "The Octopus", has played in the band he recorded 17 albums, including their 2nd album the legendary "The Bible". They debuted in 1970 with the album ''Hot'' and their last album ''Live Vox Dei'' was released in 2007. Between 1982 - 85, he also formed the band "Break" with Raul Fernandez on guitar and Henry Diaz on bass and vocals, and later played in parallel >>> Read More <<< (sadly died in the Argerich Hospital, where he had been hospitalized for three weeks affected by lung cancer) b. July 9th 1947.
2010: Hotep Idris Galeta/Cecil Barnard Galeta (69) South African jazz pianist and educator; in his teens he played with some of the best jazz musicians in South Africa; Abdullah Ibrahim aka Dollar Brand and Lamie Zukufu introduced him to bebop and hard bop. In 1961 he left Sth Africa clandestinely, following many other Sth African performers to the UK, severe restrictions on public gatherings following the Sharpeville massacre had made entertainment careers impossible for any but white artists, and the already poor quality of life for non-whites was deteriorating rapidly as apartheid became ever stricter. After a year in the UK he moved to America, where he remained till 1991, when he returned to South Africa following the collapse of apartheid. In the US he played and recorded with Herb Alpert, John Handy, Bobby Hutcherson, Elvin Jones, Hugh Masekela, Jackie McLean, Mario Pavone, Joshua Redman, and Archie Shepp. Outside jazz he performed and recorded with David Crosby and the Byrds. He continued to record, perform, and teach in South Africa (died of an asthma attack) b. June 7th 1941.
2011: Ana Štefok (72) Croatian pop singer, born in Zagreb and often called Croatian Edith Piaf. She became well known for her numerous appearances in Opatija , Split , Krapina and Zagreb festivals, also her television and radio appearances (sadly died from a heart attack) b. 1940
2011: Cory Smoot (34) American heavy metal guitarist aka Flattus Maximus from 2002-2011 while he was lead guitarist in the heavy metal band Gwar, the fifth guitarist to play the character of 'Flattus Maximus'. He lent his technical skills to the recording of War Party, and co-produced, as well as co-mixed Gwar's 2006 release, Beyond Hell. The two albums were recorded at Karma Studios, owned and operated by Cory. He has been the longest running Flattus thus and is in the videos for "War Party", "Bring Back The Bomb", "Womb With A View", "School's Out" and "Eighth Lock" and is considered by Gwar fans to be the "True Flattus". Gwar's latest release, Bloody Pit of Horror, features a 12-minute epic of four songs strung together, which was largely the brainchild of Cory. Originally he wrote the music for a solo project of his, but by the suggestion of Dave Brockie, it was reworked to become new Gwar material. Before Gwar, Cory played with such bands as Misguided and Locus Factor and still played with Mensrea and his own solo project called the Cory Smoot Experiment. (tragically Cory was found dead in the band's tour bus as they prepared to cross the border into Manitoba, Canada from North Dakota) b. August 25th 1977.
2012: Carmélia Alves (89) Brazilian singer, who was nominated by Luís Gonzaga the "Queen of Baião," was a hit first in the 1950s with Sabia in the cage. Recognized in Brazil and in Latin America, she has sold thousands of copies, which forced the Continental label from Buenos Aires to open another branch to cope with the huge sales. Carmélia won all major awards, which are now exhibited in a museum, and she was also part of the group "Singing Radio", formed in 1988 , alongside friends Ellen, Violet and Carminha (Carmélia, who was bravely battleing alzheimer's disease and cancer, sadly died of multiple organ seizure) b. February 14th 1923.

November 4 .
1931: Charles "Buddy" Bolden/King Bolden (53) New Orleans jazzman and cornet player; the first New Orleans jazz musician to come to prominence, the first important name in jazz history, Buddy's career has long been buried in legend. Many early jazz musicians credited Buddy and the members of his band with being the originators of what came to be known as "jazz", though the term was not yet in common musical use until after the era of Bolden's prominence. At least one writer has labeled him the father of jazz. He is credited with creating a looser, more improvised version of ragtime and adding blues to it; his band was said to be the first to have brass instruments play the blues. He was also said to have taken ideas from gospel music heard in uptown African American Baptist churches. Instead of imitating other cornetists, he played music he heard "by ear" and adapted it to his horn. In doing so, he created an exciting and novel fusion of rag-time, black sacred music, marching-band music and rural blues. He rearranged the typical New Orleans dance band of the time to better accommodate the blues; string instruments became the rhythm section, and the front-line instruments were clarinets, trombones, and Bolden's cornet. He was known for his powerful, loud, "wide open" playing style. Joe "King" Oliver, Freddie Keppard, Bunk Johnson, and many other early New Orleans jazz musicians were directly inspired by his playing. Also one of the most famous Buddy numbers is a song called "Funky Butt", known later as "Buddy Bolden's Blues", which represents one of the earliest references to the concept of "funk" in popular music (He was diagnosed with schizophrenia-dementia praecox; in those days, he was admitted to a mental institution in 1907, where he remained completely forgotten for the rest of his life. He was buried in an unmarked grave in Holt Cemetery, a pauper's graveyard in New Orleans. In 1998 a monument to Buddy was erected in the Cemetery) b. September 6th 1877.
1969: Ivory "Deek" Watson (60) American tenor singer, guitarist and trumpeter who in 1932 was singing in a group called "The Four Riff Brothers" who appeared regularly on radio station WLW in Cincinnati, Ohio., after which he formed "King, Jack, and Jester", changing the name to "The 4 Ink Spots" then The Ink Spots in 1934. They had their first big hit with "If I Didn't Care", in 1939. Other hits included "Address Unknown", "My Prayer", "When The Swallows Come Back To Capistrano", "Whispering Grass", "Do I Worry", "Java Jive", "Shout, Brother, Shout", "Don't Get Around Much Anymore", "I Can't Stand Losing You", and "Cow-Cow Boogie" among others. The group split in 1944 and Deek went on to form a group called the Brown Dots, which later became the 4 Tunes. He later formed a host of offshoot Ink Spots groups in the 1950s and 1960s until his death. The Ink Spots were the subject of a 1998 book by Marv Goldberg: "More Than Words Can Say: The Ink Spots And Their Music". The group was inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1999 and they were even inducted into the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame, as influences, in 1989; this induction consisted of Deek Watson, Bill Kenny, Charlie Fuqua, and Hoppy Jones. (?) b. July 18th 1909.
1994: Fred "Sonic" Smith (45) US guitar player, who, in 2003, Rolling Stone magazine included in thier list of The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time and the band Sonic Youth took its name from Fred's nickname "Sonic". Born in West Virginia but bought up in Detroit. As a teenger, he lived for music with speed, energy with a rebellious attitude and formed a rock group Smith's Vibratones, before joining up with his old school pal, Wayne Kramer to form MC5, short for Motor City Five. This influencial band released 3 albums before their break up in 1972, Kick Out the Jams in 1969, Back in the USA in 1970, and High Time in 1971. Fred went on to form Sonic's Rendezvous Band, which released one single, "City Slang". He and his wife, singer Patti Smith collaborated on her 1988 album "Dream of Life", and Patti's 1996 album "Gone Again" features a tribute to Fred. (heart failure) b. September 13th 1949.
2004: Robert Heaton (43) English drummer with the Bradford based punk band New Model Army. He wrote many of NMA's best known compositions, which are still played nowadays at their gigs. He left NMA in 1998 due to health reasons (pancreatic cancer) b. July 6th 1961.
2008: Jheryl Busby (59) American record executive; First worked at Stax Records as head of West Coast promotion and marketing. Moved to Motown Records in 1988 as the company's President & CEO. He fostered the growth of younger talent, including Another Bad Creation, Boyz II Men and Johnny Gill. In early 1989, he was able to sign Diana Ross back to Motown and he retained artists such as Lionel Richie, Smokey Robinson and Stevie Wonder. When Polygram Records bought Motown he was retained as president. Jheryl was appointed head of the black music division at DreamWorks Records in 1998 till 2001. He was named president of Def Soul Classics in 2004. He also created Umbrella Recordings with producer Mike City (Found dead in the hot tub of his home in Malibu, cause not yet known) b. 1949
2008: Byron Lee (73) Jamaican musician and record producer; best known for his work as leader of Byron Lee and the Dragonaires, they turned professional in 1956 and went on to become one of Jamaica's leading ska bands, continuing since and taking in other genres such as calypso, Soca, and Mas. He also purchased the West Indies Records Limited (WIRL) recording studios, renaming it Dynamic Sounds it soon became one of the best-equipped studios in the Caribbean, attracting both local and international recording artists, including Paul Simon and The Rolling Stones (bladder cancer) b. June 27 1935.
2010: James Freud/Colin Joseph McGlinchey (51) Australian vocalist and bassist; he grew up in Melbourne and formed his first band, Sabre, at the age of 16, with high school friends, but at 17 he left home pursue his musical dreams. After hearing the Sex Pistols' "God Save the Queen" in 1977, he formed the band The Spred. By early 1979, with ex-members of Colt, he formed James Freud & the Radio Stars their debut single, "Modern Girl," was released in May 1980, which peaked at No.12 on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart. In 1982, he joined the successful alternative rock band Models as bass guitarist and shared lead vocalist duties on some songs, beginning with one of his compositions, "Facing The North Pole in August" from The Pleasure of Your Company, recorded in 1983. In 1985, two James-penned hits, "Barbados" and "Out of Mind, Out of Sight", took Models to No.2 and No.1 on the Australian singles chart, respectively. He remained in the band until they split in 1988. He went on to launch a solo career, played in other bands including Beatfish and Moondog, and wrote his first autobiography in 2002, ''I Am the Voice Left from Drinking'' where he detailed his alcoholism. In 2007-09 James performed with Melbourne tribute band 80s Enuff and in 2008, he released his last solo album ''See you in Hell''. Prior to his death, James was manager for his sons' band, Attack of the Mannequins, on the development of an album entitled Rage of the World. A week before his death, 27 October, James with Models were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame, but due to his alcohol illness he did not attend (James sadly committed suicide) b. 29 June 29th 1959.
2012: Theodore "Ted" Curson (77) American jazz trumpeter, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and perhaps best known for recording and performing with Charles Mingus. He became interested in playing trumpet after watching a newspaper salesman play a silver trumpet and was 10 years old, he received his first trumpet. He attended Granoff School of Music in Philadelphia. At the suggestion of Miles Davis, he moved to New York in 1956. He performed and recorded with Cecil Taylor in the late 1950s and early 1960s. His 1964 Eric Dolphy tribute composition "Tears for Dolphy" has been used in many films. Ted also belonged to the greater New York area’s jazz scene. In 1983 he established a late-night jam session at the Blue Note, which he ran on and off for more than a decade. And for roughly the last 10 years he had been leading a jam session one night a month at Trumpets Jazz Club in Montclair. He was a familiar face in Finland also, having performed annually at the Pori Jazz festival each year since the beginning of the event in 1966 and in 2007, he performed at Finland's Independence Day Ball at the invitation of president Tarja Halonen. (sadly died from heart failure) b. June 3rd 1935.

November 5 .
1942: George M. Cohan (64) American musician, actor, writer, composer; he started his career as a child performing with his parents and sister in vaudeville as "The Four Cohans." He quickly started writing songs and sketches and went on to write some 500 songs in his lifetime. George was one of the founders of ASCAP. His many popular songs include "Over There", "Give My Regards to Broadway," and "The Yankee Doodle Boy." Beginning with Little Johnny Jones in 1904, he wrote and starred in over three dozen Broadway shows, continuing to perform until 1940. He appeared in films, including The Phantom President in 1932. Known in the decade before World War I as "the man who owned Broadway," he is considered the father of American musical comedy. His life and music were depicted in the Academy Award-winning film Yankee Doodle Dandy in 1942 and the 1968 musical George M!. A statue of Cohan is in Times Square in New York City. (abdominal cancer) b. July 3rd 1878.
1954: Oran 'Hot Lips' Page (46) American jazz trumpeter, singer, bandleader born in Dallas, Texas, known as a scorching soloist and powerful vocalist. In his early years, he travelled the southwest backing such blues singers as Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith, and Ida Cox. He moved to Kansas City, Missouri in 1928 and played with leading bands, including the Walter Page's Blue Devils, Bennie Moten, and Count Basie's original Reno Club orchestra. A popular sessionist he was featured in Artie Shaw's Orchestra and played on many recording sessions, including duets with Pearl Bailey on "The Hucklebuck" and "Baby, It's Cold Outside" (?) b. January 27th 1908.
1956: Arthur "Art" Tatum, Jr. (47) American jazz pianist he is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest jazz pianists of all time. Born in Toledo, Ohio he was a child prodigy with perfect pitch, he learned to play by ear, picking out church hymns by the age of three, learning tunes from the radio and copying piano-roll recordings. By 19, Art was playing with vocalist Jon Hendricks at Toledo's Waiters & Bellman's Club, many top artists took notice of the young house pianist, often stunned by his speed and dexterity. In 1932, Tatum traveled to New York with vocalist Adelaide Hall and the following year he released "Tea for Two," which became his signature tune. He went on to play with all the top musicians in all the top places on bothsides of the ocean. Although Art was not considered a bebop jazz musician, he had a legion of bop followers like the alto saxophone icon Charlie Parker and pianist Bud Powell, and he became a mentor for pianists Billy Taylor and Oscar Peterson. By 1952, he began showing evidence of euremia, a toxic blood condition resulting from a severe kidney disease. In in 1953, Art tracked a record 124 solos for noted producer Norman Granz and while the sessions were hasty, they yielded material for 13 albums (kidney failure) b. October 13th 1909.
1960: Johnny Horton (35) American country music singer who was most famous for his semi-folk, so-called "saga songs" which launched the "historical ballad" craze of the late 1950s and early 1960s. With them, he had several major crossover hits, most notably in 1959 with "The Battle of New Orleans" which won the 1960 Grammy Award for Best Country & Western Recording. The song won the Grammy Hall of Fame Award and in 2001 ranked No. 333 of the RIAA's "Songs of the Century". In 1960, Johnny had two other crossover hits with "North to Alaska", featured in the John Wayne's hit film, North to Alaska; and "Sink the Bismarck". He was also a rockabilly singer, with hits such as "Honky Tonk Man" and "I'm a One-Woman Man" and he was inducted into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. (fatal car crash, when a drunk truck driver hit his car near Milano, Texas) b. April 30th 1925.
1964: Buddy Cole/Edwin LeMar Cole (47) American jazz pianist, organist and bandleader; born in Irving, Illinois, he started his musical career in cinemas playing between movies. He moved to Hollywood and played with a couple of bands, most notably the Alvino Ray big band, before becoming a studio musician. He played piano for Bing Crosby for a number of years and also toured with Rosemary Clooney and backed the likes of Jill Corey, and The Four Lads. He also worked extensively with Henry Mancini, who used his distinctive Hammond organ sound for the sound track to the TV series "Mr. Lucky." He also recorded several albums for Warner Brothers records on piano, Hammond organ and theatre pipe organ. Buddy recorded for Capitol Records as both Buddy Cole and as Eddie LaMar and His Orchestra. (heart attacks) b. December 15th 1916
1967: Robert Lee McCoy/Robert Nighthawk/Robert Lee McCollum (57) American guitarist, vocalist and slide guitarist; born in Helena, Arkansas, he left home young working as a street busker. Under his real name Robert Lee McCollum, he settled for a time in Memphis, where he played with local orchestras and musicians, such as the Memphis Jug Band. Ann influence during this period was Houston Stackhouse, from whom he learnt to play slide guitar, and with whom he appeared on the radio in Jackson, Mississippi. Under the name of Robert Lee McCoy he moved to St. Louis, in the mid 1930s. He played the likes of Henry Townsend, Big Joe Williams, and Sonny Boy Williamson. This led to 2 recording dates in 1937, the four musicians recorded together at the Victor Records studio in Aurora, Illinois, as well as solo recordings including "Prowling Night-Hawk" recorded 5 May 1937, from which he would take his later pseudonym. Robert seemed to disappear, then in 1963, as Nighthawk, he was rediscovered busking in Chicago, this led to further recording sessions and club dates, and to his return to Arkansas, where he appeared on the King Biscuit Time radio programme on KFFA. (sadly he had a stroke followed by a heart attack and died of heart failure) b. November 30th 1909.
1970: Albert Ayler (34) American jazz saxophonist, singer and composer, born in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, he was among the most primal of the free jazz musicians of the 1960s. He was first taught alto saxophone by his father. In 1952, at the age of 16, he began playing bar-walking, honking, R&B-style tenor with blues singer and harmonica player Little Walter, spending two summer vacations with Walter's band. He later studied at the Academy of Music in Cleveland with jazz saxophonist Benny Miller. Albert relocated to Sweden in 1962 where his recording career began, leading Swedish and Danish groups on radio sessions, and jamming as an unpaid member of Cecil Taylor's band in the winter of 1962-1963. Back in New York, US, he found respect and he influenced the new generation of jazz players, as well as veterans like John Coltrane who he worked with. In 1964 he toured Europe, with the trio augmented with trumpeter Don Cherry, recorded and released as The Hilversum Session. On his return from Europe, Albert embarked on his first major recording contract, since John Coltrane, recording The Village Concerts, New Grass, and Music is the Healing Force of the Universe (It is said that on November 5th 1970, he took the ferry to the Statue of Liberty and jumped off as the boat neared Liberty Island. He was found dead in New York City's East River on Nov 25, a presumed suicide. Rumors circulated that he had been murdered, due to his involvement in the black power movement. There was no autopsy) b. July 13th 1936.
1977: Gaetano Alberto "Guy" Lombardo (75) Canadian, then American bandleader and violinist born in London, Ontario. Forming "The Royal Canadians" in 1924 with his brothers Carmen, Lebert, and Victor and other musicians from his hometown, he led the group to international success, billing themselves as creating "The Sweetest Music This Side of Heaven''. The Lombardos are believed to have sold between 100 and 300 million phonograph records during their career. In 1938, Guy became a naturalized citizen of the United States. The Royal Canadians were noted for playing the traditional song Auld Lang Syne as part of the celebrations. Their recording of the song still plays as the first song of the new year in Times Square. He was inducted into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame in 2007 (sadly died after suffering a heart attack) b. June 19th 1902.
1986: Bobby Nunn (61) American lead and bass singer born in Birmingham, Alabama; in 1955, he and Carl Gardner split from The Robins to form The Coasters with Leon Hughes and Billy Guy. After leaving The Coasters, he teamed with Leon Hughes to record as The Dukes in 1959, releasing two singles "Looking For You" b/w "Groceries, Sir" and "I Love You" b/w "Leap Year Cha Cha". He went on to work with both Dorsey Burnette and The O'Jays, before he put together his own Coasters, in 1985, they appeared on the NBC variety show "Our Time" hosted by Karen Valentine (heart failure) b. September 20th 1925.
1989: Vladimir Horowitz (86) Ukrainian-Russian-American classical virtuoso pianist and composer. His technique and use of tone colour and the excitement of his playing were and remain legendary. He is widely considered one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century. He gave his US debut on January 12, 1928, in Carnegie Hall. He played Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 under the direction of Sir Thomas Beecham, who was also making his U.S. debut. (he died in New York of a heart attack and was buried in the Toscanini family tomb in Cimitero Monumentale, Milan, Italy) b. October 1st 1903.
1989: Lucius "Lu" Watters (77) American trumpeter and bandleader in the "West Coast revival" of Dixieland music. Born in Santa Cruz, California he played trumpet by the age of 11 and got his first work on a cruise ship. He then worked for Bob Crosby before deciding to form a Dixieland-style band. He founded the Yerba Buena Jazz Band in 1939 and it would be a leading force in the Dixieland revival for the next 11 years, with a small off-period caused by the war. In 1950 he broke up the band and in 1957 he retired from full-time playing. In 1963 he made a bit of a return by playing with Turk Murphy at anti-nuclear rallies. (?) b. December 19th 1911.
1996: Eddie Harris (62) American tenor saxophonist, though he was also fluent on the electric piano and organ. His best-known composition is "Freedom Jazz Dance", recorded and popularized by Miles Davis in the 1960s. Born in Chicago, after college he was drafted into the United States Army. While serving in Europe he was accepted into the 7th Army Band, which also included Don Ellis, Leo Wright, and Cedar Walton. After getting out of the army he worked in New York City before returning to Chicago, where he signed a contract with Vee Jay Records. His first album Exodus to Jazz included his own jazz arrangement of Ernest Gold's theme from the movie Exodus. Eddie also came up with the idea of the reed trumpet, playing one for the first time at The Newport Jazz Festival of 1970. Until the mid 70s he experimented with new instruments of his own invention, the reed trumpet was a trumpet with a saxophone mouthpiece, the saxobone was a saxophone with a trombone mouthpiece, and the guitorgan was a combination of guitar and organ. He continued to record into the 1990s, but his experimentation ended and he mainly recorded hard bop (??) b. October 20th 1934.
1997: Epic Soundtracks/Kevin Paul Godfrey (38) English drummer, pianist; brought up in Solihull, with his brother Adrian Nicholas, who was known as Nikki Sudden. In 1972 they formed the nucleus of the post-punk rock group Swell Maps, with "Epic" on drums and piano, and "Nikki" on guitar and vocals. He later played drums for both Crime and the City Solution, and These Immortal Souls. In 1991, he decided to focus on his own songwriting career, as a vocalist and multi-instrumentalist he released three solo albums and two more "Everything is Temporary", and "Good Things" have been released posthumously. (Epic died in his sleep, speculation has been made of the manner of his death; however, the official cause of death was ruled as inconclusive) b. March 23rd 1959.
2002: Billy Guy/Frank William Phillips (66) American singer comedy singer but better known for being lead singer and baritone singer with The Coasters singing lead on such hits as "Searchin'," "Little Egypt," "Run Red Run," "Wait A Minute," among others. Before he joined The Coasters in 1955, he was part of a comedy singing duo called "Bip and Bop." One single called "Ding Ding Dong" b/w "Du-Wada-Du" was released on Aladdin Records in 1955. He did about a dozen or so solo recordings in 1963 for Double-L Records which later show up on collections as by The Coasters. Billy also made a number of solo records during the 1960s and 1970s including some X rated comedy albums. In 1977, he appeared, along with Grady Chapman and Jerome Evans, on a recording "Paid The Price" by Michelle Phillips on her album "Victim Of Romance." (?) b. June 20th 1936.
2003: Bobby Lee Hatfield (63) American singer-songwriter born in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, and moved with his family to Anaheim, California when he was four. A 1958 graduate of Anaheim High School, where he had sung in the school choir. He met his singing future partner Bill Medley while at California State University Long Beach. The pair began singing together '62 in the LA area in a group called the Paramours, sounding like African-American gospel singers, they renamed their act "The Righteous Brothers". Their first charted single was "Little Latin Lupe Lu" and their first No.1 was "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" came in 1964. Follow-up hits included the No.1 "(You're My) Soul and Inspiration" and "Unchained Melody", the latter of which was a Hatfield solo performance that he recorded again after the success of the movie "Ghost", remarking that he had not lost any of the high notes in his tenor/falsetto range since the original recording, but had actually gained one note. The duo broke up in 1968 but returned with another hit in 1974, the No.3 "Rock and Roll Heaven." The duo was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in March 2003 by Billy Joel (He was found dead in hotel room in Michigan 30 minutes before he was due on stage, allegedly an overdose of cocaine had precipitated a fatal heart attack) b. August 10th 1940.
2005: Link Wray/Frederick Lincoln Wray (76) American singer, guitarist born Dunn, North Carolina; he was noted for pioneering a new sound for electric guitars, as heard in his hit '58 instrumental "Rumble", which pioneered an overdriven distorted electric guitar sound, and also for having, invented the power chord, the major modus operandi of modern rock guitarist. Rolling Stone included Link at No. 67 on their list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time. He was a great inspiration to Jeff Beck, Duff McKagan, Jimmy Page, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, Marc Bolan, Pete Townsend, Bruce Springsteen, and countless others. He is also credited with inventing 'fuzz' guitar after punching a hole in a speaker (heart failure) b. May 2nd 1929.
2005: Virginia MacWatters (93) American coloratura soprano, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, she studied at the Curtis Institute of Music, and sang 611 Broadway performances of Adele in Rosalinda from 1942 to 1944. She made her formal operatic debut at the San Francisco Opera, as Musetta in La bohème, in 1944. She also appeared on Broadway in La serva padrona as Serpina, 1944 and Mr Strauss Goes to Boston as Brook Whitney, 1945. Virginia sang at the New York City Opera from 1946 to 1951, in The Pirates of Penzance as Mabel, Rigoletto as Gilda, Il barbiere di Siviglia as Rosina, The Old Maid and the Thief as Laetitia, Le nozze di Figaro as Susanna, Les contes d'Hoffmann as Olympia, and Ariadne auf Naxos as Zerbinetta. She appeared at the first season of opera in English at Covent Garden following World War II, in the name part of Manon and as Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier, in 1947. At the New Orleans Opera Association, the coloratura was seen in Il barbiere di Siviglia-1949, Die Fledermaus-1955 and Le nozze di Figaro-1956. She retired in 1982 (?) b. June 19th 1912.
2007: Nigel Ian Norman Snook (63) English musician born in Poole, Dorset. He played banjo on Unit 4 + 2 's first single "The Green Fields". (?) b. February 26th 1944
2010: Michelle Nicastro (50) American singer, actress born in Washington D.C., she provided the voice of Princess Odette in The Swan Princess and its sequels, and the singing voice of Callisto for the Xena: Warrior Princess episode "The Bitter Suite". She also had guest starring roles in Airwolf and Knight Rider. She appeared, briefly, as the college sweetheart of Billy Crystal in When Harry Met Sally. In 1996 she played Snow White in Coach episode "Grimmworld" as the girlfriend of Michael "Dauber" Daubinski and had a role in Full House as Roxanne. On the stage, she created the role of Ariadne in the 1983 Broadway musical Merlin. She was the first Eponine in the second US tour of Les Misérables in 1988. She recorded 4 albums, 2 albums, ''Toonful'' and ''Toonful Too'' feature songs from animated musicals, ''Reel Imagination'' features songs from family musicals, and ''On My Own'' features songs from contemporary Broadway musicals (died after battling cancer) b. March 31st 1960.
2010: Shirley Verrett (79) American operatic mezzo-soprano who successfully transitioned into soprano roles i.e. soprano sfogato. Making her operatic debut in Britten's The Rape of Lucretia in 1957, she became particularly well known for her singing in French and Italian opera, particularly works of Verdi and Donizetti and went on to enjoy great fame from the late 1960s through the 1990s and was much admired for her radiant voice, beauty, and great versatility (sadly died of heart failure) b. May 31st 1931.
2011: Bhupen Hazarika (85) Assamese singer, composer, lyricist, music director, filmmaker a from the state of Assam in India. He was a legend in Indian music, influenced many people throughout the country and neighboring countries. His song reflected his view on the current situations of society, culture, politics, corruption etc. He composed songs in Assamese, Bengali, Hindi and English. He played an important role in visualizing the culture and art of Assam to other parts of India and world (sadly died of multi-organ failure) b. September 8th 1926.
2012: Elliott Carter (103) American composer and two-time Pulitzer Prize winner; he studied with Nadia Boulanger in Paris in the 1930s, and then returned to the United States. From 1940-44, he taught in the program, including music, at St. John's College in Annapolis, Maryland. He held teaching posts at the Peabody Conservatory 1946–48, Columbia University, Queens College, New York 1955–56, Yale University 1960–62, Cornell University from 1967 and the Juilliard School from 1972. In 1967, he was made a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. In 1981, he was awarded the Ernst von Siemens Music Prize, in 1985 the National Medal of Arts. His compositions, which have been performed all over the world, include orchestral and chamber music as well as solo instrumental and vocal works. He was extremely productive in his later years, publishing more than 40 works between the ages of 90 and 100, and over 14 more after he turned 100 in 2008. His last work, 12 Short Epigrams for piano, was completed on August 13th 2012. (Elliot died from natural causes) b. December 11th 1908.
2012: Leonardo Favio/Fuad Jorge Jury (74) Argentine singer, actor, and film director; born in Luján de Cuyo, Mendoza, he was one of the most successful Argentine singers in the 1960s and 1970s with big hits like Fuiste mía un verano, Ella, ella ya me olvidó, Quiero aprender de memoria, Ding, dong, las cosas del amor and La cita and he starred in many films including "Crónica de un niño solo" and "El romance del Aniceto y la Francisca". On October 9th 2010, he was appointed Argentina's Ambassador of Culture by national decree of the president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner (sadly died while fighting polyneuritis melaminosa and HCV) b. May 28th 1938

November 6 .
1672: Heinrich Schütz (87) German composer worked most of Europe, including in the court of Prince Christian of Denmark and the court of Prince Johann Georg. He is regarded as the most important German composer before Johann Sebastian Bach and often considered to be one of the most important composers of the 17th century along with Claudio Monteverdi. He wrote what is thought to be the first German opera, Dafne, performed at Torgau in 1627, of which the music has since been lost. He is commemorated as a musician in the Calendar of Saints of the Lutheran Church on July 28 with Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frideric Handel (stroke) b. October 8th 1585.
1893: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (53) Russia composer, pianist of the Romantic era, of often dramatic, richly expressive works. His wide ranging output includes symphonies, operas, ballets, instrumental and chamber music and songs. He wrote some of the most popular concert and theatrical music in the classical repertoire, including the ballets Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty and The Nutcracker, the 1812 Overture, his First Piano Concerto, his last three numbered symphonies, and the opera Eugene Onegin (sadly lost to cholera) b. May 7th 1840.
1965: Clarence Williams (67) American jazz pianist, composer, promoter, and business man; born in Plaquemine, Louisiana, he ran away from home at age 12 to join Billy Kersand's Traveling Minstrel Show, then moved to New Orleans. Clarence started a music publishing business with violinist/bandleader Armand J. Piron 1915. He toured briefly with W.C. Handy, set up 3 music stores in Chicago, after which he settled in New York in 1923. He supervised African-American recordings for New York offices of Okeh phonograph company in the Gaiety Theatre office building in Times Square. He recruited many of the artists who performed on that label. He also recorded extensively, leading studio bands frequently for OKeh, Columbia and occasionally other record labels. He mostly used "Clarence Williams' Jazz Kings" for his hot band sides and "Clarence Williams' Washboard Five" for his washboard sides. His hits include "I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate", "Baby Won't You Please Come Home", "Royal Garden Blues", "Tain't Nobody's Business If I Do", "Shout, Sister, Shout" and many others. He also produced and participated in early recordings by Louis Armstrong, Sidney Bechet, Bessie Smith, Virginia Liston, and many others.His New York publishing company prospered, continuing to do business until 1943 when he sold its catalog of over 2,000 songs to Decca for a reputed $50,000. Clarence was posthumously inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970, (?) b. October 8th 1898.
1968: Charles Munch (77) Alsatian symphonic conductor and violinist, born in Strasbourg, Alsace-Lorraine, German Empire now France, he is best known as music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. In 1920, he became professor of violin at the Strasbourg Conservatoire and assistant concertmaster of the Strasbourg Philharmonic Orchestra. Over the next 2 decades he held a number of prestigious posts before he made his début with the Boston Symphony Orchestra on December 27th 1946. He was its Music Director from 1949 to 1962. Charles was also Director of the Berkshire Music Festival and Berkshire Music Center, Tanglewood, from 1951 through 1962. He also received honorary degrees from Boston University, Harvard University, and Brandeis University. During the 1960s, Munch appeared regularly as a guest conductor throughout America, Europe, and Japan. In 1967 he founded the Orchestre de Paris (He died in Richmond, Virginia, of a heart attack while on an American tour with the Orchestre de Paris) b. September 26th 1891.
1972: Billy Murcia (21) Colombian drummer, born in Bogotá, and raised in Jackson Heights, New York. He started out in 1967, with Sylvain Sylvain in a band called "The Pox", before forming the punk band New York Dolls in 1971. He played during their now-legendary series of weekly shows at the Mercer Arts Center, and went on their 1972 UK tour (While on a UK tour Billy was at a party, and passed out from an accidental overdose. He was put in a bathtub and force-fed coffee in an attempt to revive him, but tragically resulted in asphyxiation and death) b. 1951
1975: François de Roubaix (36) French film score composer, born in Neuilly-sur-Seine; he did not receive any formal education in music, but began studying jazz on his own at age 15, forming a band and learning trombone as an autodidact. His father, filmmaker Paul de Roubaix, made educational films, and offered to let François compose scores for them. His first film score was for a 1961 film by Robert Enrico; through the late 1960s and early 1970s he scored films for Enrico, Jose Giovanni, Jean-Pierre Melville, Jean-Pierre Mocky, and Yves Boisset. Notable in his style is his use of folk elements, as well as electronic musical instruments such as synthesizers and early drum machines. In 1976, his score for Le Vieux Fusil was awarded a César Award. (tragically François died in a car accident in Tenerife, Canary Islands) b. April 3rd 1939.
1986: Elisabeth Grümmer (75) German operatic soprano, born at Niederjeutz, near Diedenhofen; she studied theatre and made her stage debut as Klärchen in Goethe's Egmont. She married the concertmaster of the theater orchestra, Detlev Grümmer, and they moved to Aachen, where they met Herbert von Karajan. Elisabeth started to take singing lessons, von Karajan cast her as the first flower maiden in a performance of Wagner's Parsifal. She went on to perform in Duisburg and Prague. She performed in all the major opera houses in Europe and the United States, restricting herself to a small number of roles, primarily sung in German. She was also active in song recitals and concert performances, particularly of Brahms' German Requiem (?) b. March 31st 1911.
1987: Zohar Argov (32) Israeli singer and a distinctive voice in the Mizrahi music scene, born in Rishon LeZion. Zohar's debut album Eleanor in 1981 featured the title track, "Sod HaMazalot"/"The Zodiac Secret", and "Mah Lakh Yaldah"/"What's up Girl", a tribute to his ex-wife, Bracha. Among his other hits are "HaPerakh BeGani" /"The Flower in My Garden", "Mah Lakh Yaldah", "Ba'avar Hayu Zmanim"/"In The Past There Were Times" and "Badad"/"Alone", which are now considered Israeli classics and an integral part of national culture. (He committed suicide by hanging himself in his jail cell after he was arrested on rape charges) b. July 16th 1955.
1997: Epic Soundtracks/Kevin Godfrey (37) English piano, drums, singer, songwriter, born in Croydon, but brought up in Solihull, Midlands with his brother Adrian Nicholas, who was known as Nikki Sudden; In 1972 the brothers formed the nucleus of what was to become the post-punk rock group Swell Maps, with "Soundtracks" on drums and piano, and "Sudden" on guitar and vocals. Soundtracks later played drums for Crime and the City Solution and These Immortal Souls. In 1991, he decided to focus on his own songwriting career. (died in his sleep, suicide was suspected) b. March 23rd 1959.
2005: Minako Honda (38) Japanese singer and musical actress born in Tokyo; she got famous and popular known as "Japan's Madonna" because of her sexy fashion and live performances in the mid to late 1980s. She was also one of the singers to sing Japanese and English languages. She took formal acting and singing lessons, and became a notable theatrical singer and actress. In auditions for the Tokyo production of Miss Saigon, she won out over 12,000 other candidates for the part of Kim, earning the nickname "Tokyo's Miss Saigon". She appeared in many other theatrical performances. (sadly died from complications from myelocytic leukemia) b. July 31st 1967.
2006: Jance Garfat (62) American bassist and a founder member in the pop-country rock band Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show, later named Dr.Hook, from 1972 till they disbanded in 1985. At the height of their success Dr Hook were top of the charts in 42 countries, they amassed 60 gold and platinum singles and albums. Their hits include "The Cover of the Rolling Stone", "Sylvia's Mother", "When You're in Love with a Beautiful Woman", and "Sexy Eyes". (tragically killed in a motorcycle accident, while swirving to avoid a dog in Oakland, CA) b. March 20th 1944.
2007: Hank Thompson (82) American country music singer and songwriter whose career spanned seven decades. He sold over 60 million records worldwide. His musical style, characterized as Honky Tonk Swing, was a mixture of fiddles, electric guitar and steel guitar that featured his distinctive, gravelly baritone vocals. Born in Waco, Texas, Hank decided to pursue his musical career after serving in the US Navy in World War II, having a two-sided chart hit in the '40s, "Soft Lips"/"The Grass is Greener Over Yonder". In 1952, Hank with his backing band The Brazos Valley Boys had a huge hit with "Wild Side Of Life", the song became one of the most popular recordings in the genre's history, spending 15 weeks at No.1 Billboard country charts (lung cancer) b. September 3rd 1925.
2007: George Osmond (90) American patriarch of the Osmond singing family; he managed his sons' careers, and at an appearance at Disneyland, they caught the eye of Walt Disney, who took a personal interest in them. The boys auditioned for Andy Williams, whose father helped launch them into the national spotlight. As George's children's fortune rose, he put his career aside to focus on the family's musical interests and moved the family to California to place them closer to the heart of the entertainment industry (natural causes) b. October 13th 1917.
2007: Jimmy Staggs (72) American radio disk jockey; a longtime Chicago, USA radio disc jockey and record store owner. His radio career began in Birmingham on WYDE AM. From there, it was on to Philadelphia on WBIG, San Francisco on KYA, and Milwaukee on WOKY before his stint at KYW, Cleveland and others. At WCFL, the "Voice of Labor", he did the "afternoon drive" shift. He referred to the studio call-in line as the "Stagg Line" and produced a feature titled "Stagg's Starbeat" in-depth, provocative, and insightful interviews with local, national and international music celebrities. Staggs interviewed nearly every major rock star of the 1960s, including Neil Diamond, Ray Charles, Frank Sinatra, The Rolling Stones, the Supremes, The Monkees, and Simon & Garfunkel. He left the radio business in 1975, and started a chain of record stores in the northern suburbs of Chicago. He opened a record store called "Record City," which eventually became a chain with locations in Lake Zurich, Skokie, Glenview, and Northbrook, with two more outlets in Orlando, Florida. The last Record City, in Lake Zurich, closed in 2005 (sadly lost to esophageal cancer) b. October 7th 1935.
2009: Jacno/Denis Quilliard (52) French musician, he was a founding member of the first French punk band The Stinky Toys. They took part in the 100 Club Punk Festival in London, sharing the bill with such bands as Sex Pistols, The Clash, The Damned and Buzzcocks.The Stinky Toys released a self titled album brfore splitting in 1979. In the early 1980s, Jacno teamed up with former Stinky Toys singer Elli Medeiros to form the pop duo Elli et Jacno.They released three albums together before splitting up to cocerntrate on solo careers. Jacno had also released his debut solo album 'Jacno' in '79, followed by seven more, the last being Tant de Temps in 2006 (cancer) b. July 3rd 1957.
2011: Gordon Beck (75) British jazz pianist and composer born in Brixton, London, and studied piano in his youth, but went into a career as an engineering technical draughtsman. Largely self-taught, he returned to music after spending time in Canada where he was exposed to the works of George Shearing and Dave Brubeck. He joined Tubby Hayes group in 1962 back in England he and later formed his own trio, made up of Tony Oxley, Jeff Clyne, and himself. From 1969 to 1972 he toured with Phil Woods's European Rhythm Machine. He was a member of Nucleus during 1972-74 and after which he formed the group Gyroscope. Gordon also recorded albums with Allan Holdsworth, with whom he also toured the States and Japan, Henri Texier, Didier Lockwood among others and is maybe best remembered by many for his album Experiments With Pops (?) b. September 16th 1936.
2011: Mito Loeffler (50) French gypsy jazz guitarist, a perfect representative of the gypsy style of eastern France, solid right hand, phrasing and virtuosic percussive happy, thunderous chord bearing, his joy of playing was never hidden. This really great musician carried the legacy of Django Reinhardt with honor and his sudden death leaves a large gap in the Gypsy jazz scene (a possible heart attack) b. 1961.

November 7 .
1960: A.P. Carter/Alvin Pleasant Delaney Carter (68) American country music singer-songwriter, guitarist and founding member of The Carter Family group, one of the most notable acts in the history of country music. Born in Maces Spring, Virginia. He married Sara Dougherty on June 18th 1915, and they had three children: Gladys/Millard, Janette/Jett, and Joe. In 1927, he formed the Carter Family band together with his wife and Sara's cousin, Maybelle, who was married to Alvin's brother, Ezra Carter, and they together formed the first commercial rural country music group. Alvin traveling extensively throughout the country collecting and blending songs, particularly from Appalachian musicians. Alvin and Sara separated in 1932, they officially divorced in 1939, but the band remained together until 1943. Maybelle and her daughters continued to tour as The Carter Family, while Alvin left the music business to run a general store in Virginia. In 1952, Alvin reformed The Carter Family with Sara and some of their grown children; the reunion lasted until 1956. Despite dying in relative obscurity, Alvin was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame and inducted as part of The Carter Family in the Country Music Hall of Fame both in 1970. In 1993, his image appeared on a U.S. postage stamp honoring the Carter Family. In 2001 he was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor (died in Kingsport, TN) b. December 15th 1891.
1964: Jasper Taylor (70) American jazz drummer; in his teens he performed in minstrel shows touring the American South and Mexico, and Wild West revues, including "Buffalo Bill" Cody's show. He played in Memphis, in 1913, on washboard, drums, wood blocks, and xylophone. As a xylophonist he collaborated with W.C. Handy, and later played with Jelly Roll Morton.In 1917 he moved to Chicago, where he was based out of for most of his career. He played with Handy, Will Marion Cook, Clarence Williams, and the Chicago Novelty Orchestra. He joined the military during World War I and served in France with the 365th Infantry Band. The 365th Infantry were nicknamed the "Buffalo Soldiers," the enlisted personnel were almost entirely African-American soldiers from Texas and Oklahoma. Next he worked with Dave Peyton, Fess Williams and again with Clarence Williams. In the 1930s, due to the downturn in opportunities to perform during the Great Depression, he quit music and became a cobbler. In the 1940s he returned to active performance with Freddie Shayne and others; in the 1950s he played for several years with Natty Dominique. Shortly before his death he led his own Creole Jazz Band (?) b. January 1st 1894.
1983: Germaine Tailleferre (91) French composer and the only female member of the famous composers' group Les Six. At the Paris Conservatory she was awarded prizes in several categories. Most notably she wrote 18 short works in the Petit livre de harpe de Madame Tardieu for Caroline Tardieu, the Conservatory’s Assistant Professor of Harp. In the 20s her 1st Piano Concerto, The Harp Concertino, the Ballets "Le marchand d'oiseaux" and "La nouvelle Cythère" and "Sous le ramparts d'Athènes" in collaboration with Paul Claudel, as well as several pioneering film scores, including "B'anda" in which she used African themes. The 30s produced the Concerto for Two Pianos, the Violin Concerto, Choeurs, Saxophones and Orchestra, Operas "Zoulaïna" and "Le marin de Bolivar", and "La cantate de Narcisse" in collaboration with Paul Valéry. In the 40s she composed orchestral and chamber music, plus many other works including the ballets "Paris-Magie" with Lise Delarme and "Parisiana", The Operas "Il était un petit navire" with Henri Jeanson, "Dolores", "La petite sirène" with Philip Soupault, and "Le maître" (?) b. April 19th 1892.
1986: Tracy Pew (28) Australian bassist, while attending Caulfield Grammar School in Melbourne, he joined a band called The Boys Next Door, along with schoolfriends Nick Cave, Mick Harvey and Phill Calvert. In 1976 he band relocated to London and renamed themselves The Birthday Party but did not find success. The Birthday Party split in 1983, although Tracy briefly played bass for Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds on a live tour and contributed to Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds' cover LP Kicking Against the Pricks. He returned to Melbourne to study literature and philosophy and also performed on Lydia Lunch's concept album Honeymoon In Red (an epileptic seizure resulted in head injuries so severe he died from a brain hemorrhage shortly afterwards) b. December 17th 1957.
1988: Conrad Bernier (84) French-Canadian organist, composer, and teacher born in Quebec City. In 1923 he won the Prix d’Europe to study organ in Paris, where he studied 1923-26. In 1926 he returned to Canada for a concert tour, after which he was organist at the Church of the Visitation in Detroit. His next appointment was at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., where he became director of the Organ Department in 1927. In that capacity he taught for almost half a century until he was named Professor Emeritus in 1974. He continued teaching counterpoint, fugue, and composition until the eve of his death (?) b. May 9th 1904.
1991: Prince Gideon Israel/Carter Cornelius (53) American R&B singer born in Dania Beach, FL; he was part of his family group Cornelius Brothers & Sister Rose, along with his brother Eddie, and his sisters Billie Jo, and Rose, formed in 1971. They scored hits with "Treat Her Like A Lady", "Too Late To Turn Back Now", and "Don't Ever Be Lonely (A Poor Little Fool Like Me)". In '76 Carter went into seclusion with Yahweh Ben Yahweh, founder of the a religious sect the Nation of Yahweh, whose followers adopt the surname Israel. He built a recording studio where he wrote, recorded and mixed the sect's music and videos (sadly died of a heart attack) b. October 5th 1948.
1994: Shorty Rogers/Milton Rajonsky (70) American jazz trumpeter and arranger, born in in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. He went on to be one of the principal creators of West Coast jazz. He played both the trumpet and flugelhorn, and was in demand for his skills as an arranger. He worked first as a professional musician with Will Bradley and Red Norvo. From 1947 to 1949, he worked extensively with Woody Herman and in '50 and '51 he played with Stan Kenton. From '53 through '62 he recorded a series of RCA Victor albums and Atlantic albums with his own group, Shorty Rogers and His Giants, including Shorty Courts the Count, The Swinging Mr. Rogers, and Martians Come Back. In the early '60s he quit the jazz scene for many years. In 1982, he was persuaded to pick up his trumpet, playing first with Britain’s National Youth Jazz Orchestra and soon with Bud Shank and others. In the 1990s he formed a Lighthouse All Stars group along with Shank, Bill Perkins and Bob Cooper. (fell ill in the early 1990s and died during KLON's West Coast Jazz festival) b. April 14th 1924
1995: Jerry Daniels (79) American tenor singer, guitarist and ukulele player, in 1931 he and Charlie Fuqua formed a vocal duo "Kyle and Charlie", performing in the Indianapolis area, before joining Hoppy Jones and Deek Watson to form The Ink Spots in '34. He left the group in 1936 before their commercial success (?) b. December 14th 1915.
2004: Howard Keel/Harold Clifford Leek (85) American singer, actor; starred in many of the classic film musicals of the 1950s. In 1945, he briefly understudied for John Raitt in the Broadway musical hit Carousel before being assigned to Oklahoma!, written by Rodgers and Hammerstein. When performing this play during this period, Howard accomplished a feat that has never been duplicated: he performed the leads in both shows on the same day. In 1947, Oklahoma! became the first American postwar musical to travel to London, England, and Howard/Harold joined the production. On the opening night, 30 April, at the Drury Lane Theatre, the capacity audience, which included the future Queen Elizabeth II, demanded fourteen encores. Keel was hailed as the next great star, becoming the toast of London's West End >>> READ MORE <<< (lost to colon cancer) b. April 13th 1919.
2008: Jody Reynolds/Ralph Joseph Reynolds (75) American rockabilly singer and guitarist, born in Denver, but grew up in Shady Grove, Oklahoma. Jody released 13 singles in the 60' & 70s, his biggest hit single was 1958's "Endless Sleep" which reached No.5 in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart. He wrote it in a single afternoon in 1956 while in Yuma, Arizona. (liver cancer) b. December 3rd 1932.
2011: Georgi Movsesyan (66) Russian composer, born in Kharkov, Ukraine; he graduated from the Gnessin State Musical College in 1964. Honored as a People's Artist of Russia in 2001, he is mostly known for his songs "Beryoza", "Moi goda", "Olympiada", "Nachalo" performed by Iosif Kobzon, Lev Leshchenko, Anna German, Vakhtang Kikabidze and others (Georgi sadly died of a heart attack) b. August 2nd 1945.
2012: Clive Dunn OBE (92) English actor, comedian and singer; born in Covent Garden, Westminster, London; he played in many film roles from the 1930s onwards, appearing alongside Will Hay in the films Boys Will Be Boys in 1935 and Good Morning, Boys in 1937. His last film role was along side Peter Sellers, in The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu in 1980. Clive served in the army with the 4th Queen's Own Hussars, in WW2, during which he spent 4 years in prisoner-of-war and labour camps in Austria, after which worked for many years in music halls and theatres. In 1956 and 1957, he appeared in both series of The Tony Hancock Show and the >>> READ MORE <<< (Clive sadly died in Porugal, from complications following an operation) b. January 9th 1920.
2012: Gyan Singh (61) Indian bass guitarist; his career stretched back several decades, in the 70s, he met Amyt Datta at the Beatstock, La Martiniere band competition. They became friends and longtime collaborators playing together in bands including Pop Secret. But he will, perhaps, be best remembered for his outstanding contribution as bassist and songwriter with the pioneering indie band Skinny Alley, again with Amyt. The band was formed in the 90s', and they released their first album Escape the Roar in 2003. This was followed by a second album "Moony Boom", in 2007 (sadly Gyan died while fighting cancer) b. 1951.

November 8 .
1974: Ivory Joe Hunter (60) African American R&B singer, songwriter and pianist, best known for his hit recording, "Since I Met You, Baby" in 1956. The Baron of the Boogie, is not to be confused with Motown producer-songwriter Joe Hunter. Born in Kirbyville, Texas, he was christened Ivory Joe, Ivory Joe Hunter is not a nickname, but the artist's real birth name. In the early 1940s, he had his own radio show in Beaumont, Texas, on KFDM, where he eventually became program manager, and in 1942 he moved to LA, joining Johnny Moore's Three Blazers. He wrote and recorded his first song, "Blues at Sunrise", with the Three Blazers on his own label, Ivory Records. Other hits include "I Quit My Pretty Mama", "Guess Who", "I Almost Lost My Mind", "Yes, I Want You", "Empty Arms" and "City Lights". Ivory was a prolific songwriter, some estimate he wrote more than 7,000 songs. Elvis Presley was among the many artists to record Ivory's songs, with "My Wish Came True", "Ain't That Loving You, Baby", "I Need You So", "It's Still Here" and "I Will Be True." (Ivory sadly lost his battle with cancer) b. October 10th 1914.
1983: James Booker (43) American jazz pianist, sax player and singer; he was highly skilled in classical music and played Bach and Chopin, among other composers, he mastered and memorized solos by Erroll Garner, and Liberace. His thorough background in piano literature may have enabled his original and virtuosic interpretations of jazz and other American popular music. These performances combined elements of stride, blues, gospel and Latin piano styles. He made his recording debut in 1954 with "Doin' the Hambone" and "Thinkin' 'Bout My Baby." This led to session work with Smiley Lewis, Fats Domino, and Lloyd Price. After attending University in 1960, his "Gonzo" charted on U.S. Billboard chart, and the R&B chart. This was followed by some moderately successful singles. In the 1960s, he turned to drugs, and in 1970 served a brief sentence in Angola Prison for possession. During 1976, he played and toured with the Jerry Garcia Band. James recorded a number of albums while touring Europe in 1977, including New Orleans Piano Wizard: Live!, which was recorded at his performance in the 'Boogie Woogie and Ragtime Piano Contest' in Zurich, Switzerland This album won the Grand Prix du Disque. After which he continued recording and touring and playing major festivals. He performed is final concert at the Maple Leaf Bar in New Orleans in October of 1983 (sadly died of renal failure while seated in a wheelchair, waiting to be seen at the emergency room at New Orleans Charity Hospital) b. December 17th 1939
1992: Larry Levan/Lawrence Philpot (38) American DeeJay who worked the New York City night club Paradise Garage, a prototype of the modern dance club, because it was entirely focused on dancing, and was the first to put the DJ at the center of attention. Larry developed a cult following, who referred to his sets as "Saturday Mass". Influential US DJ François Kevorkian credits him with introducing the dub aesthetic into dance music. Larry experimented with drum machines and synthesizers which helped establish new electronic, post-disco sound and he was inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame in 2004 (after returning home from Japan, Larry voluntarily entered the hospital. He died four days later of heart failure caused by endocarditis) b. July 20th 1954.
1998: Lonnie Pitchford (44) American blues diddley bow player, multi-musician and instrument maker from Lexington, Mississippi; he began making his one-stringed diddley bows as a five-year-old, fashioning them mostly out of parts from old electric guitars. He was also an accomplished six-string guitarist, acoustic and electric, and piano player, as well as playing the double bass and harmonica. Lonnie was "discovered" by ethnomusicologist Worth Long, after he had began to attract crowds playing the music of Robert Johnson, songs like "Come On In My Kitchen" and "Terraplane Blues," on his one-stringed didley bow. His albums include All Around Man in 1994, as well as several compilations, including Mississippi Moan, a 1988 release; Roots of Rhythm and Blues: A Tribute to the Robert Johnson Era, released in 1992 and Deep Blues also in 1992. Lonnie was voted as one of Living Blues magazine's "top 40 under 40" new blues players to watch (Aids) b. October 8th 1955.
1999: Lester Bowie (58) American jazz trumpet player and composer; member of the AACM, he co-founded the Art Ensemble of Chicago remaining a member for the rest of his life. He was also a member of Jack DeJohnette's New Directions quartet and played and recorded with Fela Kuti. ( liver cancer, the following year he was inducted into the Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame) b. Oct 11th 1941
2003: Guy Speranza (47) American singer; best known as New York-based metal band Riot's original frontman, from 1976-1981. He sung on their first three albums, 1977's Rock City, 1979's Narita and 1981's Fire Down Under, before leaving the band in 1981. After which he returned to Florida and became an exterminator (Pancreatic cancer) b. March 12th 1956
2000: Richard Edwin "Dick" Morrissey (60) British jazz tenor sax, soprano sax, flutist and composer, born in Horley, Surrey. Self-taught, he started playing clarinet in his school band at 16, before joining the Original Climax Jazz Band, after which he joined trumpeter Gus Galbraith's Septet, where alto-sax player Peter King introduced him to Charlie Parker's recordings, he then began specialising on tenor saxophone shortly after. He formed his own quartet in 1960 and cut his debut LP, It's Morrissey, Man!, the following year. He spent much of 1962 in Calcutta, where he joined the Ashley Kozak Quartet. Upon his return to Britain, he formed a new quartet with pianist Harry South, bassist Phil Bates, and drummer Phil Seaman that appeared regularly at Ronnie Scott's famed jazz club and cut the 1965 LP Storm Warning. He also backed visiting American musicians like trombonist J.J. Johnson, and in 1966 cut a live LP with blues great Jimmy Witherspoon. In 1969 he co-founded the progressive rock band 'If', from 1970-1975, they produced 8 studio-recorded albums and did some 17 tours of Europe, the US and Canada. In 1975, Dick toured Germany with Alexis Korner and then to the US to tour and record with the Average White Band, where he met guitarist, Jim Mullen, and together they formed Morrissey-Mullen aka M&M. They playing together for sixteen years, during which they came to be known as "Mr Sax and Captain Axe" because of their hallmark based around calls and responses between guitar and saxophone. He also had a vast and varied session career that extended well beyond jazz to include sessions with Paul McCartney, Stiff Little Fingers, Demis Roussos, Peter Gabriel, The Blow Monkeys, Soft Machine, Orange Juice, Daryl Hall, Brian Auger & Pete York, Gary Numan and Roy Harper, as well as Johnny Dankworth, Roy Budd, Ian Hamer Sextet, Georgie Fame, Geoff Whitehorn, Gino Vannelli, and so many others. He also appeared on the Vangelis-composed soundtrack to Ridley Scott's groundbreaking sci-fi classic Blade Runner (sadly died after many years bravely fighting various forms of cancer) b. May 9th 1940.
2006: Basil Poledouris (61) Greek-American film score composer, Kansas City, Missouri; his score for Conan the Barbarian is considered by many to be one of the finest examples of motion picture scoring ever written. In 1996 he scored the "The Tradition of the Games" for the Atlanta Olympics Opening Ceremony that accompanied the memorable dance tribute to the athletes and goddesses of victory of the ancient Greek Olympics using silhouette imagery. Other notable film scores include The Blue Lagoon in 1980; Conan the Destroyer in 1984; Red Dawn in 1984; RoboCop in 1987; The Hunt for Red October in 1990; Free Willy in 1993 and its first sequel; Starship Troopers in 1997; and For Love of the Game in 1999. (complications from cancer) b. August 21st 1945.
2008: Jerry Fuchs/ Gerhardt Fuchs (34) American indie rock drummer, writer and graphic artist; he attended the University of Georgia, where he studied graphic design and drummed in the local Athens bands The Martians, Vineland, and Koncak before joining the dance-punk group !!!, performing on their album Myth Takes. He also played drums for The Juan Maclean during their live performances, and played live for other DFA Records' outfits including MSTRKRFT, LCD Soundsystem and Holy Ghost!. He then joined Maserati, playing on their albums 'Inventions for the New Season' and 'Passages' and had just completed a U.S. Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver tour this October. Jerry also did graphic design work for the magazine Chunklet and wrote articles as a freelance writer for Entertainment Weekly (He got was caught in a broken elevator in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York City, when he attempted to jump out of the car, he accidentally fell 5 stories down the elevator shaft to his death) b. 1974
2011: Heavy D/ Dwight Arrington Myers (44) Jamaican-born American rapper, record producer and singer who moved with his family to New York City when he was a young child. He was the former leader of Heavy D & the Boyz, the influencial hip hop group which included G-Whiz, "Trouble" T. Roy, and Eddie F. His debut, Living Large, was released in 1987, but it was his 2nd album Big Tyme which was his breakthrough that included the hits "We Got Out Own Thang", "Somebody for Me", and "Gyrlz, They Love Me". Tragically Trouble T. Roy died at age 22 in a fall on July 15, 1990, his passing led to a tribute on the follow-up platinum album, Peaceful Journey, called "They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.)" which is regarded as a hip-hop classic. >>> READ MORE <<< (he tragically died suddenly and unexpectedly due to "respiratory issues") b. May 24th 1967.
2011: Jimmy Norman (74) American rhythm and blues and jazz singer, songwriter; in his early career, he had a charting solo single "I Don't Love You No More (I Don't Care About You)", as well as performing session work with Jimi Hendrix. He was a noted lyricist and songwriter. He wrote the expanded lyrics of the song "Time Is on My Side", which became a hit for The Rolling Stones among others. After producing a single for The Coasters in 1969 for Lloyd Price's Turntable Records, Jimmy replaced Vernon Harrell as the regular substitute, then permanently, for Billy Guy in the group in the 70s. During his 30 years with the Coasters, he also teamed up with Eddie Palmieri as lead vocalist in the group Harlem River Drive, which released a self-titled album in 1971. Later in life he suffered multiple heart attacks and respiratory disease which restricted him. In July 2002, Jimmy's rare tape of his jam session with Marley reached considerably above its estimated value when auctioned at $26,290. Jimmy's last public appearance was for the Jazz Foundation’s Loft Party in New York City on Oct 29th 2011 where he performed two songs, “Collector of Keys,” and “Time is On My Side” (?) b. August 12th 1937.
2012: Ian Pearce (90) Australian legendary jazz pianist also known for his trombone and trumpet skills, and a founding father of Tasmania's jazz scene. He started his career in 1936 when he formed the state's first jazz band, the Barrelhouse Four, with his brother Cedric and friends Tom Pickering and Rex Green. After a stint in the army, he studied at the Melbourne Conservatorium before moving to England, where he helped lead the global trad jazz revival of the 1950s. After returning to Tasmania he led or co-led bands including the Ian Pearce Sextet, the Pearce-Pickering Jazz Band and the Pearce-Pickering Ragtime Five, and his contributions to Australian jazz were officially recognised in 1995 when he was made a Member of the Order of Australia. Ian was also a life member of the Hobart Jazz Club (sadly Ian died while fighting cancer)*November 22nd 1921.

November 9.
1951: Sigmund Romberg (64) Hungarian operetta composer; his adaptation of melodies by Franz Schubert for Blossom Time in 1921 was a great success. He subsequently wrote his best-known operettas, The Student Prince-1924, The Desert Song-1926 and The New Moon-1928, which are in a style similar to the Viennese operettas of Franz Lehár. He also wrote Rosalie-1928 together with George Gershwin. His later works, such as Up in Central Park (1945), are closer to the American musical in style, but they were less successful. Romberg also wrote a number of film scores and adapted his own work for film. Columbia Records asked him to conduct orchestral arrangements of his music, which he had played in concerts, for a series of recordings from 1945 to 1950 that were issued both on 78-rpm and 33-1/3 rpm discs. These performances are now prized by record collectors (?) b. July 29th 1887.
1968: Jan Johansson (37) Swedish jazz pianist; sadly he is little known outside Scandinavia, and his records are not widely available, though Jazz på svenska/Jazz in Swedish has sold more than a 1/4 of a million copies, and is the best selling jazz release ever in Sweden(died in a car crash on his way to a concert) b. September 16th 1931.
1991: Yves Montand/Ivo Livi (69) Italian-born singer, actor; in Monsummano Terme, Italy, but grew up in Marseille, France. He began a career in show business as a music-hall singer. In 1944 he was discovered by Édith Piaf in Paris and she made him part of her act, becoming his mentor and lover. His recognizably crooner songs, especially those about Paris, became instant classics. During his career, Montand acted in many American motion pictures as well as on Broadway. He was nominated for a Cesar Award for "Best Actor" in 1980 for "I comme Icare" and again in 1984 for "Garçon!" (died from a heart attack) b. October 13th 1921.
1999: Herb Abramson (82) US record producer in Brooklyn, New York City; he produced such performers as Billy Eckstineat, Joe Turner and The Ravens at National Records and founded his first record company Jubilee Records in 1946 with Jerry Blaine producing jazz, R&B and Gospel recordings, he went on to co-found Atlantic records. After leaving Atlantic, he set up his own recording studio A-1 Sound Studios, Hank Crawford, James Moody, Richie Cordell, Johnny Nash and Lloyd Price were among the artists who recorded there. In 1998 Herb received the Pioneer Award from the Rhythm & Blues Foundation (?) b. November 16th 1916.
2003: Davy Chesterfield/David Goldsworthy (40) English singer, guitarist and founder member of the indie pop band The Chesterf!elds formed in 1984, Yeovil, Somerset. Signed to the label Subway Organization, they released an EP ''A Guitar In Your Bath'' and single ''Completely & Utterly'' before releasing an album ''Kettle'' in 1987. They moved to their own Household label, issuing 2 more singles and a third album, Crocodile Tears. The Chesterf!elds final single, "Fool Is The Man" was released in 1989, after which the band split. They did reformed in the 1990's to tour Japan after their material was re-issued there (tragically killed by a hit & run driver in Oxford, UK) b. 1963
2010: Jessica Sanso (95) American opera singer (?) b. September 24th 1915.
2011: Renée Franke (83) German pop singer, born in Hamburg, as a pop singer she had several hits including "C'est si bon" in the 50s. In 1954, she also appeared the film "The Lady of the office". From 1966 to 1993 Renée worked as a radio presenter at the Bayerische Rundfunk-NDR. (sadly died in Munich) b. May 4th 1928.
2012: Major Harris III (65) American R&B singer born in Richmond, Virginia. He first sang with groups such as The Charmers, The Teenagers, The Jarmels, and Nat Turner's Rebellion and he recorded a few solo 7" records. In the early 1970s, he took over from Randy Cain as a member of The Delfonics; he quit the group to go solo in 1974. He scored a string of R&B hits in the US, including the Top Ten single "Love Won't Let Me Wait", which peaked at No.5 in the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and No.37 in the UK Top 50. and earned Major a gold disc by the R.I.A.A. on 25 June 1975. Later he returned to the Delfonics, and continued to tour with one of two touring ensembles that used the name in the 90s and 2000s. (sadly died of heart and lung failure)*February 9th 1947

November 10.
1973: David "Stringbean" Akeman (57) American banjo player and comedy musician best known for his role on the hit television show, Hee Haw. He is one of the most celebrated performers of "old-time" banjo playing, also called "clawhammer" or "frailing", and he is listed along with Uncle Dave Macon, Grandpa Jones, and Ralph Stanley, as among the great old-time style banjo players (the Akemans returned home after performing at the Grand Ole Opry, and were shot dead upon their arrival. Thieves had lain in wait for hours. Their bodies were discovered the following morning by neighbour and fellow performer, Grandpa Jones aka Louis Marshall Jones) b. June 17th 1916.
1994: Carmen Mercedes McRae (74) American jazz singer, pianist; worked with Count Basie, Mercer Ellington, also a solo artist and was considered one of the most influential jazz vocalists of the 20th century. Drawing inspiration from Billie Holiday, she established her own distinctive voice, she recorded over 60 albums during her career (sadly emphysema took her breath away) b. April 8th 1920.
1997: Tommy Tedesco (67) American master session musician and renowned jazz and bebop guitarist; described as the most recorded guitarist in history, having played on thousands of recordings, including the Beach Boys, Everly Brothers, The Association, Barbra Streisand, Elvis Presley, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Zappa, Sam Cooke, Cher, and Nancy and Frank Sinatra. TV themes include Bonanza, The Twilight Zone, Green Acres, M*A*S*H, Batman, and Elvis Presley's '68 Comeback Special. Film soundtracks include The French Connection, The Godfather, Jaws, The Deer Hunter, Field of Dreams, plus several Elvis Presley films. He was also the guitarist for the Original Roxy cast of The Rocky Horror Show. He was one of the very few sidemen credited for work on animated cartoons for the The Ant and the Aardvark cartoons (Heart disease) b. July 3rd 1930.
2002: Johnny Griffith (67) American keyboardist, member of the Motown Funk Brother house band; he played the Steinway grand piano, the Hammond B-3 organ, the Wurlitzer electric piano, the Fender Rhodes, and the celeste and harpsichord. Among the many Motown recordings he played on are "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" by Marvin Gaye, "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)" by Four Tops, and "Stop! In the Name of Love" by The Supremes (?) b. July 10th 1936.
2004: Katy de la Cruz (97) Leading Filipino singer born in Intramuros, Manila, she specialized in jazz vocals and torch songs in a performing career that lasted 8 decades. Hailed as "The Queen of Filipino Jazz" and as "The Queen of Bodabil", she was, by the age of 18, the highest paid entertainer in the Philippines. She also appeared in films and received a FAMAS Best Supporting Actress Award in 1953., ill health caused her to retire from public life in the 1990s (?) b. February 13th 1907.
2006: Gerald LeVert (40) American R&B soul baritone singer; He was the most sensual, powerful baritone R&B singer of his generation. He sang with his brother, Sean Levert, and friend Marc Gordon in the R&B trio LeVert. He was also a part of LSG, an R&B musical group as well as recording solo (died at home in his sleep of a sudden, unexpected heart attack) b. July 13th 1966.
2008: Miriam Makeba (76) South African singer and civil rights activist often referred to as Mama Afrika. When in London she met Harry Belafonte, who assisted her in gaining entry to and fame in the United States. She released many of her most famous hits there including "Pata Pata", "The Click Song" ("Qongqothwane" in Xhosa), and "Malaika". In 1966, she received the Grammy Award for Best Folk Recording together with Harry Belafonte for An Evening With Belafonte/Makeba. The album dealt with the political plight of black South Africans under apartheid. (heart attack) b. March 4th 1932.
2008: Wannes Van de Velde (71) Flemish singer, musician, poet and artist (?) b. April 29th 1937.
2010: Tony West (72) British bassist and founder member of the Liverpool rock and roll band The Searchers. The band was formed in 1957, it grew out of an earlier skiffle group formed by Tony, John McNally, and guitarist Brian Dolan. Tony left the band in 1960. In 1976 Tony established the highly successful Tony West Entertainment Agency in Liverpool arranging venues and supplying acts throughout Britain until his death (died peacefully in his sleep during the night at his Hightown home) b. 1931
2010: Lee Harper (65) American jazz trumpeter, born in Camp Le Jeune; he left this day job in late '71, to play professionally, most of 1972 he played in Seattle before moving to Europe late that year. His first locations were Paris, Salzburg and Munich, where he played with Günter Lenz, Al Porcino, Bobby Jones, Catharina Valente, Benny Bailey, Mal Waldron, Sal Nistico, Joe Haider, Boško Petrovic, Art Farmer, Charly Antolini, Bob Wilber, Billy Brooks, Allan Praskin, etc. In the Munich years he also appeared in several jazz recordings. In late 1979 Lee met Erich Kleinschuster and moved to Vienna to work in Erich's quintett and the Austrian Radio (ORF) Big-Band. In the Vienna years he worked with many great musicians, including Thad Jones, Leo Wright, Hans Koller, Fritz Pauer, Ernie Wilkins, Art Farmer, Paul Kuhn, Karl Ratzer, and Aladar Pege. In late 1985 Lee moved to Salzburg, where he lived till his death. He further played with Rudi Wilfer, Barbara Dennerlein, Charlie Mariano, Jarek Smietana, Renato Chicco, Carl Drevo, Frankfurt Jazz Connection, Robert Bonisolo, Connexion Latina, Heinz von Hermann, Alex Meik, Russ Spiegel, Karen Edwards, Franz Trattner, Wolfgang Pointner, Buddy Cattlet, Hadley Caliman, Al Cohn, Bill Elgart, Wayne Darling and Lee Harper's Little Big Band (sadly died of a heart attack) b. February 27th 1945.
2012: Geneviere "Bong" Pascasio (?) Filipino rock singer-songwriter, tatoo artist and member of the novelty rock band Grin Department. The band came to fame in the 1990s and released 4 albums. Among their hit songs were “Barkada” and “Miss U” (sadly died fighting colon cancer) b.????

November 11 .
1945: Jerome David Kern (60) American composer of musical theatre and popular music. One of the most important American theatre composers of the early 20th century, he wrote more than 700 songs, used in over 100 stage works, including such classics as "Ol' Man River", "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man", "A Fine Romance", "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes", "All the Things You Are", "The Way You Look Tonight", "Long Ago (and Far Away)" and "Who?". He collaborated with many of the leading librettists and lyricists of his era, including George Grossmith Jr., Guy Bolton, P. G. Wodehouse, Otto Harbach, Oscar Hammerstein II, Dorothy Fields, Johnny Mercer, Ira Gershwin and E. Y. Harburg. He was nominated 8 times for Academy Awards, winning 2 for "The Way You Look Tonight" in 1936 and "The Last Time I Saw Paris" in 1941 and Jerome was was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame posthumously, in 1970. (he suffered a cerebral hemorrhage while walking at the south west corner of Park Avenue and 57th street, identifiable only by his ASCAP card, he was initially taken to the indigent ward at City Hospital, later transferred to Doctors Hospital in Manhattan, where he sadly died) b. January 27th 1885.
1968: Jeanne Marie-Madeleine Demessieux () French organist, pianist, composer, and pedagogue born in Montpellier, southern France. She entered the Montpellier Conservatory in 1928 and in 1932, she obtained first prizes in solfège and piano. In 1933, Jeanne Demessieux was enrolled as student at the Paris Conservatory; studying piano with Simon Riera and Magda Tagliaferro, harmony with Jean Gallon, counterpoint and fugue with Noël Gallon, and composition with Henri Büsser. She had a prodigious memory, she had memorized more than 2,500 works, including the complete organ works of Johann Sebastian Bach, César Franck, Franz Liszt, Felix Mendelssohn and Marcel Dupré. Jeanne made numerous recordings, including the complete organ works of César Franck, which was awarded the Grand Prix du Disque in 1960 (died due to an embolism) b. February 13th 1921.
1972: Berry Oakley (24) American bassist and one of the founding members of The Allman Brothers Band. He was known for his long, melodic bass runs underneath Duane Allman and Dicky Betts' furious guitar soloing. "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed" and "Whipping Post" from the At Fillmore East live album capture Oakley at his best (died in a motorcycle accident at the same intersection as his friend and former band member Duane Allman, who had died a year earlier) b. April 4th 1948.
1977: Greta Keller (74) Austrian cabaret singer and actress; For over 45 years, her voice a legend-in radio shows, films, revues, concerts and musicals, but above all her records circled the globe. First called 'The Great Lady Of Chanson' in her native Vienna, it followed her to London and America. Her voice featured in the Oscar-winning movie, Cabaret, singing the song, "Heirat", she also appeared on Stage with Marlene Dietrich in "Broadway", in which she sang and danced. (?) b. February 8th 1903.
1979: Dimitri Zinovievich Tiomkin (85) Ukrainian film score composer and conductor, he became a U.S. citizen in 1937. He scored American movies like Frank Capra's Lost Horizon- 1937; It's a Wonderful Life- 1946; and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington- 1939. He also worked on Cyrano de Bergerac-1950; Fred Zinnemann's High Noon-1952, for which he received a Best Song Oscar for “Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darlin'”/“The Ballad of High Noon”; Giant-1956; Friendly Persuasion-1956; Gunfight at the O.K. Corral -1957; Rio Bravo-1959; and The Alamo-1960. He also composed the music for Land of the Pharaohs - 1955; The Guns of Navarone -1961; Town Without Pity-1961; 55 Days at Peking-1963), The Fall of the Roman Empire-1964; and The War Wagon -1967, to mention a few. Dimitri also scored four films for Alfred Hitchcock: Shadow of a Doubt-1943, Strangers on a Train-1951, I Confess-1953, and Dial M for Murder-1954 (sadly died while in London, UK) b. May 10th 1894.
1983: Arno Harutyuni Babajanian (62) Soviet Armenian composer and pianist, People's Artist of the Armenian SSR -1956 and Soviet Union -1971. Born in Yerevan, Armenia, he went on to be a laureate of two Stalin State Prizes of the USSR 1951 and 1953 and honoured with two Armenian SSR State Prizes in 1967 and 1983. Much of his music is rooted in Armenian folk music and folklore. But generally, the way in which he uses Armenian folk music is in the virtuosic style of Rachmaninov and Khachaturian. His later works were influenced by Prokofiev and Bartók. He is also a noted pianist and often performed his own works in concerts. (?) b. January 22nd 1921.
1988: William Ifor Jones (88) Welsh conductor and organist raised in Merthyr Tydfil, he studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London from 1920 to 1925. He was for a time organist at the Welsh Baptist Church in Castle Street, London, worked at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and assisted with the British National Opera Company in the role of prompter. He emigrated to America in early 1930, where he taught at the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore, MD, and at Rutgers University - Douglas College in New Brunswick, NJ. While at Rutgers, he formed a glee club and also performed the complete Organ Works of Johann Sebastian Bach. In 1939, he made his debut as the third Conductor of The Bach Choir of Bethlehem with who he stayed until he retired in 1969, he also conducted The Choir and members of The Philadelphia Orchestra 1948-56. (?) b. January 23rd 1900.
1993: Erskine Hawkins (79) American trumpet player and big band leader; dubbed "The 20th Century Gabriel". He is most remembered as the composer of the jazz standard, "Tuxedo Junction" -1939, which became a popular hit during World War II. Vocalists who were featured with his orchestra include Ida James, Delores Brown and Della Reese. In 1978 he became one of the first five artists inducted into the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame and 1989, he was inducted into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame. From 1967 to 1989 he was trumpeter and band leader at the show nightclub in The Concord Resort Hotel, Kiamesha Lake, New York (?) b. July 26th 1914.
1998: Patrick Clancy (76) Irish folk singer best known as a member of the group The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem. After WW2 he went travelling to South America and ended up in New York. In 1955 Pat's younger brother Liam Clancy immigrated to New York, and met up with Tommy Makem, also from Ireland, they all teamed up and formed The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem. The group achieved phenomenal success in America after an appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show" which led to a contract with Columbia Records. They performed together for about eight years until Makem left the group to pursue a solo career. Patrick returned to Ireland to live in Carrick-on-Suir and bought a dairy farm. (died after a battle with cancer) b. March 7th 1922.
2004: Pete Jolly/Peter Ceragioli Jr (72) American jazz keyboardist, accordionist, pianist; best known for his performance of various TV themes, his music can be heard on television programs such as Get Smart, The Love Boat, I Spy, Mannix, M*A*S*H, and Dallas, as well as hundreds of movie soundtracks. With the Pete Jolly Trio, and also as a solo artist, he recorded several albums, the last in 2000, a collaboration with Jan Lundgren. He also worked with other notable jazz artists, including Art Pepper, Buddy DeFranco, and Red Norvo, and for many years with EZ music arranger and director Ray Conniff. (complications of bone marrow cancer) b. June 5th 1932.
2007: John Petersen (65) American drummer with The Beau Brummels appearing on their hits including "Laugh, Laugh" and "Just a Little", and appeared with the band in the 1965 sci-fi/comedy movie Village of the Giants. In late '66, he left the Beau Brummels for the band Tikis, who were in the process of changing their name to Harpers Bizarre. The group broke up in 1970, but John returned for a reunion album in 1976 and for occasional reunions with the Beau Brummels. In 1975, he played with and recorded on the band's self-titled album. He went on to become a successful producer (sadly died of a heart attack) b. January 8th 1942. (some sources give John's birthdate as 1945 .. which would make him 62 at the time oof his death)
2009: Tom Merriman (??) American music composer and jingle writer based in Dallas, Texas, who in 1955 created the first production company specializing in radio station advertising campaigns and jingles. Merriman led the Liberty Network Band, and arranged and/or produced music for Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington and Cab Calloway. In addition, Merriman created many national advertising jingles, corporate musical shows, Las Vegas shows, and theme park ride music. The companies that since 1967 have born his initials have had several incarnations; the latest is TM Studios (Sadly died after several months of declining health) b. ????
2010: Tony Edwards (78) British band manager of the British rock band, Deep Purple. He looked after the band from 1967-76 until they split. He was also instrumental in their early success and came up with the name of the band who were originally called Roundabout. Quote:"Without Tony Edwards there would be no Deep Purple" - Ritchie Blackmore (?) b. 1932.
2011: Michael Garrick (78) English jazz pianist and composer born in Enfield, Middlesex, he formed his first quartet, featuring vibraphonist Peter Shade while at University College, London, from which he graduated in 1959 with a B.A. in English literature. After which he became the musical director of the roadshow "Poetry & Jazz in Concert". He came to special prominence in the British contemporary jazz world initially as the pianist with the Don Rendell–Ian Carr quintet from 1965 to 1969, and led his own sextet from 1966. He is perhaps best known for his jazz-choral works, the first of which he started in 1967 Jazz Praises. Aside from his performing, recording, and composing, he was heavily involved in jazz education, and held teaching posts at the Royal Academy of Music and at Trinity College of Music, London. His own record label Jazz Academy Records features many albums by his Michael Garrick Jazz Orchestra and has trio, solo, quartet and other small groupings, some including singers Norma Winstone, Anita Wardell and Jacqui Dankworth. Michael was appointed MBE in the 2010 Birthday Honours (sadly died after suffering heart problems for some years) b. May 30th 1933
2012: John Napier (?) American singer with Ethyl Meatplow, an American alternative/industrial music band best known for their album, Happy Days, Sweetheart, released in 1993 by Dali Records. The album's songs "Devil's Johnson," "Queenie" and "Ripened Peach" were made into music videos. After Ethyl Meatplow, John started the label Basura! and headed another band, Buccinator. He was also in the band E. Coli which released an album, To Drool and a touring member of Nitzer Ebb for several of their U.S. and European tours for their "Big Hit" album. He eventually took a break from music; went back to school and received his Bachelors and Masters degrees in Social Work from Humboldt State University (sadly his death was drug related) b. ????

November 12 .
1972: Rudolf Friml (93) Czech composer of operettas, musicals, songs and piano pieces, as well as being a pianist. After musical training and a brief performing career in his native Prague, he moved to the United States, where he became a composer. His best-known works are Rose-Marie and The Vagabond King, each of which enjoyed success on Broadway and in London and were adapted for film. His last stage musical was Music Hath Charms in 1934. In 1967, Rudolf performed in a special concert at the Curran Theatre in San Francisco, he began with a piano improvisation, then played special arrangements of his own compositions as well as composers who had influenced him (?) b. December 7th 1879
1976: Walter Piston (82) American composer of classical music, music theorist and influential professor of music at Harvard University whose many students included Leroy Anderson, Leonard Bernstein, and Elliott Carter. Born in Rockland, Maine his works included orchestral, band, concertante, piano, organ, chamber/instrumental, and choral, Hiss only ballet work, The Incredible Flutist, was written for the Boston Pops Orchestra. (?) b. January 20th 1894
1983: Preston Jackson/James Preston McDonald (81) American trombonist; played and-or recorded with Tig Chambers, Al Simone, Eli Rice, and Art Sims, Bernie Young and his Creole Jazz Band, Richard M. Jones, Dave Peyton, Erskine Tate, Benny Waters, Louis Armstrong, Half Pint Jaxon, Carroll Dickerson, Jimmy Bell, Jimmie Noone, Roy Eldridge, Walter Barnes, Johnny Long, Johnny Dodds and Zilner Randolph's W.P.A. Band among others as well as having his own band (?) b. January 3rd 1902.
1985: Dicky Wells (78) American jazz trombonist born in Centerville, Tennessee. He moved to New York City in 1926, and became a member of the Lloyd Scott band. He played with Count Basie between 1938-1945 and 1947-1950 and he also played with Cecil Scott, Spike Hughes, Fletcher Henderson, Benny Carter, Teddy Hill, Jimmy Rushing, Buck Clayton and Ray Charles. In his later years, he suffered a severe beating that affected his memory, happily he recovered and continued to perform. He played frequently at the West End jazz club at 116th and Broadway, most often with a band called The Countsmen, led by alto saxophonist Earle Warren, his colleague from Count Basie days. A trademark was Dicky's "pepper pot" mute which he made himself (?) b. November 12th 1985.
1997: Carlos Surinach (82) Catalan Spanish-born composer and conductor, born in Barcelona, where he conducted the Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona and the Gran Teatre del Liceu. He studied composition at the Barcelona Conservatory, then went to Germany, where he studied in Berlin with Max Trapp and Richard Strauss, taking five of Strauss's seminars. In 1948 his opera ''El mozo que caso con mujer brava'' premiered in Barcelona. In 1951, he emigrated to the America, where he became a successful composer for the dance. He became a U.S. citizen in 1959. He composed three ballet scores for the renowned choreographer Martha Graham: Embattled Garden-1958, Acrobats of God-1960 and The Owl and the Pussycat-1978. He also composed Feast of Ashes for the Joffrey Ballet (?) b. March 4th 1915.
2000: Franck Pourcel (87) French orchestra leader and violinist; he studied violin at the Conservatoire in Marseille, led several jazz ensembles, including the French Fiddlers, and spent a year in Paris at the Conservatoire. By 1931 he was working as a violinist at the Théâtre des Variétés in Marseille, he then became the musical director for Yves Montand and Lucienne Boyer, with whom he went on a world tour. In 1953 he recorded "Blue Tango" and the follow up "Limelight". By 1958 Franck commenced recording classical music. His series of Pages Célèbres led to him conduct the London Symphony Orchestra, The Society of Concerts for the Conservatoirte, The BBC Orchestra, and the Lamoureux Orchestra at the Salle Pleyel in Paris. In 1962 he co-composed with Paul Mauriat and Raymond Lefèvre the hit, "Chariot", which was recorded by Petula Clark and followed up by Peggy March as "I Will Follow Him", which became the main theme for the film, Sister Act. (Parkinson's disease) b. August 11th 1913.
2001: Albert Hague (81) German born songwriter and actor, born in Berlin; he went to America in 1939 on scholarship to the University of Cincinnati. After graduating in 1942, he served in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. His Broadway Musicals include Plain and Fancy-1955, Redhead-1959 and The Fig Leaves Are Falling-1969, with lyrics by Allan Sherman. Famous songs he wrote include "Young and Foolish", "Look Who's in Love", and "Did I Ever Really Live?". He was also the composer for the TV musical cartoon, How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Albert also appeared on the TV series Fame, where he played Mr. Shorofsky, the music teacher, a part he originated in the film of the same name (sadly lost his battle with cancer at a hospital in Marina del Rey, California ) b. October 13th 1920.
2003: Tony Thompson (48) International session drummer with Rod Stewart, David Bowey, Diana Ross, Debbie Harry, Sister Sledge, Mick Jagger & manymore. He is best known for his work with Chic. In 2005 Tony and the Chic band members were inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame.(died within a month of being diagnosed with kidney cancer, just 3 days before his 49th birthday) b. November 15th 1954.
2008: Mitch Mitchell (61) English drummer of the legendary Jimi Hendrix Experience, he was the last surviving member of the power trio which proved one of the most influential bands in the history of rock music. As well as playing in the Jimi Hendrix Experience and he played and/or recorded with the likes of Martha Velez, Junior Brown, Greg Parker, Bruce Cameron, Roger Chapman, Billy Cox, Buddy Miles, Jack Bruce among others>>>READ MORE<<< (He had just finished a coast to coast tour across America, and due to fly home to the UK, but was found dead that morning in his hotel bedroom at Portland, Oregon, Officals say he died of natural causes) b. July 9th 1947.
2010: Henryk Górecki (76) Polish composer of contemporary classical music in the village of Czernica; he studied at the State Higher School of Music in Katowice between 1955 and 1960. In 1968, he joined the faculty and rose to provost before resigning in 1979. Henryk became a leading figure of the Polish avant-garde during the post-Stalin cultural thaw. His Webernian-influenced serialist works of the 1950s and 1960s were characterized by adherence to dissonant modernism and drew influence from Luigi Nono, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Krzysztof Penderecki and Kazimierz Serocki. He continued in this direction throughout the 1960s, but by the mid 1970s had changed to a less complex sacred minimalist sound, exemplified by the transitional Symphony No. 2 and the hugely popular Symphony No. 3 (Symphony of Sorrowful Songs). This later style developed through several other distinct phases, from such works as his 1979 Beatus Vir, to the choral 1981 hymn Miserere, the 1993 Kleines Requiem für eine Polka and his requiem Good Night (sadly died after a long illness) b. December 6th 1933.
2011: Doyle Bramhall (62) American drummer and singer-songwriter Doyle Bramhall was born and raised in Dallas, Texas and while still at high school, he and Jimmie Vaughan formed The Chessmen. The highly talented band opened for Jimi Hendrix when he played Dallas. In 1969, he moved to Austin and formed the band Texas Storm, with his friend Jimmie Vaughan and in the 70s, he founded The Nightcrawlers with Marc Benno, >>> READ MORE <<< (Doyle sadly passed away in his sleep of heart failure) b. February 17th 1949.
2012: Bob French (74) American jazz drummer and radio show host at WWOZ, born in New Orleans; he organized an R&B band in high school that included James Booker, Art Neville, Charles Neville (of The Neville Brothers), and Kidd Jordan, and Alvin Batiste. In the 1960s he recorded with Earl King and Fats Domino. He has also played and recorded with Dave Bartholomew. Bob led The Tuxedo Jazz Band from 1977 until his death in 2012. The Tuxedo Jazz Band was formerly led by Oscar "Papa" Celestin and later by Bob's father, Albert "Papa" French from 1958 to 1977 (sadly Bob passed away with dementia and diabetes) b. 1938

November 13 .
1967: Harriet Cohen CBE (61) British pianist born in London, Harriet studied piano at the Royal Academy of Music under Tobias Matthay, having won the Ada Lewis scholarship at the age of 12. She was particularly associated with J. S. Bach's music: a few composers wrote music specifically for her, particularly her lover, Sir Arnold Bax, who wrote most of his piano pieces for her, including music for David Lean's 1948 film version of Oliver Twist. He also composed Concertino for Left Hand for her after she lost the use of her right hand in 1948. The Harriet Cohen International Music Award was introduced in her honour in 1951 (?) b. December 2nd 1895.
1973: Jerry Lee Lewis Jr (19) American drummer in his father's band (car accident) b.1954
1987: Harold Vick (51) American hard bop and soul jazz saxophonist and flautist born in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, probably better known for his work with musicians like Grant Green, Jack McDuff, Jimmy McGriff and Shirley Scott, among a host of others. He also played with Nat Adderley, Aretha Franklin, Dizzy Gillespie, Mercer Ellington, Sarah Vaughan, Billy Taylor, Shirley Scott, Donald Byrd, Jimmy Smith and Jack McDuff. Harold played in films such as Stardust Memories and Cotton Club, in which he played a musician; was in the Spike Lee film School Days; and featured on the soundtrack for She's Gotta Have It. hey (?) b. April 3rd 1936.
1988: Antal Dorati (82) Hungarian conductorborn in Budapest, he studied at the Franz Liszt Academy with Béla Bartók for piano, his links with Bartók continued for many years: he conducted the world premiere of Bartók's Viola Concerto, as completed by Tibor Serly, with the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra in 1949, with William Primrose as the soloist. He made his conducting debut in 1924 with the Budapest Royal Opera. As well as composing original works, he compiled and arranged pieces by Johann Strauss II for the ballet Graduation Ball, which he conducted the world premiere in Sydney in 1940, during the 1939-1940 Australian tour by the "Original Ballets Russes", as well as Jacques Offenbach's La belle Hélène and Bluebeard, and Modest Mussorgsky's The Fair at Sorochyntsi. His autobiography, Notes of Seven Decades, was published in 1979. In 1983, Queen Elizabeth II made Antal an honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (?) b. April 9th 1906.
1988: Jaromír Vejvoda (86) Czech composer, he learned to play the fiddle and flugelhorn in a band led by his father. Later he played these instruments in a military band and started to compose in the 1920s. He was the author of the "Beer Barrel Polka", and he wrote many other hits, such as Kdyby ty muziky nebyly/"If those bands did not exist" and Já ráda tancuju/"I love to dance" (?) b. March 28th 1902.
1992: Ronnie Bond/Ronald James Bullis (52) British drummer born in Andover, Hampshire, he was a founding member of the rock band, The Troggs, originally called The Troglodytes. They had hits in the UK and the USA. Their songs include, "Wild Thing", "Anyway That You Want Me", "Love Is All Around" and "With a Girl Like You". The Troggs Billboard Hot 100 chart topper "Wild Thing" is ranked #257 on the Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, and was an influence on garage rock and punk rock. Many of their hits have also been successful as covers, such as Jimi Hendrix with Wild Thing, Wet Wet Wet and REM with love Is All Around, and Spiritualized with "Anyway That You Want Me". Iggy Pop, The Buzzcocks and The Ramones are amongst punk bands who cited the Troggs as an influence. Ronnie also released a solo single "Anything For You" (?) b. May 4th 1940.
1996: Bill Doggett (80) US pianist born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At 15, he had joined a combo, playing local theaters and clubs while attending high school. In 1947, he joined the Louis Jordan's Tympany Five as pianist pianist, it was here that he first achieved success playing the Hammond organ and in 1950 he is reputed to have written one of Jordan's biggest hits, "Saturday Night Fish Fry", for which Jordan claimed the writing credit. In 1951, Bill organized his own trio, his best known recording is "Honky Tonk," a rhythm and blues hit of 1956 which sold four million copies, and which he co-wrote with Billy Butler. He won the Cash Box award for best rhythm and blues performer in 1957, 1958, and 1959. He also arranged for many bandleaders and performers, including Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald, and Lionel Hampton. He continued to play and arrange until his death (died of a heart attack in New York City) b. February 16th 1916.
1999: Donald Mills (84) American lead tenor and member of the jazz and pop vocal quartet The Mills Brothers who made more than 2,000 recordings that combined sold more than 50 million copies, and garnered at least three dozen gold records. Their songs included "Tiger Rag", "Goodbye Blues", their theme song, "You're Nobody's Sweetheart Now", "Ole Rockin' Chair", "Lazy River", "How'm I Doin'", "Lazy Bones", "Sweet Sue", "Lulu's Back in Town", "Bye-Bye Blackbird", "Sleepy Head", "Shoe Shine Boy" and others. In 1934, The Mills Brothers became the first African-Americans to give a command performance before British royalty. They performed at the Regal Theatre for a special audience to King George V, Queen Mary, and their mother. The Mills Brothers were inducted into The Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1998 (?) b. April 29th 1915
2002: Sir Roland Hanna (70) American jazz pianist born in Detroit, Michigan ; a style diverse enough to fit into swing, bop, and more adventurous settings. He studied at Eastman School of Music and Juilliard School. He worked with several big names, such as Benny Goodman and Charles Mingus, in the 1950s although only briefly in both cases. From 1967 to 1974 he was a regular member of the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra. During the 1970s he was a member of the New York Jazz Quartet. Roland was given an honory knighthood by the President of Liberia in 1970 in recognition for a series of concerts held to benefit Liberian children, thus the "Sir" (Roland sadly died from a heart attack) b. February 10th 1932.
2004: John Balance (42) English multi-musician and artist born in Mansfield; he was the founder and half of the experimental music group Coil. He was responsible for vocals, lyrics, chants, synthetics and various esoteric sound-making instruments and devices. Prior to this John's first known track is under the alias "Merderwerkers" titled "Blue Funk (Scars For E)" on the Sterile Records. He also published a magazine called "Stabmental" and released a track titled, "A Thin Veil Of Blood" under the alias Stabmental, after which he joined up with Peter Christopherson and Boyd Rice recording Nightmare Culture under the alias "The Sickness of Snakes" and performed alongside Christopherson in Psychic TV before the duo formed Coil. (lost his balance & tipped over the banisters at his home while under the influence of alcohol) b. February 16th 1962.
2004: Ol' Dirty Bastard /Russell Tyrone Jones (35) American rap artist born in Brooklyn, New York City, he was one of the founding members of the hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan in 1992. After establishing the Wu-Tang Clan, in 1995, Ol' Dirty Bastard went on to a successful solo career, although sometimes hampered by legal troubles. March 28th 1995, he released Return to the 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version' which produced the hit singles "Brooklyn Zoo" and "Shimmy Shimmy Ya", the album went to platinum status. In 1997, he appeared on the Wu-Tang Clan's second and most commercially successful work, the double album Wu-Tang Forever. During the 1998 Video Music Awards, he performed "Ghetto Supastar (That Is What You Are)" onstage with Pras, Mya. Between jail sentences he released his 'Nigga Please' albums this produced the single "Got Your Money". In 2003 he starred in a VH1 special, Inside Out: Ol' Dirty Bastard Life on Parole. He also managed to record a new album, originally scheduled to be released through Dame Dash Music Group in 2004; it was shelved indefinitely (collapsed and died of a drug overdose at a Manhattan recording studio in New York shortly after complaining of chest pain) b. November 15th 1968.
2007: Erik Kurmangaliev (47) Russian-Kazakh opera singer, actor and a leading public figure in Russia's perestroika music scene.; debuted in 1980 at the Leningrad Philharmonia. He later performed in Alfred Shnitke's Second Symphony and "Dr. Faust" cantata during his career. His career reached his peak when he teamed up with director Roman Viktyuk in the early 1990s, when he appeared in the Russian language version of David Hwang's M. Butterfly. He made his last appearance in film appearance in Rustam Khamdanov's "Vocal Parallels" (Erik sadly died fighting a liver infection) b. December 31st 1959.
2011: Diego Rivas aka El Guaruras (31) Mexican singer, born in Culiacan, Sinaloa state, and started singing in school contests. He later joined the band Arriba Mi Sinaloa, but split from them in 2006, after which he formed and performed with his own band Los Guaruras. He also had an online presence with a radio station. Diego was a singer of narcocorridos - songs glorifying drug traffickers. One of his songs is an ode to Joaquín Guzmán Loera, Mexico's most wanted drug lord. Other hits include "El Estándar", "Soy yo", "Dos celulares", "El Amor no se vende" among others (Diego and two companions were killed with an AK-47 in a drive-by shooting in Culiacan) b. May 18th 1980.
2011: Yvonne "Dixie" Fasnacht (101) American jazz singer, clarinetist and New Orleans' French Quarter club owner. She toured with the Southland Rhythm Girls, playing Dixieland Jazz in the 1930s. In 1939, she and her sister Irma opened the first of several jazz bars in New Orleans, all bearing the name Dixie's. Her Bourbon Street edition Dixie's Bar Of Music, was described as a place where rich and poor, famous and not, gay and straight felt totally comfortable. Truman Capote, Rock Hudson, Tennessee Williams, Danny Kaye and Gore Vidal were among those who visited the bar and it was one of the first that catered openly to gays. Dixie lived in her apartment on Bourbon Street, well into her 90s, still dying her hair red and dressing elegantly (?) b. July 7th 1910.

November 14 .
1944: Carl Flesch (71) Hungarian violinist, and teacher; born in Moson; he began playing the violin at seven years of age. At 10, he was taken to Vienna, and began to study with Jakob Grün. At 17 years old, he left for Paris and joined the Paris Conservatoire. He settled in Berlin, and in 1934 went to live in London. He was known for his solo performances in a very wide range of repertoire from Baroque music to contemporary, gaining fame as a chamber music performer. He also taught at Bucharest 1897-1902, Amsterdam 1903-08, Philadelphia 1924-28 and the Berlin High School for Music 1929-34. Carl published a number of instructional books, including the 1923 'Die Kunst des Violin-Spiels' (?) b. October 9th 1873.
1946: Manuel de Falla y Matheu (69) Spanish composer of classical music, born in Cádiz. He became interested in native Andalusian music, particularly Andalusian flamenco, specifically cante jondo, the influence of which can be strongly felt in many of his works. His first important work was the one-act opera La vida breve/Life is Short or The Brief Life, written in 1905, premiered in 1913. Manuel spent 1907 to 1914 in Paris, where he met composers who had an influence on his style, including the impressionists Maurice Ravel, Claude Debussy and Paul Dukas. From 1921 to 1939 Manuel lived in Granada, where he organized the Concurso de Cante Jondo in 1922. In Granada he wrote the puppet opera El retablo de maese Pedro/Master Peter's Puppet Show and a concerto for harpsichord and chamber ensemble. He continued to work after moving to Argentina in 1939, following Francisco Franco's victory in the Spanish Civil War (?) b. November 23rd 1876.
1968: Hilton Jefferson (65) American jazz alto saxophonist born in Danbury, CT; perhaps best-known for leading the saxophone section from 1940-1949 in the Cab Calloway band. In 1929 Jefferson began his professional career with Claude Hopkins, and throughout the '30s was busy working for the big bands of McKinney's Cotton Pickers, Chick Webb, and Fletcher Henderson. From 1952-53 Hilton performed with Duke Ellington. In the 50s he continued to perform, especially with Rex Stewart and former members of the Fletcher Henderson band (?) b. July 30th 1903.
1977: Richard Stewart Addinsell (74) British composer, best known for film music, notably his Warsaw Concerto, composed for the 1941 film Dangerous Moonlight, also known under the later title Suicide Squadron. Other film credits include Goodbye Mr. Chips-1939; Gaslight-1940; Blithe Spirit-1945; Tom Brown's Schooldays-1951; Scrooge-1951; The Prince and the Showgirl-1957; A Tale of Two Cities-1958; Beau Brummell-1955 and Life at the Top in 1965. In 1932, with Clemence Dane, he wrote the incidental music for the Broadway adaptation of Alice in Wonderland. He collaborated from 1942 with Joyce Grenfell, for her West End revues including 'Tuppence Coloured', 'Penny Plain' and her one-woman shows. He also wrote among many other works the orchestral piece 'Southern Rhapsody', which was played every morning at the start of TV broadcasts by the former Southern Television company in south of England from 1958 to 1981 (?) b. January 13th 1904.
1992: George Rufus Adams (52) American jazz tenor saxophonist, flutist and clarinet player, born in Covington, Georgia, also known for his idiosyncratic singing. At high school he was playing tenor in funk bands and in 1961, he toured with Sam Cooke, then in '63 he moved to Ohio where he played with organ based groups. He relocated to New York in 1968, where he played with Roy Haynes, Gil Evans, and Art Blakey, among others. George also co-led a quartet with pianist Don Pullen. One of his last recordings was America on the Blue Note label. The album consists of classic American songs like "Tennessee Waltz", "You Are My Sunshine" and "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" as well as a few original songs that articulate his surprisingly positive view of his country and the gifts it had given him. It also includes "The Star Spangled Banner" and "America the Beautiful" (?) b. April 29th 1940.
1992: Theodore "Teddy" Riley (68) American jazz trumpet player and bandleader born in New Orleans, Louisiana, where he would spend most of his career; Mostly known for playing jazz, he also worked and recorded with various Rhythm & Blues bands. Artists and groups he worked with included Fats Domino, Champion Jack Dupree, The Dookie Chase Orchestra, Roy Brown's Band, The Olympia Brass Band, The Williams Brass Band, and The Royal Brass Band. In 1971 Teddy played on the cornet used by Louis Armstrong in his youth for the New Orleans ceremonies marking Armstrong's death (?) b. May 10th 1924.
2002: Elena Nikolaidi (93) Turkish-born American mezzo-soprano opera singer who went on to sing leading roles with major opera companies worldwide and made numerous recordings. She made her US operatic debut as Amneris in Verdi's Aïda with the San Francisco Opera and reprised the role for her Metropolitan Opera debut in 1951. In the early 60s she retired from opera but continued concertizing e for a number of years. In 1960 Elena accepted a position on the voice faculty of Florida State University in Tallahassee. In 1977 she went to Houston, Texas, as the primary voice instructor for the newly established Houston Opera Studio, a young-artist training program that was at that time a joint venture of Houston Grand Opera and the University of Houston (?) b. June 14th 1909.
2004: Gene Anthony Ray (41) American actor, dancer, vocalist and choreographer, born in Harlem, New York. He was best known for his portrayal of the street smart dancer Leroy in the 1980 film Fame and the TV spin-off which aired from '82 until '87. In 1987 he played Billy Nolan in the musical adaptation of Carrie by Stephen King in the original opening in Stratford-Upon-Avon which closed after less than a month, he then transferred to Broadway and continued to play the role until the musical closed after only five public performances (Gene died of a stroke, sadly due to aids) b. May 24th 1962.
2004: Michel Colombier (65) French composer, songwriter and conductor born in Lyon, by 14 years, he had discovered jazz and was performing with small combos and big bands. At 22 years, he was hired as musical director of Barclay Records, his first assignment was to arrange Charles Aznavour's first album in English for release in the US. He composed the music for 'Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme'at the Comédie-Française, his only creation for stage. Michel entered the world of ballet with one of Maurice Béjart's masterpieces, "Messe Pour Le Temps Present", co-written with Pierre Henry, he also co-write for many years with Serge Gainsbourg. Michel worked with an extremely diversified array of artists, including the Beach Boys, Barbra Streisand, Wind & Fire, Supertramp, Quincy Jones, Roberta Flack, Johnny Mathis, Neil Diamond, Herbie Hancock, Charles Aznavour, Jean-Luc Ponty, Brigitte Fontaine, Catherine Deneuve, Herb Alpert, Earth, Joni Mitchell, Jeanne Moreau, Stephane Grappelli, David Sanborn, Branford Marsalis, Bobby McFerrin, Madonna and Jaco Pastorius to mention a few. He also wrote the music for more than twenty ballets, and worked with some of the world's greatest dance companies and choreographers (sadly died of cancer) b. May 23rd 1939.
2007: Bud Mills (40) American drummer and a founder member of the death metal band Insanity. It was formed in 1985 in the San Francisco Bay Area and unleashed some of the most intensely brutal death metal of that time. Bud created the 1-1 drum beat that was faster than the fastest thrash beat used at the time. (sadly died after a brave battle with esophageal cancer) b. April 17th 1967.
2011: Jackie Leven aka Sir Vincent Lone (61) Scottish folk musician and songwriter, born in Kirkcaldy, Fife. he started his musical career in the late 1960s under the pseudonym "John St Field", and recorded an album, 'Control', between 1973-1975. He found success with new wave band Doll by Doll which he formed in '77, releasing 4 albums between 1979-1982; after which he launched his solo career. He suffered a street assault and near strangulation during the recording of his first solo album in 1984, which left him unable to speak for nearly two years. During this time he sadly became addicted to heroin. In 1994 and thankfully clean, his solo career restarted with the release of the mini-album Songs from the Argyll Cycle and the full-album The Mystery of Love is Greater than the Mystery of Death. He went on to release more than twenty albums under his own name or under the pseudonym Sir Vincent Lone (sadly Jackie died battling lung cancer) b. June 18th 1950.
2011: Laura Kennedy (?) American musician and original bassist with the post-punk band Bush Tetras. The group scored two dance hits in the U.S. with "Too Many Creeps" peaking at No.57 Dance in 1981, and "Can't Be Funky / Cowboys In Africa" peaking at No.32 in 1982 (sadly passed away due to complications from Hepatitis C) b. ????.
2011: Lee Pockriss (87) American songwriter born in Brooklyn; along with Paul Vance he co-wrote "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini", recorded in 1960 by Brian Hyland; the Grammy-nominated "Catch a Falling Star", recorded in 1957 by Perry Como; and the 1969 hit, "Tracy", recorded by The Cuff Links. He also wrote Anita Bryant's "My Little Corner of the World", Shelley Fabares' "Johnny Angel" recorded in 1962, and the Clint Holmes song "Playground In My Mind". With lyricist Anne Croswell he wrote the songs for the Broadway musical Tovarich, which received a Grammy nomination for Original Cast Album. He and Croswell have also collaborated on the frequently produced Ernest in Love and Bodo. Lee also wrote the music for the musicals Wonderful Olly, Dolley Madison, and Divorce Of Course.He wrote seven original songs for MGM's full length animated film The Phantom Tollbooth, scored the film The Subject Was Roses and wrote the title songs for One, Two, Three and the Western classic, Stagecoach. In the 1980s, Lee wrote several songs for the children's educational series Sesame Street, including "My Polliwog Ways"-Kermit the Frog, "Transylvania Love Call"-Count von Count, and "My Rock"-Bert (sadly died after a long illness) b. January 20th 1924.
2012: Roger Herrera (80) Filipino bassist, he started playing jazz at age 23, in Japan. In the 1962 Jazz Critics Poll of Downbeat Magazine, Roger Herrera was voted one of the world’s best bass players, along with Charles Mingus, Ray Brown and Ron Carter. He toured around the world and performed twice at the prestigious Monterey Jazz Fest with the legendary Filipino pianist Romy Posadas. Roger was scheduled to perform at the 2012 Filipino-American Jazz Festival at Catalina Bar & Grill but backed out a month ago because of failing health. At the Fest the “Works of the Masters” segment will be dedicated in his honor... an Emil Mijares arrangement of “Waiting for Waits,” originally performed in 1984 at the Folks Arts Theater, where Roger played bass; and an original tune by Angel Pena, “Bass-ically Yours,” composed in his honor. (sadly died of pneumonia) b. January 8th 1932
2012: Martin Fay (76) Irish fiddler and bones player, born in Cabra, Dublin; he was inspired to learn to play violin after seeing a film about celebrated violinist-composer, Paganini and went on to win a scolarship to the Dublin Municipal School of Music. Martin got his first job with a six-piece orchestra that played music at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin, before joining the traditional Irish band Ceoltóirí Cualann. Then in the November of 1962, Martin, along with Paddy Moloney, Sean Potts, Michael Tubridy and David Fallon founded the group, The Chieftains. They remained semi-professional up until the very early 70s, by then they had achieved great success in Ireland and the UK. In 1973, their popularity began to spread to the USA >>>READ MORE<<< (?) b. 1938

November 15 .
1963: Fritz Reiner (74) Hungarian conductor, he moved to America in 1922 to take the post of Principal Conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. He remained until 1931, after which he taght at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He conducted the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra from 1938 to 1948 and made a few recordings with them for Columbia Records, then spent several years at the Metropolitan Opera, where he conducted a historic production of Strauss's Salome in 1949, with the Bulgarian soprano Ljuba Welitsch in the title role, and the American premiere of Igor Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress in 1951. He also conducted and made a recording of the famous 1952 Metropolitan Opera production of Bizet's Carmen, starring Rise Stevens (heart problems) b. December 19th 1888.
1987: Ray Pablo Falconer (26) British Reggae producer in the 1970s and 1980s. Brother to Earl Falconer from UB40, he produced most of singles and albums for UB40. (died in a tragic car crash) b. ???
1991: Jacques Morali (45) French music producer, who is best remembered for being the creator and driving force behind the disco group, Village People. Also between 1974 and 1982 he wrote, co-wrote and produced over 65 albums, including hits like "Brazil", "The Best Disco In Town", "Life Is Music", "African Queens", "Quiet Village" and "American Generation" (sadly died from aids) b. July 4th 1947.
1997: Saul Chaplin (85) American composer and musical director; he worked on stage, screen and television since the days of Tin Pan Alley. In film, he won four Oscars for collaborating on the scores and orchestrations of An American in Paris, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and West Side Story as well as a nomination for High Society. Other films included Can-Can, I Could Go On Singing, The Sound of Music, STAR!, Man of La Mancha and That's Entertainment and the list goes on (suffered a bad fall and died as a result of his injuries) b. February 19th 1912.
2003: Wesley Webb "Speedy" West (79) Country Music Hall of Fame US pedal steel guitarist and record producer. Top session player until a stroke left him partilly paralized in 1981, just between 1950 and 1955 alone, he played on over 6,000 recordings with a total of 177 different artists, including Frankie Laine, Jo Stafford, and Paul Weston's Orchestra, Billy May's Orchestra, Betty Hutton, Helen O'Connell, Doris Day, Johnnie Ray, Ella Mae Morse, Spike Jones, Jean Shepard, Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra and many others. (Wesley sadly died after suffering long term heart problems) b. January 25th 1924.
2009: Derek B/EZQ/Derek Boland (44) British rapper, a pioneering figure on the UK hip hop scene in the '80s. He started DJing in a mobile unit around London at 15, before joining local pirate radio stations and finally starting WBLS, his own station, (not the one in New York). He was soon working as an A&R man for the Music Is Life label, where he recorded the track 'Rock The Beat' when a proposed compilation ran short of tracks. He used the pseudonym, EZQ, and also did his own DJing under the Derek B name. The song went on to be released as a single, and was followed by other releases including 'Good Groove' "Bad Young Brother" and "We've Got The Juice". He later released the album Bullet From a Gun while with Rush Artist Management. Derek B was the first UK rapper to achieve pop success, and appeared on BBC Television's Top of the Pops Derek was also successful as a producer and remixer, working with the Cookie Crew and Eric B and Rakim. He also helped write the 1988, Liverpool F.C. anthem, "Anfield Rap" (sadly died of a heart attack) b. January 15th 1965.
2010: Tetsuro Hoshino/Arichika Tetsuro (85) Japanes lyricist; he graduated from a nautical college and began working on a deep sea fishing boat. While receiving treatment for an illness in 1952, he submitted some lyrics to a magazine competition and won, leading to his debut as a lyricist the following year. Some of his best known works are “Hakodate no Hito” for Saburo Kitajima, “Sanbyaku Rokuju Goho no March” for Kiyoko Suizenji, and the theme song for the “Otoko wa Tsurai Yo” movie series. He also wrote songs for Miyuki Kawanaka, Ichiro Toba, Hibari Misora, and Harumi Miyako, among many others. Tetsuro had the honor of receiving the Shiju Hosho in 1986 and the Order of the Sacred Treasure in 2000. For a time, he served as chairman of JASRAC, and he was the current head of the Japanese Lyricists Association (passed away with heart failure at a Tokyo hospital) b. September 30th 1925.
2010: Roberto Pregadio (81) Italian pianist, orchestra director and television personality, born in Catania; he graduated from the Conservatory of Naples and in 1960 joined the Light Music Orchestra of the RAI. He accompanied the orchestra concert of Claudio Villa at Carnegie Hall in New York in 1961 . From the mid sixties for fifteen years he has composed and conducted numerous soundtracks for movies. In radio he worked in various programs, including Whole Town's Talking, Do you like Radio?, and The Microphone is Yours. In the 80s he formed the band "Swing Sextet of Rome" with Franco Chiari vibraphone, Baldo Maestri at the clarinet, Carlo Pes on guitar, Alessio Urso on bass and Roberto Zappulla on drums, the group has recorded for Fonit- Cetra the album Five Continents. Roberto was one of better known Spaghetti western composers who scored 9 films such as “Django the Last Killer”, “A Hole in the Forehead”, “Ciccio Forgives I Don’t”, “Paths of War”, “Twice a Judas”, “The Forgotten Pistolero”, “Mallory Must Not Die”, “Four Gunmen of the Holy Trinity”, “Three Supermen of the West”. (Roberto passed away from natural causes) b. December 6th 1928.
2011: Moogy Klingman/Mark Klingman (61) American rock keyboardist, producer, songwriter, founding member of Todd Rundgren's musical team Utopia, and later became a solo recording artist and bandleader. He grew up in Great Neck, Long Island, New York and at 16 he joined Jimmy James and the Blue Flames with Randy California and Jimi Hendrix. His association with Todd Rundgren began in 1969, when Moogy was the original keyboardist for Todd and also Utopia. In his Manhattan loft, he and Todd constructed the "Secret Sound" recording studio where they recorded Todd's 'A Wizard', 'A True Star', 'Todd', and other albums. He played on ten Todd Rundgren albums, as well as several Utopia albums. Over his long career, Moogy has played, recorded and/or had his songs recorded by artists including Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, Bette Midler, Chuck Berry, Luther Vandross, Bo Diddley, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Allan Woody and Warren Haynes from the Allman Brothers and Gov't Mule and has also worked with Carly Simon, Cindy Lauper, Shawn Colvin, Irene Cara, and Thelma Houston. He was the co-founder of the band The Peaceniks, along with Barry Gruber, he also played in the "Moogy/Woody Band" with Allman Brothers alumni Allan Woody, and Warren Haynes, as well as having solo albums out on Capitol, EMI records, and on his own label (sadly Moogy died while bravely fighting cancer) b. September 7th 1950.
2012: Khin Maung Toe (62) Burmese singer–songwriter born in Mawlaik, Sagaing Division and was the longtime lead singer of the Mizzima Hlaing band. He was one of the few successful Burmese singer-songwriters who wrote his own original songs. He released 21 albums in his career and is best known for his 1984 hit "Maha Hsan Thu". Khin's last performance was in September 2012 in a charity concert organized by the 88 Student Generation Group (sadly Khin died while fighting liver cancer) b. April 2nd 1950.
2012: Frode Thingnæs (72) Norwegian jazz composer, arranger, conductor and trombone player. Born in Nore in Buskerud, at 8 years old he started to play trumpet in his school band and in 1953 he switched to trombone. He received his music education at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen. From 1959 onwards he played in orchestras led by Bjørn Jacobsen, Gunnar Brostigen, Mikkel Flagstad and Kjell Karlsen. His own quintet, formed in 1960, was included on Norway's first jazz album, released in 1963. Together with Philip Kruse he wrote the music for the Norwegian Eurovision Song Contest entries "Hvor er du?" -1974,and "Mata Hari" -1976, both performed by his former wife, Anne-Karine Strøm .He also contributed to releases by Egil Kapstad, Terje Rypdal, Laila Dalseth, Espen Rud, Bjørn Alterhaug and Per Husby. (sadly died from complications from a heart attack) b. May 20th 1940.

November 16.
1942: Joseph Schmidt (38) Jewish Romanian tenor and actor, born in Davideny, a small town in the Bukovina province of Austria-Hungary. His first vocal training was as an alto boy in the Czernowitz Synagogue, and by 1924 he was featured in his first solo recital in Czernowitz singing traditional Jewish songs and arias by Verdi, Puccini, Rossini and Bizet. He moved to Berlin and in 1929 Cornelis Bronsgeest, a famous Dutch baritone, engaged him for a radio broadcast as Vasco da Gama in Meyerbeer's L'Africaine. This was the beginning of a successful international career. He toured Europe and the United States performing in Carnegie Hall together with other prominent singers such as Grace Moore. When WWII broke out he was caught in France by the German invasion. He attempted to escape to America but, unfortunately, this failed and he made a dash for the Swiss border (he was interned in a Swiss refugee camp in Gyrenbad near Zürich in October 1942. He was already in frail health. Harsh camp life and lack of medical care sadly brought about a fatal heart attack) b. March 4th 1904.
1978: Jimmy Nottingham (52) American big band trumpeter, Flugelhorn; his first pro job was with Cecil Payne in 1943. Also played with Willie Smith, Charlie Barnet, Lucky Millinder, Count Basie and Herbie Fields. While working for CBS for over 20 years he played jazz in his spare time with Budd Johnson, Oliver Nelson, Dizzy Gillespie, Benny Goodman, Thad Jones/Mel Lewis, and Clark Terry (?) b. Dec 15th 1925
1982: Al Haig (58) American freelance jazz pianist and best known as one of the pioneers and his distinctive bebop style; born in Newark, New Jersey; he started out playing with Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker in 1944, and performed with Eddie Davis and His Beboppers, the Eddie Davis Quintet, Stan Getz, he was part of the celebrated nonet on the first session of Miles Davis' Birth of the Cool (?) b. July 19th 1924.
1984: Leonard Rose (66) American cellist and pedagogue born in Washington, DC; after completing his studies at Philadelphia's Curtis Institute of Music at age 20, he joined Arturo Toscanini's NBC Symphony Orchestra, and almost immediately became associate principal. At 21 he was principal cellist of the Cleveland Orchestra and at 26 was the principal of the New York Philharmonic. He made many recordings as a soloist after 1951, including concertos with conductors such as Leonard Bernstein, Eugene Ormandy, George Szell and Bruno Walter among others. Rose also joined with Isaac Stern and Eugene Istomin in a celebrated piano trio (sadly died of leukemia) b. July 27th 1918.
1984: Vic Dickenson (78) African-American jazz trombonist. His career started out in the 1920s and led him through musical associations with such legends as Jimmy Rushing, Coleman Hawkins, Count Basie, Sidney Bechet, Earl Hines, Pee Wee Russell, Benny Carter, Lester Young, Roy Eldridge, Gerry Mulligan, Billie Holliday. At one time he was a member of "The World's Greatest Jazz Band," which was the house band at The Roosevelt Grill in NYC. Also a soloist of wide acclaim known for the distinctive sound he coaxed out of the trombone (?) b. August 6th 1906
1993: Lucia Poppová (54) Slovak operatic soprano, born in Záhorská Ves; she began her career as a soubrette soprano, and later moved into the light-lyric and lyric coloratura soprano repertoire and then the lighter Richard Strauss and Wagner operas. Her career included performances at Vienna State Opera, the Metropolitan Opera, Covent Garden, and La Scala. Lucia was also a highly-regarded recitalist and leader singer (sadly lost his battle against brain cancer) b. November 12th 1939.
1994: Dino Valente/Jesse Oris Farrow/Chester "Chet" William Powers Jr (56) American singer, guitarist and songwriter. In the early 1960s he went under the name of Dino Valente, and while involved in the Greenwich Village folk music scene, he wrote "Get Together", a quintessential 1960s love-and-peace anthem. Moving west, he became a member of the band Big Sur and the San Francisco psychedelic rock group Quicksilver Messenger Service. Dino underwent brain surgery for an AVM in the late 1980s. In spite of suffering from short-term memory loss and the effects of anti-convulsive medications, he continued to write songs and play with fellow Marin County musicians. His last major performance was a benefit at San Francisco's Great American Music Hall. (died suddenly at his home in Santa Rosa, California) b. November 7th 1937.
1999: Grady Owen (?) American guitarist and singer-songwriter; a one time member of Gene Vincent & The Blue Caps after which he worked solo and with a number of other acts, including Johnny Carroll, Howard Reed and the Levee Singers. Several of his songs have been recorded by Sonny James and other singers. Gene Vincent recorded some of Grady's songs, including "Lovely Loretta," Grady himself can be heard singing one of his own song's "I Don't Feel Like Rockin' Tonight" on the recently released album "Gene Vincent -- the lost Dallas Sessions" from Dragon Street Records (?) b. ??
2000: Ahmet Kaya (43) Kurdish singer-songwriter and composer, he generally sang in Turkish, some of his most popular songs include "Protect Yourself", "My Heart is Bleeding", "A Strange Man", "Ayrilik Vakti", Koçero, and Agladikça/"As We Cry". His first album, Aglama Bebegim, was released in 1985, his popularity continued to rise into the 90s when in 1994 he released the album Sarkilarim Daglara which sold 2.8 million copies. All of his 90s albums were chart-toppers. During his career he recorded around 20 albums. Ahmet relocated went to France in June 1999 escaping various charges arising from his political views (died from a heart attack in Paris) b. October 28th 1957.
2000: Russ Conway/Trevor Stanford (75) English pop music pianist, composer; his piano instrumentals dominated the UK Singles Chart during 1959, including two self penned No.1 hits "Side Saddle" and "Roulette". He maintained a chart presence in the early 1960s, with other hits including
"China Tea", "Party Pop", "More Party Pops", "More And More Party Pops", "Snow Coach", "Lucky Five" and "Lucky Five". Russ became a fixture on light entertainment TV shows and radio for many years afterwards. He wrote the music for the West End musical "Mr Venus" but his career was blighted by ill-health, and in his later life he was noted for his charity work. (cancer) b. September 2nd 1925.
2000: Joe C/Joseph Calleja (26) American rapper who became popular as part of Kid Rock's band.He was first featured on the demo "Cool Daddy Cool" in 1995. He also appeared on television, including a guest role on The Simpsons and as a celebrity deathmatch competitor on MTV's Celebrity Deathmatch in 2000. In his songs he claims to be "3 foot 9 with a 10 foot dick". (He suffered and died from the effects of a digestive condition called Celiac disease, which caused him constant pain and his stunted growth, he died in his sleep) b. November 9th 1974.
2000: DJ Screw/Robert Earl Davis, Jr (29) US, DJ, and hiphop rapper with Screwed Up Click; born in Houston, Texas, he was a central figure in the Houston hip hop scene. He began deejaying at age 13, his innovation included the trademark technique of slowing down the basic tracks of a cut when he remixed it. This process is called "screwing" a song. Slowing down the song was supposed to recreate the effect of recreationally using Promethazine with Codeine (died of a heart attack. His cause of death was rumored to be either a codeine overdose or the result of long-term buildup of codeine in his system. However, Screwed Up Click member Z-Ro stated that Screw's death came from someone putting methamphetamine into his codeine, and he believes that it was someone very close to the Click who sabotaged him) b. July 22nd 1971.
2001: Tommy Flanagan (71) American jazz pianist born in Detroit, Michigan, particularly remembered as an accompanist of Ella Fitzgerald. He played on a number of critically acclaimed recordings, such as John Coltrane's Giant Steps, Sonny Rollins' Saxophone Colossus, The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery, Art Pepper's Straight Life. During his career, he was nominated for four Grammy Awards, two for Best Jazz Performance as a Group and two for Best Jazz Performance: Soloist (Tommy died of a arterial aneurysm). b. March 16th 1930
2007: Grethe Kausland (60) Norwegian singer and performer; as a child star she was one of Norway's most popular singers, her debut single “Teddyen min” in 1955, sold more than 100.000 records. She sung and performed on stage,TV and films (lost his battle with lung cancer) b. July 3rd 1947.
2009: Jeff Clyne (72) British jazz bass and double bassist; born in London, he worked with Tubby Hayes and Ronnie Scott in their group 'The Jazz Couriers' for a year from 1958, and was part of the group of musicians who opened Ronnie Scott's Club in November 1959. He was a regular member of Hayes' groups from 1961. Jeff accompanied and or recorded with Blossom Dearie, Stan Tracey, Ian Carr, Gordon Beck,, Dudley Moore, Zoot Sims, Norma Winstone, John Burch and Marion Montgomery. He was a member of Nucleus, Isotope, Gilgamesh, Giles Farnaby's Dream Band and Turning Point in the 1970s and often worked with drummer Trevor Tomkins (sadly died from a heart attack) b. January 29th 1937.
2010: Mimi Perrin (84) French jazz singer and pianist; between 1956 and 1958 she was a member of Blossom Dearie's vocal group Blue Stars of France, after which she worked in studios as a background singer. In 1959, she formed the vocal sextet Les Double Six, which included, Louis and Monique Aldebert, Monique and Roger Guérin, Christiane Legrand, Ward Swingle, Eddy Louiss and Bernard Lubat. Her group completed several European tours and also traveled to North America, recording with Quincy Jones, Dizzy Gillespie, and Ray Charles. In recent years she has worked as a translator, including translations of the biographies of Nina Simone, Dizzy Gillespie, and Quincy Jones, as well as all the novels by John le Carré since 1989 with her daughter Isabelle (?) b. February 2nd 1926.
2011: René A. Morel (79) French-born American violin luthier who was highly regarded by leading international string players, and has been described as "arguably the best violin restorer in the world". He served on the juries of many violin-making competitions, and held offices in both the International Society of Violin and Bow Makers as well as the American Federation of Violin and Bow Makers (sadly died while fighting cancer) b. March 11th 1932.

November 17 .
1955: James "Jimmy" Johnson (61) American jazz pianist and composer, maybe the most important pioneers of the stride style of jazz piano playing. Born in New Brunswick, New Jersey, in the teens, he gained a reputation as one of the premier ragtime pianists on the East coast, he became in demand as a recording artist, and made dozens of superb player piano roll recordings for Aeolian, Perfection, Artempo, Rythmodik, and QRS during the period from 1917 - 1927. As his piano style continued to evolve, his 1921 phonograph recordings of "Harlem Strut", "Carolina Shout", and "Keep off the Grass" were among the first jazz piano solos to be put onto records. His piano style later was to become a model for the early Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Fats Waller, Art Tatum, and Thelonious Monk. Besides being a jazz piano pioneer, and a most spontaneously inventive performer, Jimmy composed many hit tunes in his work for the musical theatre: "Charleston" which became one of the most popular songs and the definitive dance number/theme tune of the Roaring Twenties. Others are "If I Could Be With You (One Hour Tonight)", "You've Got to Be Modernistic", "Don't Cry, Baby", "Keep off the Grass", "Old Fashioned Love", "A Porter's Love Song to a Chambermaid", "Carolina Shout", and "Snowy Morning Blues". He permanently retired from performing after suffering a severe, paralyzing stroke in 1951. Jimmy was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame-1970, Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame-1973, Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame-1980, and the ASCAP Jazz Wall of Fame-2007. In spite of the fact that Jimmy can arguably be considered to have been the first jazz pianist, the composer of the signature tune of the Roaring Twenties, as well as other enduring tunes, he remains largely unknown to the general public. (heart problems) b. February 1st 1894.
1959: Heitor Villa-Lobos (72) Brazilian composer born in Rio de Janeiro; he is described as "the single most significant creative figure in 20th-century Brazilian art music". Villa-Lobos has become the best-known and most significant Latin American composer to date. He wrote numerous orchestral, chamber, instrumental and vocal works. His music was influenced by both Brazilian folk music and by stylistic elements from the European classical tradition, as exemplified by his Bachianas brasileiras / "Brazilian Bach-pieces". (?) b. March 5th 1887.
1979: John Glascock (28) English bass player and electric guitarist with The Juniors, Head Medicine, The Gods, Toe Fat, Chicken Shack, Carmen, his last band being Jethro Tull. He played on the Jethro Tull albums Too Old to Rock 'n' Roll: Too Young to Die!, Songs from the Wood, Heavy Horses, Live - Bursting Out, and Stormwatch (congenital heart defect) b. May 2nd 1951
1981: Bob Eberly (65) American big band singer and brother of well-known big-band singer, Ray Eberle. He is known for singing with Jimmy Dorsey's band and is most well-known for singing "Green Eyes". (?) b. July 24th 1916.
1982: Eduard Tubin (77) Estonian composer, born in Torila, Governorate of Livonia, Russian Empire, now Estonia. After the Soviet Union invaded in 1944, he fled to Stockholm, where he remained for the rest of his life. It was here where he wrote some of his greatest works, including much music for the choirs and symphonies 6-10. Towards the end of his life, he slowly began to gain recognition, particularly after the conductor Neeme Järvi, also an Estonian, moved to the USA in 1980. In the last year of his life his Tenth Symphony was performed by the Boston Symphony Orchestra and he received several awards from Swedish music organisations (?) b. June 18th 1905.
1987: Irene Wicker/The Singing Lady (80) American singer and actress; The Kellogg Company sponsored "The Singing Lady," beginning in 1931. The show was billed as the nation's first radio network program for children. The show was always hosted by Irene, who was known for her melodic and soothing voice (?) b. November 24th 1905.
1995: Alan Hull (50) English lead singer, songwriter and founding member of the Tyneside folk rock band, Lindisfarne, he also played rhythm guitar and keyboards. He was hailed as the most innovative songwriter since Bob Dylan. His most famous songs include "Lady Eleanor", "Fog on the Tyne", and "Run for Home" (died unexpectedly from a sudden heart thrombosis) b. February 20th 1945.
2001: Michael Karoli (53) German guitarist, violinist and composer, born and grew up in Straubing, Bavaria. He was a founding member of the influential krautrock band Can. His main role was guitarist, later also providing vocals. He was a constant member of the band, playing with it between 1968 and its break-up in 1979. They had singles such as "Spoon" and "I Want More" and albums including Tago Mago in 1971 and 1972's Ege Bamyasi. He also joined the band for its two reunions, in 1986 and 1991 (sadly died after a long battle with cancer) b. April 29th 1948.
2003: Arthur Conley (57) American horn player, vocalist, songwriter; born in McIntosh County, Georgia and grew up in Atlanta. He first recorded in 1959 as the lead singer of Arthur & the Corvets. With this group, he released three singles in 1963 and 1964, "Poor Girl", "I Believe", and "Flossie Mae". He launched a solo career, and is well known for his 1967 hit, "Sweet Soul Music". It shot to the number two spot on both the pop and R&B charts, earning Conley the number eleven male artist ranking for 1967. The song paid homage to other soul singers like Lou Rawls, Wilson Pickett and James Brown. He e relocated to England in 1975, and spent several years in Belgium, after which he settled in Amsterdam, The Netherlands in spring 1977, where he promoted new music (died in Ruurlo, The Netherlands after a long battle with intestinal cancer) b. January 4th 1946.
2003: Don Gibson (75) American songwriter and country musician. A Country Music Hall of Fame inductee, Gibson penned and recorded such country standards as "Oh Lonesome Me", "Blue Blue Day", "Sweet Dreams" and "I Can't Stop Loving You" and enjoyed a string of country hits from 1957 into the early 1970's. He was nicknamed "The Sad Poet," because he frequently wrote songs that told of loneliness and lost love. was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1973, and in 2001, he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame (natural causes) b. April 3rd 1928.
2006: Flo Sandon (82) Italian singer born in Vicenza, her musical career began in 1944 when she debuted in a Red Cross charity show and went on to be popular in the post-WWII years. She won the Sanremo Music Fest in 1953 with the song "Viale d'autunno". Her other hits include "Vorrei volare", "Kiss Me", "I Love Paris", "Passa il tempo", "Concerto d'autunno", "Verde luna", "Domani", "Que sera sera" and "Bevi con me" (?) b. June 29th 1924.
2006: Ruth Brown/Ruth Weston (78) American blues singer born in Portsmouth, Virginia; known as "Queen Mother of the Blues", you can hear her influence in everyone from Little Richard to Etta James, Aretha Franklin, Janis Joplin and in today's divas like Christina Aguilera. She had a series of hit songs for fledgling Atlantic Records in the 1950s, such as "So Long", "Teardrops from My Eyes" and "(Mama) He Treats Your Daughter Mean". For these contributions, Atlantic became known as "The house that Ruth built". She used her influence to press for musicians' rights regarding royalties and contracts, which led to the founding of the Rhythm and Blues Foundation. Her performances in the Broadway musical Black and Blue earned Ruth a Tony Award, and the original soundtrack won a Grammy Award. (stroke and heart attack) b. January 12th 1928
2007: Hy Lit/Hyman Litsky (73) American radio disc jockey; Philadelphia-area DJ since the 1950s, with WIBG-AM, WDAS-AM/FM, WKBS-TV, WSNI/WPGR. He also hosted the nationally syndicated "Hy Lit Show," from WKBS-TV in Philadelphia which aired in more than 30 markets nationwide (sadly he suffered with Parkinson's disease, and died of kidney and heart failure at Paoli Memorial Hospital ) b. May 20th 1934.
2010: Harry Whitaker (68) American jazz pianist, born in Pensacola, Florida, he began learning the piano at age 5, and began classical lessons at age 7. He moved to Chicago in 1948, and to Detroit in 1953 at age 11. In 1959, at age 16, he graduated high school and embarked on the road with dexterous bassist Ray McKinney. After two years, he moved to New York and started playing with Slide Hampton in 1965, before joining vibraphonist Roy Ayers band in 1970. He can be heard on the breakthrough Roy Ayers recording “We Live in Brooklyn Baby” and went on to work with vocalist Roberta Flack during her most commercial and successful years beginning in the mid-1970s. Although his health had been declining over the last couple of years, Harry performed frequently at Fat Cat Billiards and Smalls, both religious institutions in the West Village jazz scene (?) b. September 19th 1942.
2011: Gary Garcia (63) American guitarist, singer, songwriter from Akron, Ohio and was one half of the duo Buckner & Garcia along with Jerry Buckner. Their first collaboration was in 1980, when they wrote a novelty Christmas song, "Merry Christmas in the NFL," about Howard Cosell as Santa Claus. Performed under the pseudonym "Willis The Guard & Vigorish", the song reached No.82 on the Billboard charts despite limited airplay after Cosell found the song offensive. In 1981, the duo, who had been together since high school days, wrote a sentimental country song called "Footprints in the Sand," performed by Edgel Groves. They also wrote the lyrics for extra verses of an extended version of the WKRP in Cincinnati theme song in 1982. However, the duo is best known for the song "Pac-Man Fever", which became a large novelty hit in 1982, peaking at No.9 in the United States. Later the same year, they signed a record deal with Columbia/CBS Records. and they released Pac-Man Fever, a full album consisting entirely of songs about arcade video games (?) b. July 28th 1948.
2012: Billy Scott/ Peter Pendleton (70) American singer, born in Huntington, West Virginia; he sang with various groups while in the Army, and after he was discharged in 1964 took the stage name "Billy Scott". In 1965 he formed and became lead vocalist for the group The Prophets, later known as "The Georgia Prophets", and eventually "Billy Scott & The Party Prophets". He was known for beach musical hits such as "I Got the Fever", his first gold record, and "California". (sadly died while fighting pancreatic and liver cancer) b. October 5th 1942.

November 18 .
1969: Ted Heath (67) English bandleader, composer and trombonist born in Wandsworth, London, he was the most famous and successful big band leader in Great Britain of the 1940s, 50s and 60s, recording more than 100 albums and selling over 20 million records. After playing tenor horn at the age of six, he later switched to trombone. His first real band gig was with an American band on tour in Europe - the Southern Syncopation Orchestra - which had an engagement in Vienna, Austria and needed a trombone player. The drummer for this band, Benny Payton, taught Ted much about Jazz and Swing. From 1925 to 1926 Ted played in the Kit Cat Club band led by American Al Starita. In 1928, he joined Bert Ambrose's orchestra at the Mayfair Hotel in London and played there until 1935 when he moved on to Sydney Lipton's orchestra at the Grosvenor House. It was during this time that Ted became the most prominent trombone player in England, he played on numerous recordings. In 1940, he joined Geraldo's orchestra and played hundreds of concerts and broadcasts during the war traveling to the Middle East to play to the Allied Forces based there. Inspired by Glenn Miller Ted formed his own band. The Ted Heath Band was first heard on a BBC broadcast in 1944. The band was organized originally as a British "All Star Band" playing only radio dates. Ted and his band went on to work with many of the world's great artists including Nat King Cole, Woody Herman, Count Basie, Marlene Dietrich, Johnny Mathis and Tony Bennett to mention just a few. His band members included among others Ronnie Scott, the pianist Stan Tracey, trumpeters Kenny Baker and Duncan Campbell, sax players Red Price, Ronnie Chamberlain, Don Rendell and Tommy Whittle, trombonists Don Lusher and Wally Smith, drummer Jack Parnell. The addition of singers including Dickie Valentine, Lita Roza, and Dennis Lotis. Ted and his band also appeared in several films. (?) b. March 30th 1902.
1971: Herman 'Junior' Parker (39) American blues singer and harmonica player also known as Little Junior Parker or "Mr Blues"; he is best remembered for his unique voice which has been described as "honeyed," and "velvet-smooth". He was posthumously inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2001. His biggest influence as a harmonica player was Sonny Boy Williamson, with whom he worked before moving on to work for Howlin' Wolf in. He was also a member of Memphis's ad hoc group, the Beale Streeters, with Bobby 'Blue' Bland and B.B. King (died after a series of brain operations) b. May 27 1932.
1972: Danny Whitten (29) American musician, guitarist and songwriter best known for his work with Neil Young and Crazy Horse, and for the song "I Don't Want To Talk About It", a hit for Rita Coolidge, Rod Stewart and Everything but the Girl. Born in Columbus, Georgia, he joined Billy Talbot and Ralph Molina among others in the doo-wop group Danny and the Memories. After recording an single, "Can't Help Loving That Girl of Mine", they moved to San Francisco where they morphed into a folk-psychedelic rock act called The Psyrcle, then The Rockets. They joined up with Neil Young and the recording sessions led to Young's second album, 'Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere' credited as Neil Young with Crazy Horse with Danny on second guitar and vocals. in 1970, Crazy Horse recorded its first solo album, released in early 1971, thier debut album included five songs by Danny. Sadly now into heroin he participated only in the early stages of Young's next solo album, "After the Gold Rush", performing on "Oh, Lonesome Me", "I Believe in You", and "When You Dance I Can Really Love". During this time, Neil wrote and recorded "The Needle and the Damage Done" with direct references to Danny's addiction and its role in the destruction of his talent (sadly overdosed on a mixture of Valium and Vodka) b. May 8th 1943.
1973: Alois Hába (80) Czech composer, born at Vizovice, Moravia, he began to compose during his earlier studies in Kromeríž 1908–12. In 1920, as a student of Franz Schreker, he composed his first quarter-tone work - String Quartet No. 2. In 1923–1948 he worked first as an instructor, later as professor at the Prague Conservatory. During World War II, he was endangered by Nazis, because he tried to help his Jewish pupils. After the war he lived in peace in the Socialist Republic of Czechoslovakia. His best known work is the opera Mother, which received its premiere at the Gärtnerplatztheater in Munich, Germany in May 1931; the cast included the Swiss tenor Max Meili, an early music specialist and primarily a recitalist rather than an opera singer (?) b. June 23rd 1893.
1994: Cabell "Cab" Calloway III (86) American jazz singer, bandleader; one of the great entertainers, a household name by 1932, and never really declined in fame. A talented jazz singer, a superior scatter, his gyrations and showmanship on-stage at the Cotton Club sometimes overshadowed the quality of his always excellent bands. Calloway's Orchestra featured performers trumpeters Dizzy Gillespie and Adolphus "Doc" Cheatham, saxophonists Ben Webster and Leon "Chu" Berry, New Orleans guitar ace Danny Barker, and bassist Milt Hinton. He continued to perform until his death (died after suffering a major stroke 6 months previously) b. December 25th 1907
1999: Paul Frederic Bowles (88) American expatriate composer, author, and translator. Following a cultured middle-class upbringing in New York City, during which he displayed a talent for music and writing, he pursued his education at the University of Virginia before making various trips to Paris in the 1930s. He studied music with Aaron Copland and in New York wrote music for various theatrical productions, as well as other compositions. He achieved critical and popular success with the publication in 1949 of his first novel The Sheltering Sky, set in what was known as French North Africa, which he had visited in 1931. In 1947 Bowles settled in Tangier, Morocco, except for winters spent in Sri Lanka (then known as Ceylon) during the early 1950s, Tangier was his home for the remainder of his life. (heart attack) b. December 30th 1910.
1999: Doug Sahm (57) American multi-musician, proficient on dozens of musical instruments, born in San Antonio, Texas; he was a child prodigy in country music, but became a significant figure in blues, rock and other genres, he is said to have been offered a permanent spot on the Grand Ole Opry, but his mother wanted him to finish junior high. Today he is considered one of the most important figures in what is identified as Tex-Mex. He was founder-leader of the '60s hippie band The Sir Douglas Quintet, and later with Augie Meyers, Freddy Fender and Flaco Jimenez -The Texas Tornados. He was also a sought-after session musician, appearing on releases of other artists including, The Grateful Dead. He sang backing vocals on Willie Nelson's 1977 gospel album, The Troublemaker. (heart attack) b. November 6th 1941
2002: Bill Brunskill (82) British trumpet player born in London; originally a guitarist but after working as a military policeman during WW2, he took up the trumpet and became interested in the New Orleans traditional Jazz sound and artists as Muggsy Spanier and Bunk Johnson. Some of his East End contemporaries included clarinetists Cy Laurie and Monty Sunshine. In 1952 Bill's group fronted by guitarist Tony Donegan, appeared at a Royal Festival Hall concert, along with US Lonnie Johnson. In '55, he formed a group to play Sunday afternoons at Cy Laurie's Club in London's West End, a group designed for young musicians to 'sit in' and gain experience playing in public. Guitarist 'Diz' Disley once featured such a rough and ready session in one of his satirical Melody Maker cartoons entitled " Bill Brunskill's Workshop". Bill began another long engagement at the 'Lord Napier' in the South London surburb of Thornton Heath which went on to be a mecca for visitng jazz musicians (?) b. February 2nd 1920.
2003: Michael Kamen (55) American composer, especially of film scores, orchestral arranger, orchestral conductor, song writer, and session musician.He wrote eleven ballets, a saxophone concerto, and provided scores for films such as The Dead Zone, For Queen & Country, Polyester, Brazil, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, Highlander, X-Men, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Licence to Kill, the Lethal Weapon series, the first three films of the Die Hard series, Mr. Holland's Opus, Splitting Heirs and many others. Other successes include his work with Pink Floyd, David Gilmour and Roger Waters (he is one of the few people to have been invited to work with both former Pink Floyd members, after their split), as well as Queen, Eric Clapton, Roger Daltrey, Aerosmith, Tom Petty, David Bowie, Metallica, Eurythmics, Queensrÿche, Rush, Herbie Hancock, The Cranberries, Bryan Adams, Jim Croce, Sting, and Kate Bush (heart attack) b. April 15th 1948
2004: Cy Coleman/Seymour Kaufman (75) American composer, songwriter, and jazz pianist born in New York City; he was a child prodigy who gave piano recitals at Steinway Hall, Town Hall, and Carnegie Hall between the ages of 6 and 9, but he decided to build a career in popular music. His first collaborator was Joseph McCarthy, they wrote The Riviera, but his most successful early partnership, was with Carolyn Leigh, writing many pop hits, including Witchcraft and The Best Is Yet To Come. In the late 1970s, he collaborations included 'I Love My Wife', 'On The Twentieth Century', and 'Home Again, Home Again'. In 1980, Cy served as producer and composer for the circus-themed Barnum, later in the decade, he collaborated on Welcome to the Club, and City of Angels. His film scores include Father Goose, The Art of Love, Garbo Talks, Power, and Family Business. In addition, he wrote Shirley MacLaine's memorable television specials, If My Friends Could See Me Now and Gypsy in My Soul. Cy has been the only composer to win consecutive Tony awards for Best Score at the same time that the corresponding musicals won for Best Musical: City of Angels and Will Rogers' Follies (cardiac arrest) b. June 14th 1929.
2007: John Hughey (73) US pedal steel guitar player, credited with developing the "crying sound" steel guitar technique; John spent over 20 years playing, touring and recording with Conway Twitty, 12 years with Vince Gill and also as a session pedal steel player, he recorded with Elvis Presley, Willie Nelson, Marty Stuart and around 140 other artists (heart complications) b. Dec 27th 1933
2007: Chickie Williams/Jessie Wanda Crupe (88) American country music singer and wife of singer-bandleader, Doc Williams; The Williams' were popular performers, although the couple and their band the Border Riders recorded, performed live and appeared on the radio for over five decades they never had a national hit. Chickie sang and recorded solo, with her husband Doc and later occasionally with her 3 daughters (?) b. February 13th 1919.
2009: Johnny Almond (63) British jazz and rock musician; born in Enfield, Middlesex, he learnt the drums from his father at a very early age, but soon learnt the saxophone, alto saxophone became his first instrument, but he also played tenor sax and eventually mastered seven others instruments, including keyboard and the vibraphone. Johnny played professionally in several bands as a teenager, he led his own jazz combo, played with Tony Knight's Chess Men, and Zoot Money's Big Roll Band before joining the Alan Price Set, after which he joined John Mayall's Bluesbreakers in June of 1969 appearing on the albums Turning Point and Empty Rooms. He is probibly best known for his work with fellow multi-instrumentalist Jon Mark forming the Mark-Almond Band. They recruited bassist Rodger Sutton and keyboardist Tommy Eyre. The group built something of a following through touring, with their live shows often featuring lengthy instrumental jams. They recorded several albums in the early 70's. Then released To the Heart in 1976 and Other People's Rooms in 1978. Since the late '70s, Johnny has worked primarily as a session musician, but more lately in the 21st century, his solo albums from 1969-1970 have become popular in Japan and Europe (died fighting cancer) b. July 20th 1946.
2012: Eddie Munji III (57) Philipino guitarist; known as “Lakay” among his colleagues he became part of a generation of top-notch musicians who helped define the sound of contemporary Filipino music in the 1970s and ’80s. He was known for his creative arrangements of traditional Filipino folk songs as well as local pop tunes. His arrangements include ‘Handog ng Pilipino sa Mundo’, ‘Panalangin’, ‘(Mahirap Magmahal ng) Syota ng Iba’, ‘Syotang Pa-Class’, ‘Lumang Tugtugin’, ‘Salawikain’ and many more (sadly died from a massive stroke) b. 1955
2012: Miliki/Emilio Aragón Bermúdez (83) Spanish clown, accordionist, and singer born in Carmona, Seville into a circus performing family. At a very young age he joined his brothers Gabriel and Alfonso to form the trio Gaby, Fofó and Miliki. They began working in the 1930s and held several seasons at the Circo Price in Madrid. In 1946, the three brothers emigrated across the Atlantic, where they remained for 26 years. They first set up shop in Cuba, where they made their first incursions into the world of television in 1949. In the following years, they stayed and performed in Mexico, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Argentina and the United States. In 1972, they returned to Spain and the following year began work on the TV program El gran circo de TVE, which made the group, now known as Los payasos de la tele, a family phenomenon in Spain. After the brothers split in 1983 Miliki launched the band Monano y su Banda, and formed a duo with his daughter Rita Irasema. They recorded several albums such as La vuelta al mundo en 30 minutos-1986, El flautista de Hamelín-1987, Vamos a marcarnos una canción-1991, ¡Superdiscoguay!-1992 and ¿Estás contento? ¡Sí señor!-1994. He also directed the film Yo quiero ser torero in 1987. He returned to television to host children's programs, with his daughter Rita. They hosted La merienda 1990-1991 and La guardería 1990-1991, both in Antena 3, and Superguay 1991-1993 in Telecinco. In 1993, they relaunched on TVE El gran circo de TVE, which lasted until 1995 (?) b. November 4th 1929.

November 19 .
1828: Franz Peter Schubert (31) Austrian composer. He wrote some 600 Lieder, nine symphonies, including the famous "Unfinished Symphony", liturgical music, operas, some incidental music, and a large body of chamber and solo piano music. He is particularly noted for his original melodic and harmonic writing. (Sadly died prematurely of "typhoid fever", a diagnosis which was vague at the time; several scholars suspect the real illness was tertiary syphilis) b. January 31st 1797.
1974: George Brunies (72) American jazz trombonist who came to fame in the '30s, and was part of the Dixieland revival. He was known as the "King of the Tailgate Trombone". By 8 he was already playing alto horn professionally in Papa Jack Laine's band. A few years later he switched to trombone. He played with many jazz, dance, and parade bands in New Orleans. He never learned to read music, but could quickly pick up tunes and invent a part for his instrument. Moving to Chicago in the early 20's he joined a band of his New Orleans friends playing at the Friar's Inn, this was the band that became famous as the New Orleans Rhythm Kings (?) b. February 6th 1902.
1977: William "Sonny" Criss (50) American alto saxophonist; his first major break came in 1947, on a number of jam sessions arranged by jazz impresario Norman Granz. He developed his own, concise, bluesy tone and then went on to play in bands including Buddy Rich's band and Howard McGhee's, which also featured Charlie Parker, and bands led by Johnny Otis, Stan Kenton and Billy Eckstine to mention a few (stomach cancer) b. October 23rd 1927
1983: Tom Evans (36) English bassist, guitarist, vocals, songwriter; started his music career as a member of "The Inbeateens" in 1961, he soon progressed to a Liverpool mod/soul group called Them Calderstones. In 1967, he joined a Welsh band called The Iveys who changed their name to Badfinger and Paul McCartney of The Beatles gave the group a boost by offering them his song "Come and Get It" which he produced for the band. It became a featured track for the film The Magic Christian, which starred Ringo Starr and Peter Sellers. Other major successes in the 1970s were "No Matter What," "Day After Day," and "Baby Blue", each featured some of Toms vocals, background harmony and dual lead. Tom's high-career moment was with his composition "Without You," co-written with bandmate Peter Ham. The song became a No.1 hit worldwide for Harry Nilsson and has since become a standard in the music industry. (Tom & Joey Molland of Badfinger argued on the telephone, reportedly about the publishing royalty of the song "Without You." Following the argument, Tom sadly hanged himself in the garden at his home, in an eerie replay of fellow band mate Pete Ham's 1975 death scene) b. June 5th 1947
1992: Bobby Russell (51) American songwriter born in Nashville; he wrote hits including "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia"; "Used To Be" from the film The Grasshopper; and "Little Green Apples," which won him a Song of the Year Grammy Award in 1968. He also wrote and performed a major hit in 1971 about a suburban father nursing a hangover while his children raise Cain on a Saturday morning, appropriately called "Saturday Morning Confusion." (sadly died of coronary artery disease) b. April 19th 1940.
2003: Greg Ridley (56) English bassist who played with Spooky Tooth and Humble Pie; he entered music as Dino, part of a local band called "Dino & the Danubes", and playing guitar and bass in other local bands before he and his friend Mike Harrison formed the V.I.P.s, which later became Spooky Tooth. He co-founded one of the first super-groups in 1969, Humble Pie which originally consisted of himself on bass, Steve Marriott former lead singer, songwriter and lead guitarist of Small Faces, Peter Frampton former lead singer and guitarist of The Herd, and 17 year old drummer Jerry Shirley (pneumonia) b. October 23rd 1947.
2004: Terry Melcher (62) US singer-songwriter, record producer, and managed much of his mother Doris Day's affairs. in the early 60's he and Bruce Johnston formed the vocal duet Bruce & Terry. The duo also created another band together, The Rip Chords. He had joined Columbia Records working with The Byrds he produced their song, Turn, Turn, Turn, and helped produce Mr. Tambourine Man. He later worked with Paul Revere, Wayne Newton, Frankie Laine, Jimmy Boyd, Pat Boone, Glen Campbell, Mark Lindsay and The Mamas & The Papas. He was instrumental in signing another near-legendary L.A. band, the Rising Sons led by Taj Mahal and Ry Cooder. He earned a Golden Globe nomination ...READ MORE... (skin cancer) b. February 8th 1942
2004: George Canseco (70) Filipino song composer who wrote some of Pinoy pop music's most enduring classics; he studied liberal arts at University of the East. After which, he worked for the Philippines Herald and the Associated Press as a journalist, a scriptwriter for the Manila Broadcasting Company, and news director at Eagle Broadcasting. George began devoting himself to writing music when Martial Law broke out in 1972. He wrote for Sharon Cuneta and Basil Valdez, and his songs were recorded by Martin Nievera, Zsa Zsa Padilla, Regine Velasquez, Pilita Corrales, and Kuh Ledesma. He became president of the Filipino Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers or FILSCAP in 1973, and was elected as a councilor in the fourth district of Quezon City in 1988. George composed his last film score in 1989 for "Paano Ang Ngayon Kung Wala Nang Bukas," which starred Kring Kring Gonzales and Ronaldo Valdes (died after battling liver cancer) b. April 23rd 1934.
2007: Paul Brodie (73) Canadian saxophonist with 50 albums to his credit; co-founded the World Saxophone Congress in Chicago. In 1994, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada, Canada's highest civilian honour, for having "shown true mastery of his art through his ability to reach all ages with his music" (died while undergoing heart surgery at Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto) b. April 10th 1934.
2010: Laci/75 Cents/Ladislav Demeterffy (77) Croatian singer and accordion player; he represented Croatia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 with the song "Romanca", calling himself 75 Cents he sang alongside the Croatian street band Kraljevi Ulice. (not yet disclosed) b. January 29th 1933.
2010: Albert "June" Gardner (79) American drummer born in New Orleans who played bebop, R&B, and traditional jazz; He studied with the influential Professor Valmont Victor and turned professional as soon as he left high school, first hitting the road with vocalist Lil Green. When he returned to New Orleans he became a regular at the now-infamous Dew Drop Inn playing with Edgar Blanchard & the Gondoliers with whom he also recorded. In his younger days, June was heavily on the rhythm and blues scene both in the studio and on tour. He played and recorded with the greats including spending nine years with Roy Brown and hitting the drums behind the legendary Sam Cooke from 1960 until the vocalist's death in 1964. It's June laying down the essential rhythm on Lee Dorsey's smash hit "Working in a Coal Mine" and also performed regularly with Dave Bartho­lomew's band. He also lead his own traditional jazz group, June Gardner & the Fellas. For seven years, he and the "Fellas" played a mix bag of material at South Claiborne Avenue's Maison's Las Vegas Strip. After that, he headed to Bourbon Street to perform at the Famous Door, La Strada and the Maison Bourbon plus he joined trumpeter Wallace Davenport at the Paddock. June was also heard on more modern stylings working with artists like saxophonist Alvin "Red" Tyler, vibraphonist Lionel Hampton and jazz/soul vocalist Lou Rawls and can be heard on his 2000 album 99 Plus One. This year, June Gardner & the Fellas opened up the Economy Hall Tent at Jazz Fest, an event he's played "since the beginning" (?) b. 1931.
2011: Ladislav "Ladi" Geisler (83) Czech guitarist and bassist, who established a high profile in the post-war German music scene. Best known for his work with pop musicians such as Bert Kaempfert, James Last and Freddy Quinn, Geisler developed the distinctive “Knack-Bass” percussive bass sound that helped popularize the Bert Kaempfert Orchestra. He later released numerous records under his own name (sadly Ladi died four days after collapsing at a club gig in Hamburg) b. November 27th 1927.
2012: Pete La Roca/Peter Sims (74) American jazz drummer, born in New York City; between 1957-68 he played with Sonny Rollins, Jackie McLean, Slide Hampton, John Coltrane Quartet, Marian McPartland, Art Farmer, Freddie Hubbard, Mose Allison, Charles Lloyd, Paul Bley, and Steve Kühn, among others, as well as leading his own group and working as the house drummer at the Jazz Workshop in Boston. During this period, he twice recorded as leader, firstly on Basra-1965 and Turkish Women at the Bath-1967, also issued as Bliss under pianist Chick Corea's name on Muse. In 1968 he left music to become a lawyer, successfully suing when his second album as leader was released under Corea's name without his consent. He returned to jazz in 1979, and recorded one new album as a leader, Swingtime on Blue Note in 1997 (sadly died while fighting lung cancer) b. April 7th 1938.

November 20 .
1973: Allan Sherman/Allan Copelon (48) American comedy singer, parodist, satirist, and TV producer; his biggest chart hit was a spoof of summer camp entitled "Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh," reaching #2 on the national Billboard Hot 100 chart for three weeks in late 1963. The lyrics were sung to the tune of one segment of Ponchielli's "Dance of the Hours". He released 10 albums, 2 best of's and a box set. In 1971 he was the voice of the Cat in the Hat from the television special. His last film before his death was Dr. Seuss on the Loose (sadly lost to emphysema) b. November 30th 1924.
1997: Robert Franklin Palmer Jr. (52) American writer, musicologist, clarinetist, saxophonist, and blues producer, born in Little Rock, Arkansas. Robert is best known for books he authored such as Deep Blues, his music journalism articles for The New York Times and Rolling Stone magazine, his work producing blues recordings and the soundtrack to the film Deep Blues. Also he is known for his clarinet work in the 1960s band The Insect Trust. A collection of his work, titled "Blues & Chaos: The Music Writing of Robert Palmer" and edited by Anthony DeCurtis, was published by Scribner in November of 2009 (sadly died from liver disease) b. June 19th 1945
1998: Roland Alphonso/The Cheif Musician (67) Jamaican tenor saxophonist; he joined the band Clue J & The Blues Blasters and backed many sessions of Coxsone Dodd in a typical Jamaican R&B style. By 1960, he was recording for many other producers such as Duke Reid, Lloyd "The Matador" Daley and King Edwards. During this period he played in different bands, such as The Alley Cats, The City Slickers, and Aubrey Adams & The Dew Droppers. In 1963, after few months spent in Nassau, Bahamas, he took part in the creation of The Studio One Orchestra, the first session band of the freshly opened recording studio of Coxsone. This band soon adopted the name of The Skatalites. He played on numerous records coming out from Jamaican studios, especially for Bunny Lee. He was awarded Officer of the Order of Distinction by the Jamaican government in 1980. The Skatalites reformed in 1983, he toured and recorded with them constantly until his death (?) b. January 12th 1931.
2004: Jenny Ross (42) English keyboardist and vocals with post-punk/techno band "Section 25" best known for their classic Techno single "Looking from a Hilltop." She was also known by her married name, Jennifer Cassidy (sadly died fighting cancer) b. 1962
2005: James King (80) American singer, widely regarded as the finest American heldentenor of the post-war period. He started singing as a baritone, as a tenor he won the American Opera Auditions in Cincinnati in 1961 and made his debut as Don Jose in Bizet's Carmen with the San Francisco Opera. He sang the French and Italian repertoire with the Deutsche Oper Berlin from 1962 to 1965 and world-wide at most of the major opera houses, being a particular favorite at the Vienna State Opera, where he last appeared as Florestan in Beethoven's Fidelio, in 1997 (died from a heart attack) b. May 22nd 1925.
2005: Chris Whitley (45) US guitarist, because of his unique style of playing, he used many alternate tunings for his guitars. He appeared in the concert film documentary Hellhounds on my Trail - The Afterlife of Robert Johnson. As well as his solo work he has also recorded with Shawn Colvin, Cassandra Wilson, Rob Wasserman, Little Jimmy Scott, Mike Watt, Johnny Society, Joe Henry, Michael Shrieve, Chocolate Genius, DJ Logic, Ely Guerra, Goat, Dave Pirner (of Soul Asylum), Clint Mansell and Jeff Lang (sadly lost his fight with lung cancer) b. August 31st 1960
2007: Ernest 'Doc' Paulin (100) American jazz trumpet player with the Paulin Brass Band and played with such greats as Kid Ory, Danny Barker, Papa Celestine and Harold Dejean, to name a few. He made a great contribution to New Orleans music with his drafting of young musicians into his band. His band was featured in Always for Pleasure, an award-winning film about New Orleans culture (?) b. June 22nd 1907.
2010: Roxana Briban (39) Romanian soprano, a graduate of the Music Academy in Bucharest, Briban made her debut as a soloist with the Opera Nationala Bucuresti in 2000. She made her international debut at the Wiener Staatsoper in 2003. She went on to sing in cities such as Bucharest, Berlin and Bangkok during a 10-year-career. From 2003 until 2010, Roxana also performed at the Vienna State Opera. (sadly an apparent suicide, following a period of depression) b. 1971.
2012: Michael Dunford (68) Britishmusician born and raised in Surrey; he was guitarist and chief composer behind the UK progressive rock band, Renaissance’s sweeping, symphonic progressive rock. His first job was selling clothing in a local shop followed by a stint as an airside driver at Heathrow Airport which enabled him to form a "skiffle" group which lead to his first rock band called Nashville Teens in the early 1960s. Nashville Teens reached No.6 on U.K. singles charts with their version of Tobacco Road. On leaving them, he formed several other bands including The Pentad and The Plebes. One night he went to see the original band Renaissance perform locally and ended up joining them in the early 1970s. The original band members were Jim McCarty, Louis Cennamo, John Hawken, Keith Relf and Jane Relf. Michael and vocalist Annie Haslam took over Renaissance in 1971 and soon had established the group as a world class recording and touring act, selling out venues like New York's Carnegie Hall and The Royal Albert Hall in London. The band are most notable for their 1978 UK top 10 hit "Northern Lights" and progressive rock classics like "Carpet of the Sun", "Mother Russia", and "Ashes Are Burning". This autumn Michael and the band completed recording their first new studio album in 12 years. Grandine il Vento. All the music on the new album except for one track was composed and arranged by Michael and features him on acoustic guitars and backing vocals (Michael had just returned home from the first leg of the band's North American tour, but suffered a massive Instantaneous Cerebral Hemorrhage while at home. He tragically died later in hospital) b.1944.
2012: Flora Martirosyan (55) Armenian singer, as a young singer she took part in Garoun 73 song contest and won the 1st place among 800 participants. Later, as a soloist at a state folk orchestra she toured over 70 countries while also studying at Yerevan State Conservatory after Komitas. In 1991, Flora left for USA with her husband, to return to Armenia a few years later. From 1997 to 2001, she headed a Yerevan-based Music School after Armen Tigranyan in Yerevan. In 2002, she established an International Music Academy after Komitas in USA.In 2006, she initiated A Pan-Armenian Song Contest Festival. Then in 2008, Flora, jointly created international organization Artist for Peace with Michael Stone to raise awareness of crimes against humanity. In 2011, she initiated the Never Again peace concert featured world-famed artists Stevie Wonder, Chaka Khan, Eric Benet, Pras, Malina Moyem united in a cause against injustice. (sadly died of complications following gall bladder surgery) b. February 5th 1957.

November 21 .
1953: Lawrence James "Larry" Shields (60) American jazz clarinetist; born in Uptown, New Orleans, he started playing clarinet at 14 years old and played with Papa Jack Laine's bands. He was one of the early New Orleans musicians to go to Chicago, first heading north in the summer of 1915 to join Bert Kelly's band, then with Tom Brown's band. He joined the Original Dixieland Jass Band in November of 1916. The following year that band made the first jazz phonograph records, propelling Larry's playing to national prominence. Relocating to New York in 1921, he played with Paul Whiteman and various other bands in New York City, before moving to Los Angeles, California where he stayed throughout the 1920s, leading his own band and appearing in some Hollywood films. In the 1930s Larry returned to Chicago and joined the reformed Original Dixieland Jazz Band. He then worked for a while at "Nick's" in New York before returning to play in New Orleans and later in California (?) b. September 13th 1893.
1974: Frank Martin (84) Swiss composer who lived a large part of his life in the Netherlands; The Petite Symphonie Concertante is the best known of his orchestral works, as the early Mass is of his choral compositions and the Jedermann monologues, for baritone and piano or orchestra, of his works for solo voice. Other of his pieces include a full-scale symphony, two piano concertos, a harpsichord concerto, a violin concerto, a cello concerto, a concerto for seven wind instruments, and a series of six one-movement works he called "ballades" for various solo instruments with piano or orchestra and a dozen major scores for the operatic theatre. He worked on his last cantata, Et la vie l'emporta, until ten days before his death (?) b. September 15th 1890.
1992: Severino Gazzelloni (73) Italian flute player born in Roccasecca, Severino was the principle flautist in the RAI orchestra for 30 years and dedicatee of many works. Composers including Luciano Berio, Pierre Boulez, Bruno Maderna and Igor Stravinsky wrote pieces for him. He was also a flute teacher, the jazz player Eric Dolphy and classical flautist Abbie de Quant are among his pupils. Dolphy honored Severino by naming a composition for him which he included in his 1964 Out to Lunch! album (died in Cassino) b. January 5th 1919.
1995: Peter Grant (60) English music manager born in the south London suburb of South Norwood, Surrey. He managed the popular English bands The Yardbirds, Led Zeppelin and Bad Company, amongst others, and was also a record executive for Swan Song Records. Peter has been described as "one of the shrewdest and most ruthless managers in rock history". He is widely credited with improving pay and conditions for musicians in dealings with concert promoters. He began work as an entertainment manager at a hotel in Jersey before being employed as a bouncer and doorman at London's famous The 2i's Coffee Bar. In 1963, Peter was hired by promoter Don Arden to act as the British tour manager for artists such as Bo Diddley, The Everly Brothers, Little Richard, Brian Hyland, Chuck Berry, Eddie Cochran, Gene Vincent, and The Animals. By 1964, he had started to manage his own acts including The Nashville Teens, She Trinity, The New Vaudeville Band, Jeff Beck, Terry Reid, and Stone the Crows. After the official breakup of Led Zeppelin in 1980, and the subsequent folding of the Swan Song label in 1983, he virtually retired from the music business to his private estate in Hellingly. This is the house that is featured at the beginning of the film The Song Remains the Same. Peter later became a keynote speaker at music management conferences such as In The City, where he was lauded by latter-day peers (heart attack) b. April 5th 1935.
1995: Matthew Ashman (35) English guitarist, born and raised in Mill Hill, London, and attended school alongside Boz Boorer. He was influenced by jazz while learning guitar, and joined his first band, Staffix, after learning Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Freebird". He then performed in the band The Kameras, before joining Adam and the Ants in June of 1978, playing guitar and singing backing vocals. He also played guitar for the band Bow Wow Wow (complications caused by diabetes) b. November 3rd 1960.
2001: Norman Granz (83) American jazz music impresario and producer, born in LA. He was the founder of five record labels: Clef, Norgran, Down Home, Verve and Pablo. Many of the names that made history in jazz signed with one of Norman Granz's labels, including Cannonball Adderley, Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Louie Bellson, Ray Brown, Benny Carter, Buck Clayton, Paulinho Da Costa, Buddy DeFranco, Roy Eldridge, Duke Ellington, Herb Ellis, Tal Farlow, Stan Getz, Dizzy Gillespie, Lionel Hampton, Bill Harris, Coleman Hawkins, Johnny Hodges, Billie Holiday, Milt Jackson, Illinois Jacquet, Hank Jones, Barney Kessel, Gene Krupa, Ken Kersey, Charlie Parker, Joe Pass, Oscar Peterson, Flip Phillips, Bud Powell, Buddy Rich, Charlie Shavers, Sonny Stitt, Slim Gaillard, Art Tatum, Ben Webster and Lester Young. He always fought for the music he believed in, having a love for freewheeling jam sessions, for his artists and against racism, forcing many hotels and concert venues to become integrated in the 1940s and '50s. (died in Geneva, Switzerland) b. August 6th 1918.
2002: Hadda Brooks/Hadda Hapgood (86) US jazz singer, pianist, composer raised in the Boyle Heights area of Los Angeles; encouraged by orchestra leader Charlie Barnet, she practiced singing "You Won't Let Me Go," and the song became her first vocal recording in 1947. She also played the small part of a lounge piano player in films, and often sang the title song. "Out of the Blue" became a top hit for Brooks, "Boogie Woogie Blues" followed in 1948, and she appeared in In a Lonely Placein 1950, starring Humphrey Bogart, and in The Bad and the Beautiful in 1952 with Lana Turner and Kirk Douglas. Other hits include "Swingin' the Boogie", "That's My Desire", "Romance in the Dark", "Don't Take Your Love From Me", "Anytime, Anyplace, Anywhere", "You Won't Go". Hadda became the first African-American woman to host her own television show in 1957. The Hadda Brooks Show. She continued singing well into her 80's, celebrating her 80th birthday by performing two full shows at Depp's Viper Room, and in 2000, the Los Angeles Music Awards honored Hadda Brooks with the Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2007, a 72-minute documentary, Queen of the Boogie, directed by Austin Young & Barry Pett, was presented at the Los Angeles Silver Lake Film Festival (sadly died following open-heart surgery) b. October 29th 1916.
2006: Robert Lockwood Jr (91) American blues guitarist born in Helena, Arkansas; he started playing the organ in his father's church at the age of 8. The famous bluesman Robert Johnson lived with his mother for 10 years off and on after his parents' divorce. He learned from Johnson not only how to play guitar, but timing and stage presence as well. Robert played with Sonny Boy Williamson II, Howlin' Wolf and others in the Mississippi area in 1937-39. From 1939-40 he split his time playing in St. Louis, Missouri, Chicago, Illinois and Helena. In 1950 he settled in Chicago and in '54 he replaced Louis Myers as guitarist in Little Walter's band, and played on Walter's No.1 hit "My Babe" in 1955. After which in the late '50s he recorded several sessions with Sonny Boy Williamson II for Chess Records, sessions which also included Willie Dixon and Otis Spann, and also performed and/or recorded with Sunnyland Slim, Eddie Boyd, and Muddy Waters among many others. In 2004, Robert appeared at Eric Clapton's first Crossroads Guitar Festival in Dallas, Texas, where a live recording of Robert Lockwood, Jr. Henry James Townsend, Joe Willie "Pinetop" Perkins, and David Honeyboy Edwards, and "Last of the Great Mississippi Delta Bluesmen: Live In Dallas" album was the result, the four blues legends were aged from 89 to 94 years old. The album was awarded a Grammy for Best Traditional Blues Album in 2008, the first Grammy win for the musicians (sadly died having earlier suffered a cerebral aneurysm and a stroke) b. March 27th 1915.
2009: Allen Shelton (73) American banjo player, born in Reidsville, North Carolina. In the 1950s, he performed together with Hack Johnson and the Tennesseans, and later, with Jim Eanes and Mac Wiseman. He joined Jim & Jesse and the Virginia Boys, and began recording for Columbia Records on December 7, 1960. In 1966, Jim & Jesse had an offer to record with the Nashville Symphony and Allen left the band in protest and retired from music business. About ten years later he found himself once more on the road with Jim & Jesse and making more records. He made his first solo album on Rounder Records in 1976. (sadly died of leukemia) b. July 2nd 1936.
2010: Almeida Prado (67) Brazilian composer and pianist; born in Santos, São Paulo, he wrote over 400 compositions and won various prizes for his work. After winning 1st prize for his cantata Pequenos Funerais Cantantes at the I Festival de Música da Guanabara in 1969, he continued his studies in Paris from 1970 to 1973, besides brief studies with György Ligeti and Lukas Foss in Darmstadt. Returning to Brazil in 1974, Almeida first taught at the Conservatório Municipal de Cubatão, and then, hired by Zeferino Vaz, he became a professor at the UNICAMP Institute of the Arts, retiring in 2000. In January 2007, his cantata Hiléia, Um Mural da Amazônia, was performed at Carnegie Hall by the Orquestra Bachiana Filarmônica de São Paulo conducted by João Carlos Martins. (sadly died from the lung desease pulmonary edema) b. February 8th 1943.
2011: Paul Yandell (76) American country music finger style and thumbpicker guitarist; born in Mayfield, Kentucky, he moved to Nashville in 1955 where he started his professional career recording and touring with the Louvin Brothers. After serving in the Army, he spent the 1960s performing and recording with Kitty Wells and with Jerry Reed in the early 70, after which he served as Chet Atkins' primary sideman from 1975 until Atkins' death in 2001. As a session musician, he also recorded with Dolly Parton, George Strait, Hank Thompson, the Everly Brothers, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Perry Como, Roger Whitaker, Les Paul, Woody Herman and so many others. Following Atkins' death, Paul recorded five solo albums and performed in Nashville with Steve Wariner in 2009 when Atkins was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame. (The cause of his death is not yet public, but in recent years, he was in declining health) b. September 5th 1935.
2012: Austin Peralta (22) American jazz pianist and composer born in L.A.; at the age of 13 he won the Shelly Manne New Talent Award given by the Los Angeles Jazz Society in 2003. At aged 15, he was a featured performer at the 2006 Tokyo Jazz Festival, appearing with his own trio, and performing live with major jazz and jazz fusion stars Chick Corea, Hank Jones, Sadao Watanabe, John Patitucci and Omar Hakim. In 2006, aged 16, he recorded two albums for Sony Music: "Maiden Voyage" and "Mantra". Austin composed and performed the score for the remastered documentary feature What Happened to Kerouac?-2012 and appeared on the track "DMT Song" on Flying Lotus' album Until the Quiet Comes-2012. He also contributed to the original soundtrack of his father's documentary film Riding Giants with a piano solo. Before his death, Austin was performing regularly with Allan Holdsworth and Virgil Donati. (no cause of death has been given) b. October 25th 1990.

November 22 .
1900: Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan MVO (58) English composer born in London; he composed his first anthem at aged 8 and was selected as soloist in the boys' choir of the Chapel Royal. Choirmaster Reverend Thomas Helmore, arranged for the publication and performance of his early compositions. In 1856, the Royal Academy of Music awarded the first Mendelssohn Scholarship to the 14 year old Sullivan, allowing him to study first at the Academy and then in Germany, at the Leipzig Conservatoire. He is best known for his series of 14 operatic collaborations with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, including such enduring works as H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado. Arthur composed 23 operas, 13 major orchestral works, eight choral works and oratorios, two ballets, incidental music to several plays, and numerous hymns and other church pieces, songs, and piano and chamber pieces. The best known of his hymns and songs include "Onward Christian Soldiers" and "The Lost Chord". His unfinished opera, The Emerald Isle, was completed by Edward German and produced in 1901 and his Te Deum Laudamus, written to commemorate the end of the Boer War, was performed posthumously (sadly Arthur died of heart failure, following an attack of bronchitis) b. May 13th 1842
1943: Lorenz "Larry" Hart (48) American lyricist in Harlem, New York and attended Columbia University, where a friend introduced him to Richard Rodgers, and the two joined forces to write songs for a series of amateur and student productions. In 1919, the team's song "Any Old Place With You" was included in the Broadway musical comedy A Lonely Romeo. The great success of their score for the 1925 Theatre Guild production, The Garrick Gaieties, brought them great acclaim. They continued working together until Hart's death. Some other of his more famous lyrics include, "Blue Moon", "Isn't It Romantic?", "Mountain Greenery", "The Lady Is a Tramp", "Manhattan", "Where or When", "Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered", "Falling in Love with Love", "I'll Tell The Man In The Street" and "My Funny Valentine". Rodgers and Hart's final collaboration was in the fall of 1943 for a revival of A Connecticut Yankee. Five days after this show opened, Larry died in New York City (pneumonia from exposure. Larry sadly struggled with emotional turmoil about his sexuality and battled with alcoholism, which contributed to his death) b. May 2nd 1895.
1986: Benjamin Sherman "Scatman" Crothers (76) American actor, singer, dancer and multi-musician; born in Terre Haute, Indiana, he was known for his work as Louie the Garbage Man on the TV show Chico and the Man, and as Dick Hallorann in The Shining in 1980. He was also a prolific voiceover artist, and provided the voices of Jazz the Autobot in The Transformers, the title character in Hong Kong Phooey, Meadowlark Lemon in the animated TV version of The Harlem Globetrotters, and Scat Cat in the 1970 film The Aristocats. He performed on piano and drums in several bands, most notably with bandleader Slim Gaillard and was part of the music group The Ramparts who sang Bob Dylan's "The Death of Emmett Till". He also sang and played guitar, recording several solo albums and singles (sadly died of pneumonia while bravely battling lung and throat cancer) b. May 23rd 1910.
1994: Forrest Fred White (74) American musical instruments industry executive, best known for his association with Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. He began working at Fender on 20 May 1954, eventually becoming its Vice President. Leo Fender named a line of student amplifiers and steel guitars after him in 1955. He remained with the company until December 1966. He was also a partner with Fender in the Music Man company after both men left Fender (?) b. May 21st 1920.
1997: Michael Hutchence (37) Australian singer-songwriter, most famous for his work with rock band INXS; raised primarily in Hong Kong, at the age of eight he made his professional debut singing in a commercial for an area toy company. He gained a reputation as a enigmatic, sensual frontman, although his close friends and family always maintained he was much more introverted than his on stage persona. A talented lyricist, he co-wrote almost all of INXS' songs with Andrew Farriss, who has attributed his own success as a songwriter to Hutchence's 'genius.' (His naked body was found behind the door to his room. He had apparently hanged himself with his own belt and the buckle has broken away and his body was found kneeling on the floor, facing the door) b. January 22nd 1960.
2001: Norman Granz (83) American jazz impresario and producer born in LA; he first emerged into the public view when he organised desegregated jam sessions at the Trouville Club, which he later expanded when he staged a memorable concert at the Philharmonic Auditorium in LA on July 2, 1944, headed of "Jazz at the Philharmonic". After several JATP concerts in Los Angeles, He began producing JATP concert tours, in USA and Canada, from late fall/winter of 1945-46 to 1957, and from 1952 in Europe, these all featured Swing and Bop musicians. Norman was a fundamental figure in American jazz, especially from about 1947-60. He was the founder of five record labels: Clef, Norgran, Down Home, Verve and Pablo. His recording artists included including Cannonball Adderley, Benny Carter, Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Louie Bellson, Ray Brown, Buck Clayton, Paulinho Da Costa, Duke Ellington, Buddy DeFranco, Roy Eldridge, Herb Ellis, Tal Farlow, Stan Getz, Dizzy Gillespie, Lionel Hampton, Bill Harris, Coleman Hawkins, Johnny Hodges, Billie Holiday, Milt Jackson, Illinois Jacquet, Hank Jones, Barney Kessel, Gene Krupa, Ken Kersey, Charlie Parker, Joe Pass, Oscar Peterson, Flip Phillips, Bud Powell, Buddy Rich, Charlie Shavers, Sonny Stitt, Slim Gaillard, Art Tatum, Ben Webster, Lester Young and more. Norman is also much remembered for his notable anti-racist position and for the battles he consequently fought for his artists, many of whom were black, in times and places where skin colour was the cause of vile and open discrimination. (?) b. August 6th 1918.
2008: MC Breed/Eric Breed (36) American rapper; a Flint, Michigan-based rapper best known for his singles "Ain't No Future in Yo Frontin", which peaked at No.66 on the Billboard Hot 100, and "Gotta Get Mine", featuring 2Pac, that made it to #6 on the Hot Rap Singles (sadly died of kidney failure) b. 1972
2009: Haydain Neale (39) Canadian singer-songwriter, from Hamilton, and the lead singer of the award winning band, Jacksoul. Jacksoul was one of Canada’s most successful contemporary soul groups, with a string of hits that included 'Can’t Stop' and 'Still Believe in Love'. The group won the Juno Award for R&B/soul recording of the year twice, in 2001 and 2007. Haydain, whose vocal style was compared to Seal, also received an Urban Music Award for songwriter of the year in 2004 and a SOCAN award in 2005, and was named president of the Songwriters Association of Canada in 2006. Haydain has only just recovered after in August 2007, a car collided with his Vespa scooter, leaving him in a coma with head injuries. After a long and slow recovery and bravely battling cancer, he just managed to finish their new album, Soulmate, co-produced by himself and Ron Lopata, the album he started almost three years ago, will be released by Sony Music Canada on December 1st. It contains 10 new songs written before singer Haydain Neal's accident. (lung cancer) b. September 3rd 1970.
2010: Hukamati Makoto (64) Japanese composer, arranger, pianist and synthesizer player; since his debut in 1971, he has produced numerous original albums and performed with his own bands. In the late '70s, he invited New York based studio musicians such as Steve Gadd, the Brecker Brothers and Mike Mainieri to Japan and they held live performances together at various venues. His album "Jun Fukamachi & the New York All Stars/Live" was re-released in 2002. In 1989, he became a Professor of the Department Music at Senzoku Gakuen College and was charge of establishing Japan's first course specializing in music synthesis. In '96 he left the university and resumed his career as a musician. His recent live performances were mainly based on piano improvisation, exploring the possibilities of creating music of the Japanese origin for the world's audience (?) b. ????
2011: Paul Motian (80) American jazz drummer, percussionist and composer born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and raised in Providence, Rhode Island. After playing guitar in his childhood, he began playing the drums at age 12, and during the Korean War he joined the Navy. Paul became a professional musician in 1954, and briefly played with pianist Thelonious Monk, before coming to prominence in the late 1950s in the piano trio of Bill Evans. He later led several groups recording over 36 albums as a leader. Paul played an important role in freeing the drummer from strict time-keeping duties (sadly Paul died of complications from myelodysplastic syndrome) b. March 25th 1931.
2011: Sena Jurinac (90) Austrian opera singer, born in Travnik, Bosnia-Herzegovina, she studied at the Zagreb Academy of Music, and also with Milka Kostrencic. Her dark, forceful voice was pitched exactly between soprano and mezzo. Her repertoire included Butterfly, Elisabetta (Don Carlos), Desdemona (Otello), Elisabeth (Tannhäuser), Ilia, Iphigenia, Jenufa, Leonora (La forza del destino), the Composer (Ariadne auf Naxos), Marie (Wozzeck), Pamina (The Magic Flute), Poppea, and Tosca. In many operas her repertoire included more than one major role and also played supporting roles in The Ring of the Nibelung: Woglinde, Gutrune, and several of the Norns. Her final operatic performance was as the Marschallin at the Vienna State Opera in November 1982 (?) b. October 24th 1921.
2011: Hans Reichel (62) German guitarist, and inventor of the daxophone; born in Hagen, he began to teach himself violin at age 7, around age 15, he began to play guitar inspired by The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and later, Frank Zappa, Cream, and Jimi Hendrix. He played in various local bands, before playing his own solo material, his first release being Wichlinghauser Blues in 1973. As well as his many solo works he recorded duets with a wide variety of musicians, including accordionist Rüdiger Carl, cellist Tom Cora, percussionist EROC, and a number of guitarists including Kazuhisa Uchihashi and Fred Frith. He was also a member of the September Band, as well as performing with larger ensembles led by the likes of saxophonist Thomas Borgmann and Butch Morris, an avante-garde conductor. Hans constructed and built several variations of guitars and basses, most of them featuring multiple fretboards and unique positioning of pickups and 3rd Bridges. His Daxophone is a single wooden blade fixed in a block containing a contact microphone, which is played mostly with a bow (?) b. May 10th 1949.
2011: Himie Voxman (99) American musician, music pedagogue and administrator and composer who produced volumes of compositions and pedagogical literature for wind instruments. He is recognized as one of the most influential American music educators of the last century. Although he was originally trained as a chemical engineer, he devoted his life to woodwind music and education. He joined the University of Iowa School of Music in 1939, and became Director in 1954, holding that position until his retirement in 1980. Professor Voxman stayed an active teacher and played first clarinet in the Iowa City Concert Band till well in his ninties. He is the author of numerous musical compilations, reviews and books and has many honours and awards (?) b. September 17th 1912.
2012: Peter Bennett/ Pietro Benedetto (77) American self made musical promoter, born in The Bronx, New York. Following the death of Brian Epstein in 1967, he was hired as promotional manager for The Beatles and Apple Corps. His first promotion was "Hey Jude", followed by the White Album, Yellow Submarine, Abbey Road and Let It Be. After the band's breakup, he became the promotion manager for each of the four Beatles individually: John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, as well as the original drummer Pete Best and numerous other stars. Cited by Billboard Magazine as the man who "made unknowns into stars and stars into superstars", he has the distinction of being the only promotions manager to work simultaneously with the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Elvis, Bob Dylan, Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett. September 21, 22 and 23, 2007 he participated in the first annual Orillia Beatles Festival speaking about his involvement with the Beatles and little-known facts. Also at this event was Paul Saltzman, photographer of the Beatles in India with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (?) b. May 10th 1935.

November 23 .
1979: Judee Sill (35) American pianist, guitarist, singer-songwriter born in Oakland, California; she rebelled against her mother's remarrage to animator Ken Muse, eventually turning to petty crime and serving time in the early 60s. Around this time she became a heroin addict, eventually kicking the habit as she started to pursue a musical career. Her song "Lady-O" became a hit for the Turtles in 1969, and she caught the attention of David Crosby and Graham Nash, and playing with them as an opening act. She was signed to David Geffen's Asylum Records, and became part of the "Laurel Canyon Sound" made famous by Joni Mitchell and Carole King. Two albums, Judde Still in 1971 and Heart Food in 1972 were critically acclaimed, with a song from the first, "Jesus Was a Cross-Maker" getting her airplay and being covered by the Hollies. She also recorded demos for a third album in 1974, which were released with other rarities on the 2005 two-disc collection Dreams Come True. Many of her songs reflected her interests in Christian spirituality and metaphysics. After a series of car accidents and back surgery which left her in constant physical pain, she struggled with drug addiction and dropped out of the music scene (heroin & cocaine drug overdose) b. October 7th 1944.
1979: Henry Coker (59) American jazz trombonist born in Dallas; his professional debut with John White in 1935. From 1937 to 1939 he played with Nat Towles's territory band, then moved to Hawaii to play with Monk McFay. After Pearl Harbor he returned to California, playing with Benny Carter, Illinois Jacquet, Eddie Heywood, and played in early, groundbreaking sessions by giants such as Charles Mingus in the late '40s and Sonny Rollins and R&B groups such as Johnny Otis and Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson and Charles Mingus. He fell ill from 1949-1951, but after his recovery he worked with Sonny Rollins,Tony Bennett, Sarah Vaughan and then joined Count Basie's band, playing and recording with him from 1952 to 1963. He toured with Ray Charles from 1966 to 1971. He did freelance and film/television studio work in the mid-1970s, rejoining Basie briefly in 1973 and Charles in 1976. Henry also appears on J.J. Johnson's Trombones Incorporated session, featuring ten trombonistsand bandleader Osie Johnson immortalized the trombonist with the solo feature tune "Cokernut Tree" (?) b. December 24th 1919.
1992: Roy Acuff (89) US country singer, fiddleplayer, and songwriter, the first living artist elected to the Country Music Hall Of Fame in 1962. Born in Maynardville, Tennessee, he was called the King of Country Music, and for more than 60 years he lived up to that title. Throughout his career, he was a champion for traditional country values, enforcing his beliefs as a performer, a music publisher, and as the Grand Master of the Grand Ole Opry. Roy was the first country music superstar after the death of Jimmie Rodgers, pioneering an influential vocal style that complemented the spare, simple songs he was performing. Generations of artists, from Hank Williams to George Jones, have been influenced by him, and countless others have paid respect to him. At the time of his death in 1992, he was still actively involved in the Grand Ole Opry, and was as popular as ever. Over his long career he released 43 albums with many hit singles including "The Prodigal Son", "I'll Forgive You But I Can't Forget", "Write Me Sweetheart", "(Our Own) Jole Blon", "The Waltz of the Wind", "This World Can't Stand Long", "Tennessee Waltz", "A Sinner's Death", and "Once More". In 1991, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts, and given a lifetime achievement award by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. (Roy died in Nashville from congestive heart failure) b. September 15th 1903.
1994: Tommy Boyce (55) American songwriter, born in Phoenix, Arizona he was one half of Boyce & Hart, well known for The Monkees songs. Tommy's first success the song "Be My Guest" he wrote for Fats Domino, the song hit No.8 in the US and No.11 in the UK. He met Bobby Hart in 1959, their breakthrough was with Chubby Checker, "Lazy Elsie Molly", in 1964. They went on to write hits for Jay & the Americans-"Come a Little Bit Closer", Paul Revere & the Raiders-"(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone" and The Leaves-"Words". The duo also wrote the theme song to the daytime soap Days of Our Lives. In late 1965, they wrote, produced and performed the soundtrack to the pilot of The Monkees and several of theirhits. Boyce and Hart embarked on a successful career as recording artists in their own right, releasing three albums on A&M Records: Test Patterns, I Wonder What She's Doing Tonight, and It's All Happening on the Inside. The duo also had five charting singles; the most well-known of these was "I Wonder What She's Doing Tonight, in early 1968, selling over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. Boyce and Hart wrote in excess of 300 songs and sold more than 42 million records as a partnership (he struggled with depression, and suffering a brain aneurysm, he sadly shot himself) b. September 29th 1939.
1995: Junior Walker/ Autry DeWalt II / Autry De Walt Mixon (64) American singer, saxophonist; he formed his own band the 'Jumping Jacks' when he was only 14 years old. His friend, drummer Billy Nix, started his own group the 'Rhythm Rockers', now and again, the 2 musicians would play in each others bands. Billy aquired a regular gig at a local TV station in South Bend, Indiana, and asked Junoir to join him and his keyboardist, Fred Patton permanently. Shortly after, local singer Willie Woods joined the group. When Billy got drafted into the US Army, Jr.Walker, Fred and Willie moved to Battle Creek, Michigan, where they were joined by drummer Tony Washington and soon Victor Thomas replaced Fred on piano. This new line up called themseves the 'All Stars'. Junior got his big break in 1961, when Johnny Bristol saw the band he recommended them to Harvey Fuqua, who signed them to his record label and changed their name to Junior Walker & the All Stars. When Harvey's labels were taken over by Motown's Berry Gordy, Jr. Walker & The All Stars became members of the Motown Records family, recording on Motown's Soul label. In 1966, Billy "Stix" Nicks once again met up with Junior, and joined band. Their first and signature hit was "Shotgun", written by Junior, it reached No.4 on the Billboard Hot 100, and No. 1 on the R&B chart in 1965, and was followed by many other hits, such as "I'm a Road Runner", "Pucker Up Buttercup", "Shake and Fingerpop", "Come See About Me", and "What Does It Take (To Win Your Love)?". In 1979, Junior Walker went solo and was signed to Norman Whitfield's.. Whitfield Records label. He also played the sax on the group Foreigner's "Urgent" in 1981. In 1983, Junior re-signed with Motown and was inducted into the Rhythm and Blues Foundation in 1995, a few months before he died. Junior's song, "Shotgun", was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2002 (Junior sadly died after his battle with cancer) b. June 14th 1931.
1996: Art Porter Jr (35) American jazz saxophonist and son of jazz musician Art Porter, Sr; born in Little Rock, Arkansas, at the age of 9 he joined his father's band as a drummer and played with them into his teenage years. Art Porter Sr. helped Bill Clinton pass legislation that would allow a minor to play in a night club if a parent or guardian was present. This became known as the Art Porter Bill. In the mid 80s young Art moved to Chicago, and studied tenor saxophone with Von Freeman and performed with Pharoah Sanders and Jack McDuff. During the 90s he developed an interest in R&B and hip hop and merged elements of these into his performances. Soon after this, Art s produced several albums, beginning in the summer of 1992 with Pocket City, followed by Straight to the Point, Undercover and finally Lay Your Hands On Me. These albums were known as by people wanting their "smooth jazz" not too smooth. Art and his father performed for President Clinton during his 1993 inauguration, playing Amazing Grace at a prayer breakfast (drowned in a tragic accident on the Kratha Taek reservoir in Sai Yok, Thailand, when the boat he was on sprang a leach & sank) b. August 3rd 1961.
2001: O.C. Smith/Ocie Lee Smith (69) American singer born in Mansfield, Louisiana, but moved with his parents to Little Rock, Arkansas, then with his mother to LA, California. His first break as a singer with Sy Oliver after which he released his debut single, a cover of the Little Richard hit "Tutti Frutti" in December 1955. In 1961, he was recruited by Count Basie, a position he held until 1965. In 1968, he entered the charts for the first time with "Son of Hickory Holler's Tramp", which reached No. 2 in the UK Singles Chart and broke the Top 40 in the US. His "Little Green Apples," which went to No.2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and received a gold record from the R.I.A.A. for sales of one million records. He continued to record, reaching the R&B, Adult Contemporary and pop charts in his home country with the likes of "Daddy's Little Man", "Friend, Lover, Woman, Wife", "Me and You" and "Love To Burn". He also returned to the UK Singles Chart in 1977 with "Together", reaching a Top 30 position. He became Dr. O.C. Smith, pastor of the City of Angels Science of Mind Centre in LA and he continued to preach until his death (sadly died of a heart attack) b. June 21st 1932.
2005: Chris Whitley (45) American blues singer-songwriter and guitarist born in Houston; he learned to play guitar at 15 and spent the early 1980s busking on the streets of New York City and played with Marc Miller, Arto Lindsay and Michael Beinhorn. From 1983 he spent 4 years in Belgium. Back in New York City he was signed to Columbia Records after which 16 albums of Chris have been released debuting with Living with the Law in 1991. In 2000, Chris recorded Perfect Day with Chris Wood and Billy Martin. Chris also recorded with Shawn Colvin on Fat City, Cassandra Wilson on Blue Light 'til Dawn and New Moon Daughter, Rob Wasserman and Les Claypool on Johnny Society on Wood and Clairvoyance, Wasserman's Trios, Goat on All of My Friends, Joe Henry on Fuse, Michael Shrieve on Fascination, Chocolate Genius on GodMusic), Ely Guerra on Lotofire, Dave Pirner of Soul Asylum on Faces & Names, Clint Mansell on the Knockaround Guys soundtrack, also with DJ Logic, Little Jimmy Scott, Mike Watt, Daniel Lanois, and Jeff Lang. Chris's "Breaking Your Fall" from Hotel Vast Horizon-2003, won in The 3rd Annual Independent Music Awards for Best Folk/Singer-Songwriter Song. He won again the following year in The 4th Annual Independent Music Awards for Best Blues/R&B Song with "Her Furious Angels" from War Crime Blues (sadly lost to lung cancer) b. August 31st 1960.
2006: April Lawton (58) American guitar virtuoso, singer, and composer who came to notice in the early to mid 70s as a member of the rock band Ramatam, which also included former Iron Butterfly guitarist Mike Pinera and the former Jimi Hendrix drummer Mitch Mitchell. She was hailed as the female Jimi Hendrix by many, and her style was a mix of Jeff Beck, Hendrix, Eric Clapton, and Alan Holdsworth. She stayed with Ramatam for two studio albums, their self-titled debut and "In April Came the Dawning of the Red Suns". April left after the second album, to follow her solo project called the April Lawton Band, which dissolved in the late 1970s. April then disappeared from the music scene to concentrate on painting and graphic design, her personal life stayed very private until her death, although during the 1990s she recorded demos for a future album, but the material remains unreleased. Some excerpts are available at the April Lawton tribute website (sadly died from heart failure at her home) b. July 30th 1948.
2006: Betty Comden (89) American lyricist born in New York City; she was one-half of the musical-comedy duo Comden and Green, who provided lyrics, libretti, and screenplays to some of the most beloved and successful Hollywood musicals and Broadway shows of the mid-20th century. Her writing partnership with Adolph Green lasted for six decades, during which time they collaborated with other leading entertainment figures such as the famed "Freed Unit" at MGM, Jule Styne and Leonard Bernstein, gathering 7 Tony Awards out of 12 nominations along the way. Singin' in the Rain; The Band Wagon; It's Always Fair Weather; Two on the Aisle; Wonderful Town; Subways Are For Sleeping; Fade Out - Fade In; and Hallelujah, Baby! are just a few musicals they worked on. Their final musical hit was 1991's The Will Rogers Follies (heart failure) b. May 3rd 1917.
2006: Anita O'Day/Anita Belle Colton (87) American jazz singer sometimes nicknamed "Jezabel of Jazz"; her early band appearances shattered the traditional image of the "girl singer". Refusing to pander to any female stereotype, she presented herself as a "hip" jazz musician, wearing a band jacket and skirt as opposed to an evening gown. She started out as a chorus girl in such Uptown venues as the Celebrity Club and the Vanity Fair, then found work as a singer and waitress at the Ball of Fire, the Vialago, and the Planet Mars. In 1939 she sang for Miller's Quartet, until 1941 when she joined Gene Krupa, of the 34 sides she recorded with Krupa, it was "Let Me Off Uptown", a novelty duet with Roy Eldridge, that became her first big hit, and Down Beat named her "New Star of the Year". In the 50s also began performing in festivals and concerts with such musicians as Louis Armstrong, Oscar Peterson, Dinah Washington, Cal Tjader, George Shearing, and Thelonious Monk. She appeared in the documentary Jazz on a Summer's Day, filmed at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival which increased her popularity. Her career seemed over when she nearly died of a heroin overdose in 1968. After kicking the habit, she made a comeback at the 1970 Berlin Jazz Festival. She also appeared in the films Zig Zag (1970) and The Outfit (1974). She resumed making live and studio albums, many recorded in Japan, and several were released on her own label, Emily Records. (Anita died peacefully in her sleep. The official cause of death was cardiac arrest) b. October 18th 1919.
2007: Frank Guarrera (83) Italian-American lyric baritone who enjoyed a long and distinguished career at the Metropolitan Opera, singing with the company for a total of 680 performances. He performed 35 different roles at the Met, mostly from the Italian and French repertories, from 1948 through 1976. His most frequent assignments at the house were as Escamillo in Georges Bizet's Carmen, Marcello in Giacomo Puccini's La Bohème, Valentin in Charles Gounod's Faust, and Ping in Puccini's Turandot. He was also an admired interpreter of Mozart roles, establishing himself in the parts of both Guglielmo and Don Alfonso in Così fan tutte and Count Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro. Most of the roles he portrayed were from the lyric repertoire, such as the title role in Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin, but he also sang some heavier roles at the Met like Amonasro in Aïda, Jack Rance in La fanciulla del West and Il conte di Luna in Il trovatore (diabetes) b. December 3rd 1923.
2008: Richard Sidney Hickox CBE (60) British conductor of choral, orchestral and operatic music; he founded the City of London Sinfonia in '71, remaining music director until his death. He also founded the Richard Hickox Singers & Orchestra in the same year. He was the director of music at the Endellion Music Festival from 1972 to 2008. In '72 at the age of only 24 he was appointed Martin Neary's successor as organist and master of music at St. Margaret's, Westminster, subsequently adding the directorships of the London Symphony Chorus, and Bradford Festival Chorus. In 1990, he co-founded the baroque orchestra Collegium Musicum 90 with Simon Standage. He was Associate Guest Conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra from 1985 until his death. He was also Chorus Director of the London Symphony Chorus from 1976 to 1991, with whom he premiered The Three Kings by Peter Maxwell Davies in 1995. He also premiered that composer's A Dance on the Hill in 2005 (heart attack) b. March 5th 1948.
2008: Richard "Richey" James Edwards Welsh guitarist, the former co-lyricist and rhythm guitarist of the Welsh rock band Manic Street Preachers has been officially 'presumed dead' >>> READ MORE <<< (Richard disappeared on Feb 1st 1995) b. December 22nd 1967.
2008: Robert Lucas (46) American singer and guitarist former member of Canned Heat blues-rock band, He was one of four singers to have fronted the band during its more than 40 year history and had two stints fronting the band. In his solo career and has recorded seven solo albums and has performed with Big Joe Turner, George Smith, Pee Wee Crayton, Lowell Fulsom, Eddie 'Cleanhead' Vinson, and Percy Mayfield among others. He has been recognised by blues fans and critics worldwide as one of the most inspired singer, player and songwriter talents of the past decade (Robert died of a drug overdose) b. July 25th 1962.
2009: Richard Meale (77) Australian composer; he studied piano with Winifred Burston at the NSW State Conservatorium of Music, as well as clarinet, harp, history and theory, before studying at the University of California, Los Angeles and other American institutions. He is best known for the 1986 opera Voss, with libretto by David Malouf based on the novel of the same title by Patrick White. Malouf also collaborated with Meale on his second operatic project, Mer de glace (1986–91), a tableaux-like juxtaposition of some ideas of the novel Frankenstein alongside the real dealings of Mary Shelley with Shelley and Byron. From 1969 to 1988 he was part of the music faculty of the University of Adelaide, South Australia. In 2000, Meale was conferred Doctor of Letters honoris causa by the University of New England in New South Wales (?) b. August 24th 1932.
2009: Joe Papa (?) American singer and drummer who joined up with Paul Lemos and the pioneering experimental band Controlled Bleeding when the band decided they would add some vocals to their music. Since the bands demise, Joe Papa, has worked on different side projects with former members, including founding a band The Breastfed Yak, along with Paul Lemos and Ruins drummer, Tatsuya Yoshida, immersing themselves in free jazz madness. Their debut CD, was Get Your Greasy Head Off The Sham was released in 2003. (heart attack) b ????.
2009: Pim Koopman (56) Dutch progressive rock drummer, born in Hilversum, he co-founded the band Kayak in 1972, along with Ton Scherpenzeel, Johan Slager and Max Werner. He left the band in 1976 and went on to become a record producer, and was successful with acts such as Maywood, Petra Berger, Valensia and Robby Valentine. He returned to Kayak for the reunion in 1999 and had been playing drums in Kayak until his death. His last album with the band 'Letters From Utopia' was released on Sept 16th 2009. As well as his musical talents, he was the composer of six entries to the Eurovision Song Contest: “Jouw lach" performed by Dick Rienstra in 1977, "Later" by Brigitte in 1984, "Déja Vu" and "Champagne" by Willeke Alberti in 1994, "De wereld is van jou" by Gina de Wit and "Met of zonder jou" by Clau-Dya's in 1996. He has been involved with two other bands, 'Diesel' and 'The President' which was a collaboration with Okkie Huysdens. (?) b. March 11th 1953
2010: James Tyler (70) American lutenist, banjoist, guitarist, composer, musicologist and author, who featured on over 60 early music recordings. Born in Hartford, Connecticut he initially studied the Banjo and Mandolin with Walter K. Bauer, then the Lute with Joseph Iadone - he also played the Cello. As a lutenist, he performed and recorded with New York Pro Musica, and also toured and recorded as a banjoist with "Max Morath and the Original Rag Quartet". In 1969, his interest in early music took him to London where he married Joyce Geller. During the 1970s and 80s, he performed and recorded in London with Musica Reservata, the Consort of Musicke, the Julian Bream Consort and the Early Music Consort of London under David Munrow. He then founded his own ensemble, the "London Early Music Group" in 1977, which lasted until 1990. He composed music for BBC television productions of Shakespeare plays, and also made an appearance as a lutenist in the 1972 film, Mary Queen of Scots. In 1986, he became professor of Music and director of the master's and doctoral degree programs in early music performance at the University of Southern California, a post he held until retiring in 2006 (?) b. August 3rd 1940
2011: Montserrat Figueras (69) Spanish soprano born in Barcelona, Catalonia and began studying early singing techniques together with her sister Pilar Figueras in 1966. In 1974 she and her husband Jordi Savall, Lorenzo Alpert and Hopkinson Smith formed Hespèrion XX, an early music ensemble. Montserrat and her husband were members also of a newer version of that ensemble, Hespèrion XXI. As well they founded the groups La Capella Reial de Catalunya and Le Concert des Nations. She also performed and recorded regularly as a solo artist as well as with her children: daughter Arianna and son Ferran (?) b. March 15th 1942.
2011: Gamexane/Horacio Villafañe (48) Argentine guitarist, backing vocalist and founder member the Argentine punk / rock band Todos Tus Muertos created in 1985. In 1986 they recorded their first demo - Noches Agitadas en el Cementerio and in 1988, a self-named album was released. After three years of recording, in 1990 a second album was released, Nena de Hiroshima. Over the years of recording and performing they toured North, Central and South America and their 8th but sadly Horacio's last album Crisis Mundial / World Crisis was released in 2010 (tragically Horacio died unexpectedly several days after being admitted to the Guemes Sanatorium Buenos Aires, because of gastro intestinal bleeding) b. October 20th 1964.
2011: Barry Llewellyn (63) Jamaican singer and songwriter, raised in Trench Town; he was a founding and longstanding member of The Heptones, a Jamaican rocksteady and reggae vocal trio most active in the 1960s and early 1970s. They were one of the more significant trios of that era, and played a major role in the gradual transition between ska and rocksteady with their three-part harmonies. Their hits include Gun Man Coming to Town, Fattie Fattie, Get in the Groove, Love Won't Come Easy, Gonna Fight, Party Time, I've Got a Feeling, Tripe Girl and Pretty Looks, among others (sadly Barry died of pneumonia) b. December 24th 1947.
2012: Frank Dycus (72) American songwriter born in Hardmoney, KY; he began writing poetry and learned to play guitar as a teenager, before a 7 year stint in the US Army. He got his first hit in 1970 for Opry star George Morgan, "Lilacs and Fire". He went on to write memorable country hits such as "Unwound" and "Marina del Ray" for George Strait and "I Don't Need Your Rockin' Chair" for George Jones among many others. () b. December 5th 1939.

November 24 .
1956: Guido Cantelli (36) Italian conductor and musical director born in Novara, Italy, studied at the Milan Conservatory in Italy and began a promising conducting career. Over his short career he had conducted not only in many of the most famous concert halls of Europe but also in the US and South Africa. Among his commercial recordings are Beethoven's 7th symphony, Brahms' 1st and 3rd symphonies, Franck's D minor symphony, with the NBC Symphony in Carnegie Hall in stereo from 6 April 1954, Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition, Paul Hindemith's Mathis der Maler, Liszt's 2nd piano concerto with Claudio Arrau, and shorter pieces by Ravel, Rossini, and others and he recorded Vivaldi's The Four Seasons with the New York Philharmonic for Columbia Records. Guido was named Musical Director of La Scala, Milan, on November 16th 1956 but his promising career was cut short only one week later (died in a tragic aircraft crash near Paris, France) b. April 27th 1920.
1985: Big Joe Turner (74) American singer; although he came to his greatest fame in the 1950s with his pioneering rock and roll recordings, particularly "Shake, Rattle and Roll", his career as a performer stretched from the 1920s into the 1980s. He started singing on street corners for money, then leaving school at age fourteen to begin working the Kansas City's club scene, first as a cook, and later as a singing bartender, he became known as The Singing Barman, and worked in such venues as The Kingfish Club and The Sunset, where he and his piano playing partner Pete Johnson became resident performers. He went on to have hits in the late 1930s with "Cherry Red", "Careless Love", "I Want A Little Girl" and "Wee Baby Blues" (sadly died of a heart attack) b. May 18th 1911.
1991: Eric "The Fox" Carr/ Paul Caravello (41) American drummer, best known for his work with the rock band Kiss, replacing Peter Criss in 1980, remaining a member until he became ill in 1991. He had been playing in cover bands throughout the 1970s.. His Kiss persona, was first made up as "The Hawk," but later adopted the persona of "The Fox", he was also part of the band's stage makeup removal of their live on MTV in 1983. He also played guitar, bass guitar, piano and sang background vocals, he sung lead vocals on "Black Diamond" and "Young and Wasted" live with Kiss. He sang lead on the remake of "Beth" in the studio on the album Smashes, Thrashes & Hits. In 1989 he sang lead vocal on a self-penned, studio track titled "Little Caesar,". His last live performance with Kiss was November 9, 1990 in New York City, at Madison Square Garden (heart cancer) b. July 12th 1950.
1991: Freddie Mercury/Farrokh Bulsara (45) Zanzibar-born British musician, best known as the lead singer, pianist and co-founder of the rock band Queen, who were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001. He came to England at the age of 17 and earned a Diploma in Art and Graphic Design at Ealing Art College, later using these skills to design the Queen crest. He remained a British citizen for the rest of his life. Freddie was a fan of Aretha Franklin, The Who, Jim Croce, Elvis Presley, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, John Lennon, and The Beatles, but his favourite performer was singer-actress Liza Minnelli. Following graduation, he joined a series of bands and sold second-hand clothes in the Kensington Market in London, and also had a job at Heathrow airport. In April 1970, he joined with guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor who had previously been in a band called Smile. Despite reservations from the other members, Freddie chose the name "Queen" for the new band. As a performer, he was known for his 4-octave vocal range and onstage theatricality and flamboyant performances. As a songwriter, he composed many international hits, including "Bohemian Rhapsody", which many rate the greatest song of all time, "Killer Queen", "Somebody to Love", "Don't Stop Me Now", "We Are the Champions", "Crazy Little Thing Called Love", and "Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy". In addition to his work with Queen, Freddie also led a solo career and was occasionally a producer and guest musician, piano or vocals for other artists. He who was of Indian Parsi descent and grew up in India, has been referred to as "Britain's first Asian rock star." (Freddie died of bronchial pneumonia resulting from AIDS, his death greatly increased awareness of the disease) b. September 5th 1946.
1993: Albert Collins (61) American legendary blues guitarist, singer; he had many nicknames, such as "The Ice Man", "The Master of the Telecaster" and "The Razor Blade". He began recording in 1960 and released singles, including many instrumentals such as the million selling "Frosty". In the spring of 1965 he moved to Kansas City, Missouri and made a name for himself. His genius was acknowledged by the music world in 1983, when he won the W. C. Handy Award for his album Don't Lose Your Cool, which won the award for best blues album of the year. The Fender Custom Shop created an accurate replica of the "Ice Man"'s namesake '66 Custom Telecaster in 1990, which featured a double-bound swamp ash body, a custom-shaped maple neck sporting a separate laminated maple fingerboard with 21 vintage frets, a custom-wound Seymour Duncan '59 humbucker in the neck position and a Fender Texas Special Tele single-coil in the bridge (sadly died of lung and liver cancer) b. October 1st 1932
2001: Melanie Janene Thornton (34) American-German pop singer born in Charleston, South Carolina. She had dual citizenship in Germany and the United States and in 1992 Melanie relocated to Germany where she found fame fronting the Eurodance group La Bouche. They recorded hits such as "Be My Lover" and "Sweet Dreams" in the mid-1990s. She also forged a moderately successful solo career in Germany before her death. Her hits include 'Love How You Love Me', 'Wonderful Dream', 'Memories' and 'Heartbeat' (Tragically died in a plane crash of the Crossair Flight 3597 near Bassersdorf by Zurich in Switzerland) b. May 13th 1967
2004: James Wong Jim/Uncle Jim/Wong Jum-sum (64) Cantopop lyricist, writer and TV host born in Panyu, in what now is part of Guangzhou, China and migrated to Hong Kong with his family in 1949. As a lyricist of Cantonese songs in Hong Kong from the 1960s, he wrote over 2,000 songs, collaborating with composer Joseph Koo aka. Gu Gaa-fai, on many popular TVB TV drama theme songs, many of which have become classics of the genre. He also hosted several TV programs, mostly interviews or talk shows oriented towards adults, on both TVB and ATV. One of the talk shows called "Off-guard Tonight" , co-hosted by himself and his close friends Chua Lam and Ni Kuang on ATV, is particularly remembered. He took part in creative directing positions within the entertainment industry in Hong Kong. He was also an alumnus of La Salle College. Many fans like to call him "Uncle Jim" (died after a long battle with lung cancer) b. February 21st 1940
2006: Walter Booker (72) American jazz bass and double bassist; recorded and toured with Ray Bryant, Betty Carter, Chick Corea, Stan Getz, Art Farmer, Milt Jackson, Thelonious Monk and Sonny Rollins, before joining the Cannonball Adderley Quintet with who he stayed with til 1975. He then built, and ran the Boogie Woogie Studio in NYC, a mecca for musicians from all over the world, and through the 1980s, he played and recorded with Nat Adderley, Nick Brignola, Arnett Cobb, Richie Cole, John Hicks, Billy Higgins, Clifford Jordan, Pharoah Sanders, Sarah Vaughan, and Phil Woods. (?) b. December 17th 1933
2006: Juhani "Juice" Leskinen (56) Finnish singer-songwriter; he was one of the most prominent Finnish singer-songwriters of the late 20th century. From the early 1970s onward he released nearly 30 full-length albums, as well as writing song lyrics for dozens of Finnish artists. Many of his songs have reached classic status in Finnish popular music... "Viidestoista yö", "Kaksoiselämää" and "Syksyn sävel". (sadly died after suffering from renal insufficiency, cirrhosis and diabetes) b. February 19th 1950.
2007: Casey Calvert (26) American guitarist for the emo/post-hardcore band Hawthorne Heights. The band, who were originally named A Day in the Life, have released three studio albums on Victory Records since changing their name to Hawthorne Heights of which Casey recorded on the first two, "The Silence in Black and White" which reached platinum and the gold selling "If Only You Were Lonely" (the autopsy states Casey died of Combined Drug Intoxication) b. October 20th 1981.
2008: Michael Lee/Michael Gary Pearson (39) British world renowned drummer; toured and recorded with former Led Zeppelin musicians Robert Plant and Jimmy Page, also played drums with Little Angels, The Cult, Echo & The Bunnymen, the reformed version of Thin Lizzy, ZZ Top, Aerosmith, Bon Jovi, Bryan Adams, Guns 'N' Roses, Lenny Kravitz, Holosade, Alaska, Sweet Janes and many more. Most recently he had toured with Jeff Martin and played drums on Jeff's new solo album, "Exile and the Kingdom". He also performed with The Cult founders Billy Duffy and Ian Astbury on their Ceremony tour and cooperated on the 2006 album Gillan's Inn (cause of death not yet established) b. November 19th 1969.
2008: Kenny MacLean (52) Scottish/Canadian bassist best known as a former member of the Canadian New Wave group, the multi-platinum selling band Platinum Blonde. He had been a SOCAN member for over 28 years and written and recorded tracks for many prominent Canadian artists and has worked with noted producers including Terry Brown, David Foster, Bernard Edwards and Carter. He had been working on his 3rd solo album, which he had completed just before his death entitled "Completely at Toronto's Mod Club", it was released on Friday November 21st 2008 (heart related problem) b.?January 9th 1956?
2009: Amy Black (36) British mezzo-soprano opera singer of Hedon, near Hull, she studied at the Royal Academy of Music, toured with the European Opera, as well as spending seasons with the English National Opera. She gave many concerts and recitals in the UK and many other places around the world, most recently performing in the role of Mercedes in Carmen for both the Scottish Opera and English National Opera. Amy underwent heart surgery in June for a defect in her aortic valve but had recently resumed performing. She often sang before Hull FC rugby league matches at the KC Stadium. A founder member of the London Theatre Voices, a quartet of friends who met while singing for the ENO, she was also known as the star of Classics in the Park, held at Brantingham, Yorkshire. Amy spent the six months working on the musicals “On the Town” with June Whitfield and “Kismet”, singing along side Michael Ball at The London Coliseum in the West End and was recently flown out to Qatar to entertain the legendary Tenor Placido Domingo (Amy’s body was discovered lying in a ditch outside a market garden close to her home. The police are investigating this sudden, tragic death, but have confirmed they are not treating it as suspicious) b. 1973.
2010: Peter 'Sleazy' Christopherson (55) British pianist, synthesizer and electronics musician born in Leeds; he was one of the original members of the Industrial Records band, Throbbing Gristle. After which he participated in the foundation of Psychic TV along with Geoffrey Rushton aka John Balance. After his short time in Psychic TV, he formed Coil along with Balance, which lasted just under 23 years, until Balance died of a fall in their Weston-Super-Mare home. Peter next reunited Throbbing Gristle and he composed an album for his solo endeavour The Threshold HouseBoys Choir. He and Ivan Pavlov started a new project called Soisong, which officially premiered in Tokyo on March 9th 2008 and later toured Europe with several shows, having self-released their debut EP. In April of the same year Peter and Pavlov, alongside David Tibet, Othon Mataragas and Ernesto Tomasini, performed a live soundtrack for Derek Jarman's The Angelic Conversation in Turin, Italy. Prior to his musical career, Peter was a commercial artist, designer, and photographer. Notably, he was one of the three partners of the album cover design group Hipgnosis, which was responsible for many notable album covers of the 1970s (?) b. February 27th 1955.
2011: Ludwig Hirsch (65) Austrian singer-songwriter and actor, born in Sankt Magdalena am Lemberg, Styria, grew up in the Leopoldstadt district of Vienna. He made his stage debut in 1973 at the municipal theatre in Regensburg. From 1975-1979 he was a member of the ensemble of the Theatre in der Josefstadt. Then in 1978 he launched his career as a singer-songwriter and became known for his critical, macabre, and morbid lyrics. Ludwig's studio album Perlen /Pearls, achieved gold status and was awarded the Amadeus Austrian Music Award, the highest Austrian popular music prize. His newest album, In Ewigkeit Damen, appeared in 2006. He has also hosted the radio program Siesta for the Austrian broadcaster Hitradio Ö3. In September 1993, the Austrian Post honored him with a 5 1/2 schilling stamp and in 2001 he was awarded a silver medal for service to the City of Vienna, and was made a "Golden citizen" of the city of Vienna (tragically Ludwig committed suicide, by jumping from a window at Wilhelminenspital, a major hospital in Vienna) b. February 28th 1946.
2011: Imants Kokars (90) Latvian conductor born in Gulbene; he began his career as a conductor in 1948, conducting the Cesis Brass Orchestra. In 1956, he graduated from the Jazeps Vitols State Conservatory of Latvia, where he later became a lecturer in 1963 and professor in 1977. Since 1965, he was one of the principal conductors at the famous Latvian National Song Festivals, which belong to the largest choral festivals worldwide. 1969 he founded the chamber choir “Ava Sol”, which became one of the most distinguished choirs in Latvia. From 1977 through 1991, he was director of the Latvian Academy of Music. On 12 April 1995 Imants was awarded the Order of the Three Stars, Latvia’s highest civil award. (?) b. August 16th 1921.
2012: Chris Stamp (70) British music producer and manager; he started out as a filmmaker and met business partner and collaborator Kit Lambert while working at Shepperton Film Studios as an assistant director — they both worked on such films as I Could Go On Singing, The L-Shaped Room and Of Human Bondage. He went on to co-manage and produce such musical acts as The Who and Jimi Hendrix in the 1960s and '70s and co-founding the now defunct Track Records label. By 1975, due to heavy drug use, Chris and Lambert were ousted by the Who, and the pair relocated to New York City to produce American R&B/soul group Labelle. Chris later became a psychodrama therapist and addiction counsellor based in the state of New York (sadly died of cancer) b. July 7th 1942.
2012: Ian Campbell (79) British folk musician and founding member of the Ian Campbell Folk Group; the group formed in 1956 in Birmingham, as the Clarion Skiffle Group and was renamed the Ian Campbell Folk Group in 1958 and became one of the most respected, popular and influential folk groups of the British folk scene of the 1960s. The group's first recordings included the EP, Ceilidh At The Crown, which was released in 1962 and was the first live folk club recording to be released on vinyl. On 8 February 2012, at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards in Salford, Ian received the 'Good Tradition' Award, presented by Stuart Maconie, for Ian's outstanding contribution to folk music over five decades (sadly Ian died fighting cancer) b. June 10th 1933.

November 25 .
1965: Dame Myra Hess DBE (75) British pianist born in London. At the age of five she began to study the piano and two years later entered the Guildhall School of Music, where she graduated as winner of the gold medal. She studied at the Royal Academy of Music under Tobias Matthay. was most renowned for her interpretations of the works of Mozart, Beethoven and Schumann, but had a wide repertoire ranging from Domenico Scarlatti to contemporary works. She gave the premiere of Howard Ferguson's Piano Sonata and his Piano Concerto. She also played a good amount of chamber music, and performed in a piano duo with Irene Scharrer. She promoted public awareness of the piano duo and two-piano works of Schubert. She made a well-known arrangement for piano of the chorale prelude "Jesus bleibet meine Freude" (known in English as "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring") from Johann Sebastian Bach's Cantata No. 147 "Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben" (?) b. February 25th 1890
1970: Albert Ayler (34) American jazz saxophonist, singer and composer, born in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, he was among the most primal of the free jazz musicians of the 1960s. He was first taught alto saxophone by his father. In 1952, at the age of 16, he began playing bar-walking, honking, R&B-style tenor with blues singer and harmonica player Little Walter, spending two summer vacations with Walter's band. He later studied at the Academy of Music in Cleveland with jazz saxophonist Benny Miller. Albert relocated to Sweden in 1962 where his recording career began, leading Swedish and Danish groups on radio sessions, and jamming as an unpaid member of Cecil Taylor's band in the winter of 1962-1963. Back in New York, US, he found respect and he influenced the new generation of jazz players, as well as veterans like John Coltrane who he worked with. In 1964 he toured Europe, with the trio augmented with trumpeter Don Cherry, recorded and released as The Hilversum Session. On his return from Europe, Albert embarked on his first major recording contract, since John Coltrane, recording The Village Concerts, New Grass, and Music is the Healing Force of the Universe (It is said that on November 5th 1970, he took the ferry to the Statue of Liberty and jumped off as the boat near Liberty Island. He was found dead in New York City's East River on Nov 25th, a presumed suicide. Rumors circulated that he had been murdered, due to his involvement in the black power movement. There was no autopsy) b. July 13th 1936.
1974: Nick Drake (26) British singer songwriter and multi-musician, but his primary instrument was the guitar, though he was also proficient at piano, clarinet, and saxophone. Not appreciated in his lifetime, but since his death his work has grown steadily in stature, to the extent that he now ranks among the most influential English singer-songwriters of the last 50 years, his songs have been covered by many greats and in 2004, 30 years after his death, he gained his first chart hit when two singles, "Magic" and "River Man", were released to coincide with the compilation album 'Made to Love Magic', later that year, the BBC aired a radio documentary about Nick, narrated by Brad Pitt (sadly died from a drug overdose while suffering from a depressive illness) b. June 19th 1948.
1995: Don Goldie/Donald Elliott Goldfield (65) American versatile jazz trumpet player and talented soloist with a wide range who became especially visible in the late '50s working with Jack Teagarden. After leaving Jack's group, Goldie led his own band for a time, and by the late '60s was working with Jackie Gleason in Miami Beach, as well as playing gigs of his own. He cut albums for Chess Records' Argo offshoot and the Verve label in the early '60s, and in the 1970s re-emerged with his own Jazz Forum label, for which he cut a string of eight LPs. He released his final LP, Don Goldie's Dangerous Jazz Band, on the Jazzology label in 1982 (tragically commited suicide) b. February 3th 1930
1997: Barbara/Monique Andrée Serf (67) French female singer; she appeared on TV variety shows, toured Japan, Canada, Belgium, Israel, the Netherlands and Switzerland. Her album "Seule" was one of France's top grossing releases of 1981. In 1982, she was awarded the prestigious Grand Prix du Disque in recognition of her contribution to French culture. An icon of French musical history, she has been honored with her image on a French postage stamp. A number of books have been written about her life and her records still sell in large numbers to this day (respiratory problems) b. November 24th 1997.
2006: Valentin Elizalde (27) Mexican singer; born in the city of Navojoa, Sonora, he also known as "El Gallo de Oro", The Golden Rooster. His biggest Banda hits included "Vete Ya," "Ebrio de Amor", "Vencedor", " Vete Con El", "Vuelve Cariñito", "Como Me Duele", " Mi Virgencita", and "Soy Así.". He will be remembered as one of the best Mexican singers of our time. (gunned down in an ambush; 28 bullets were found in his body. Some of his songs were narcocorridos, and some think it appears he was murdered by drug trafficking gangs) b. February 1st 1979.
2007: Kevin DuBrow (52) American rock singer, best known as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Quiet Riot from 1973 until his death. During Quiet Riot's commercial heyday in the 1980s, he was known for his on-stage charisma, gravelly bluesy voice, and suspenders. He recorded 10 albums with his band and 4 solo albums. He grew up in Los Angeles, in his mid-teens he had was influenced by UK rock acts including the Small Faces, Slade, Spooky Tooth, Rod Stewart and Humble Pie. He joined Quiet Riot in 1973 recording 10 albums with them which produced singles such as "Cum On Feel the Noize", "Bang Your Head (Metal Health)" and "Mama Weer All Crazee Now". Kevin also recorded solo such as Thunderbolt: A Tribute to AC/DC, a cover of "Highway to Hell"; Appetite for Reconstruction, a cover of Guns n Roses "Welcome to the Jungle" and his 2004 album In for the Kill is a 2004 (sadly Kevin died from an accidental overdose of cocaine) b. October 29th 1955
2010: Tony Dixon (52) Irish disc jockey, blogger and a member of the "Northside mafia". He specialised in the hip hop and R&B genres. He was part of the "Big D" station during the 1970s and Sunshine Radio during the 1980s. Then he managed a nightclub called "Hollywood Nights" at the Stillorgan Park Hotel. In February 2000 Dixon became part of FM104, presenting a show on Saturday nights and possessing his own catchphrase, "If it's Hip Hop and RnB, don't miss me, Tony D". While at FM104 he brought artists such as Mary J. Blige, Puff Daddy and Destiny's Child to the attention of the Dublin public. Blues & Soul magazine named him as one of the UK's Top 5 DJs (Tony sadly died after a short illness) b.1958
2010: Ann Southam (73) Canadian musician, composer and teacher, born in Winnipeg; she turned to composing at age 15 and began teaching at the Royal Conservatory of Music in 1966. Her association with the New Dance Group of Canada (later Toronto Dance Theatre) began in 1967, and she became composer-in-residence in 1968. She composed many electronic scores for this company, and for other dance companies and choreographers. In 1977, with Diana McIntosh, she helped to create Music Inter Alia, which promoted Winnipeg new music concerts until 1991. In the 1990s Ann abandoned electroacoustic writing, creating wholly instrumental works such as Song of the Varied Thrush for string quartet; Webster's Spin for string orchestra, and Full Circles just to mention a few. She was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada in 2010 (?) b. February 4th 1937.
2011: Coco Robicheaux/Curtis John Arceneaux (64) American blues musician and artist. Born in Merced, California. He took his stage name from a Louisiana legend, in which a naughty child called Coco Robicheaux, is abducted by a werewolf. He has performed across Europe and America, at every New Orleans French Quarter festival since 1995 and for 10 consecutive years at the New Orlean Jazz& Heritage Festival. He was inducted into The Louisiana Music Hall of Fame on Oct 24th 2009. Coco appeared in the episode "Hotshots", of the USA Network series Big Easy, playing a New Orleans musician named "Coco", who had sold his soul to the devil. Two of Robicheaux's songs were also featured in the episode, "Broken String" and "Spiritland". He also appeared as himself in the second episode of HBO's Treme, first broadcast in the US on April 18th 2010 (?) b. October 25th 1947
2011: Ross MacManus (84) English singer, trumpet player, songwriter and father of Elvis Costello. Born in Birkenhead, he joined Joe Loss in March 1955 and wrote and sang "Patsy Girl", a 1964 single credited to Ross McManus and the Joe Loss Blue Beats. The song was featured on the "Fathers" episode of Bob Dylan's radio series, Theme Time Radio Hour, in 2006. In 1970 he recorded a version of The Beatles' song "The Long and Winding Road" under the pseudonym of Day Costello and in 1973 he was responsible for the music and vocals from the much loved R. White's Lemonade television advertisement theme song, "Secret Lemonade Drinker", on which Elvis Costello plays the drums, and sang backing vocals. The ad won a silver award at the 1974 International Advertising Festival. Ross also played the trumpet on two of his son's albums, Out of Our Idiot-87 on the song "A Town Called Big Nothing," credited to the MacManus Gang and Mighty Like a Rose-91 on the song "Invasion Hit Parade" (Ross sadly passed peacefully after a long illness) b. October 20th 1927.
2011: Don DeVito (72) American record producer, music business executive and guitarist. His career was spent at Columbia Records, where his production credits included Bob Dylan's albums Blood on the Tracks, Desire and Street-Legal. Born in Brooklyn, New York, and in his late teens began playing as a guitarist in Al Kooper's band. In 1967, he began training as an executive with CBS, and worked as A&R manager covering Miami, before transferring to New York City in 1971 to head up a new marketing initiative, later moving to the main Columbia A&R department. He also joined Dylan on tour and produced his albums Hard Rain, Street Legal and At Budokan. He also worked with the likes of Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen, James Taylor, Simon and Garfunkel, Aerosmith, Tony Bennett and Carole King. In 1981 he was appointed National Vice President of A&R for Columbia and nominated for a Grammy Award on five occasions, winning in the category of Best Traditional Folk Recording in '89 for the album Folkways-A Vision Shared: A Tribute to Woody Guthrie & Leadbelly (died after a brave fight with prostate cancer) b. September 6th 1939.
2012: Juan Carlos Calderón (74) Spanish singer-songwriter and musician born in Santander, Cantabria. He was the author of Eres Tú, which, came second in the 1973 Eurovision Song Contest. He also composed another three songs for Eurovision, one other for The OTI Festival and for several films. His first solo album "Juan Carlos Calderón presents Juan Carlos Calderón" in 1968 had a great success and won the Ondas prize. After he recorded, among others: "Route 101" in 1982 and "Soleá" in 1998, No. 1 on the American jazz charts. During his long career Juan was awarded 3 Billboards, 5 Grammy, 5 ASCAP prizes , 2 Premios Ondas, 3 Premios de Música de SGAE (General Society of Authors of Spain) and 2 Premios Amigo. He also wrote songs for artists like Luis Miguel, who won a Grammy with one of Juan's songs, Julio Iglesias, Chayanne, Nino Bravo, Cecilia, Camilo Sesto, Paloma San Basilio, Rocío Durcal, David Bustamante Mari Trini and others (?) b. June 7th 1938
2012: Simeon ten Holt (89) Dutch contemporary classical composer born in Bergen, North Holland; his most famous work is Canto Ostinato, which he wrote in 1976 and is one of the most famous classical works in (modern) Dutch music history (?) b. January 24th 1923.
2012: Earl "Speedo" Carroll (75) American singer; he was lead vocalist for the doo-wop group The Cadillacs. The group's biggest hit released in 1955 was "Speedo", became Earl's nickname. He joined The Coasters in 1961, leaving the group in the early 1990. Earl was chosen to be the subject of a children's book, That's Our Custodian, by Ann Morris The publicity helped him to revive his career and he permanently reform The Cadillacs. (sadly Earl died from complications of a stroke and battleing diabetes) b. November 2nd 1937.

November 26 .
1956: Tommy Dorsey (51) American jazz trombonist, trumpeter, and bandleader of the Big Band era. He was the younger brother of Jimmy Dorsey. His lyrical trombone style became one of the signature sounds of his band and of the Swing Era. The biographical film of 1947, "The Fabulous Dorseys" describes sketchy details of how the brothers got their start from-the-bottom-up into the jazz era of one-nighters, the early days of radio in its infancy stages, and the onward march when both brothers ended up with Paul Whiteman before 1935 when The Dorsey Brothers' Orchestra split into two. (died by choking in his sleep after a heavy meal following which he had taken sleeping pills. Jimmy Dorsey (out of whose band Tommy had walked two decades earlier) led his brother's band until his own death of throat cancer the following year) b. November 10th 1905.
1959: Albert Ketèlbey (84) British composer born in Birmingham, his music is frequently heard on radio. In a 2003 BBC radio poll by Your 100 Best Tunes, "Bells across the Meadows" was voted 36th most popular tune of all time. Other of his many tunes include In the Mystic Land of Egypt, In a Monastery Garden, The Heart's Awakening, In the Moonlight, Phantasy for String Quartet, Jungle Drums, From a Japanese Screen, In a Chinese Temple Garden, Italian Twilight, Dance of the Merry Mascots, Cockney Suite, and Tangled Tunes (?) b. August 9th 1875
1963: Amelita Galli-Curci (81) Italian operatic coloratura soprano. She was one of the best regarded singers of the early 20th century. She toured widely in Europe, Sth America and the USA appearing at many top concert and opera houses. In 1916, Amelita signed a recording contract with the Victor Talking Machine Company and recorded exclusively for the company until 1930. In 1921 Galli-Curci joined the Metropolitan Opera in New York remaining with this organization until her retirement from opera in 1930. (sadly died from emphysema) b. November 18th 1882.
1973: John Rostill (31) English bassist and composer; born in Birmingham, he was recruited by The Shadows to replace Brian Locking. He worked with several artists before joining The Shadows, including The Interns, The Flintstones and a stint in the backing group of Zoot Money. After The Shadows break up at the end of the 60s, he toured with Tom Jones. He was also was a prolific songwriter, contributing to the Shadows' output from the start, both as a solo composer and as part of the mid-sixties "Marvin/Welch/Bennett/Rostill" team , and later going on to write for other artists such as Olivia Newton-John (electrocuted in his home recording studio) b. June 16th 1942.
1978: Frank Rosolino (52) American jazz trombonist; he became famous in the early 50's playing in the most popular of Stan Kenton's progressive big bands, before settling in L.A., where he worked with everybody in the business: Howard Rumsey's Lighthouse All-Stars, Terry Gibbs, Shorty Rogers, Benny Carter, Buddy Rich, Dexter Gordon, Carl Fontana, Jean "Toots" Thielemans, Stan Levey, Shelly Manne, Pete Christlieb, Bobby Knight, Conte Candoli, Med Flory, Donn Trenner, Mel Tormé, Louis Bellson, Tutti Camarata, Marty Paich, Zoot Sims, and Quincy Jones (suffering with depression after his wife's death, he committed suicide after shooting his children, Justin, 9; and Jason, 7; Jason was blinded, but survived) b. August 20th 1926.
2002: Polo Montañez (47) Cuban singer and songwriter; formed his own ensemble of family and friends and quickly became the house act at a resort in the nearby touristic community of Las Terrazas, and in 1999, he signed with European record label Lusafrica after being discovered by one of their directors that was staying at the resort. He had his biggest success in March 2000 with his first CD "Guajiro Natural" and the song "Un montón de Estrellas". He became known as the Guajiro Natural (Natural Countryman) because of his humble personality and songs about the peasant life in Cuba. (died in hospital, as a result of a tragic car accident) b. June 5th 1955.
2003: Soulja Slim/James Tapp Jr (26) US rapper; known for his U.S. #1 hit "Slow Motion" with fellow rapper Juvenile. He was one of Master P's No Limit soldiers, who made his solo debut in 1998 with "Give It 2 'Em Raw". He reappeared 3 years later after a prison stint for armed robbery, with "Streets Made Me". The following year he released "Years Later..A Few Months After", which was his last (on his way to do a show he was shot three times in the face, and once in the chest, in front of his mother's home in New Orleans) b. September 9th 1977.
2005: Mark Craney (53) American drummer born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, he drummed for the rock band Jethro Tull from June 1980 to May 1981. He also played on Tommy Bolin's last-ever tour in 1976; he appeared on Gino Vannelli's album "Brother To Brother", released in 1978 and the following tour. He also appeared on several tracks from Ph.D. (sadly lost to pneumonia) b. August 26th 1952.
2006: Leo Chiosso (86) Italian lyricist mostly known for his work with Fred Buscaglione. They formed a songwriting duo who produced about forty songs and created Buscaglione's public persona, a humorous tough guy with a penchant for whisky and women. The first Buscaglione-Chiosso hit was Che bambola of 1956, the song that brought Buscaglione to nation-wide celebrity. It was followed by many other hits, including Che notte, Criminalmente bella, Il dritto di Chicago, Eri piccola così, Lontano da te, Love in Portofino, Porfirio Villarosa, Sgancia e pedala, Teresa non sparare, Whisky facile. He also penned lyrics for songs such as Parole, parole, parole, Torpedo blu, and Montecarlo. He was a prolific television author too, among his TV credits is the extremely popular music show Canzonissima. He also wrote stories and scripts for cinema (?) b. August 8th 1920.
2009: Pieternella "Pia" Beck (84) Dutch jazz singer and considered one of the best pianists the Netherlands has ever known. She began her career shortly after the end of WWII playing the piano and singing in the Miller Sextet. A few years later she started her own combo. Her first composition, Pia's Boogie, became a hit. She regularly toured Europe and had her own stage in the town of Scheveningen near The Hague. In the 1950 and 60s she made regular appearances in the United States. New Orleans and Atlanta conferred honorary citizenships on her (Died of a heart attack at her home in the Costa del Sol, Spain, where she had lived since 1965) b. September 18th 1925.
2010: Maria Hellwig (90) German yodeler and popular performer of volkstümliche Musik/ alpine folk music, born in Reit im Winkl, Bavaria; at the age of 5, she performed for the first time at Bauer Theatre in Reit im Winkl. She hosted several music TV-shows in the 1980s and 1990s (?) b. February 22nd 1920.
2010: Shahir Vithal Umap (80) Indian folk artist; he won the first prize at the International Folk Music and Art Festival at Cork, Ireland. His roles in Shyam Benegal’s TV series Bharat Ek Khoj and Jabbar Patel’s film Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar won him further laurels and he was nominated for the best actor's award for his performance in a Marathi film Tingya two years ago. Shahir composed music for several films, serials and dramas. He was also a part of popular stage shows Khandobacha Lagin, Gadhwacha Lagna, Jambhool Akhyan and Me Marathi. (died of a heart attack while performing at a function in Nagpur) b. 1931
2010: Mario Pacheco (60) Spanish record producer, photographer and entrepreneur, born in Madrid, he was an essential figure in the development of contemporary flamenco and other musical genres in Spain for more than two decades. In 1982 he founded Nuevos Medios, a record label that introduced countless guitarists, singers and other flamenco notables through his vision in furthering the genre worldwide. Through his company, he released albums by some of the most significative flamenco artists of the period: Carlos Benavent, Diego Carrasco, Jorge Pardo, Ketama, La Macanita, Pata Negra, Golpes Bajos, Martirio, Ray Heredia and La Barbería del Sur, among others. In addition, he released assorted music created by British rock music groups Joy Division, New Order and The Smiths; minimalist musician Steve Reich; jazzists Bill Evans, Keith Jarrett Pat Metheny and Art Pepper, and Cuban music compilations of Bola de Nieve and Benny Moré. He also mixed compilations of his label artists in the series Los Jóvenes Flamencos (sadly died while fighting cancer) b. November 6th 1950.
2011: Keith "Keef" Hartley (67) English drummer and bandleader born in Preston, Lancashire. He fronted his own band, the Keef Hartley Band or the Keef Hartley Big Band, and played at Woodstock. He was later a member of Dog Soldier, and has worked with Rory Storm, replacing Ringo; The Artwoods and John Mayall. In 2007, he released a ghostwritten autobiography, Halfbreed (A Rock and Roll Journey That Happened Against All the Odds). He wrote about his life growing up in Preston, and his career as a drummer and bandleader, including his band's appearance at Woodstock (tragically Keef died at at Royal Preston Hospital from complications from surgery) b. April 8th 1944
Some sources give Keef's death as 27th, also 28th of November

November 27th .
1932: Evelyn Preer (36) American actress and singer; a notable pioneering African-American stage and screen actress and a blues singer of the 1910s through the early 1930s. As well as her many film roles an accomplished vocalist and during stints in cabaret and musical theatre was occasionally backed by such legendary and diverse musicians as Duke Ellington and Red Nichols. (after giving birth to her first and only child, she developed post-parturition complications and died of double pneumonia) b. July 16th 1896.
1955: Arthur Honegger (63) Swiss composer, who was born in France and lived a large part of his life in Paris. He wrote the ballet Le dit des jeux du monde in 1918, generally considered to be his first characteristic work. His most frequently performed work is probably the orchestral work Pacific 231, which is interpreted as imitating the sound of a steam locomotive. In 1953 Arthur wrote his last composition, A Christmas Cantata. He was also a co-founded of Les Six with his five friends around 1920 and remained a member all his life. In their music they tried to be different from Richard Wagner and other composers of Romantic music, and different from Debussy and Ravel who had been writing Impressionistic music. They also wanted to write in a simple way instead of using complicated rhythms such as those of Stravinsky or twelve tone music like Arnold Schoenberg. Many of their pieces were quite short. They liked strong, masculine music, especially jazz. (sadly died after suffering a heart attack) b. March 10th 1892.
1958: Artur Rodzinski (66) Polish conductor of opera and symphonic music born in Split, the capital of Dalmatia; he went on to work at all the top opera houses and orchestras around the world, such as the Chicago Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra. he recorded extensively with Thomas Beecham's Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London from 1955. His final recordings were for EMI in 1958 (?) b. January 1st 1892
1973: Jimmy Widener (54) American rhythm guitarist, banjo player and vocalist who played with Hank Snow (tragically he was shot dead, his body was left in an alley) b. March 12th 1918
1973: Frank Christian (86) American New Orleans jazz trumpeter; started working with bandleader Papa Jack Laine about 1908 and became a mainstay in Papa Jack's bands. He also worked in the bands of Tom Brown, Johnny Fischer, and led his own band. He worked in Chicago, New York and toured on Vaudeville with Gilda Gray and played in various theatre and dance bands before retiring to his home town of New Orleans (?) b. September 3rd 1887
1981: Lotte Lenya (81) Austrian singer and actress; In 1956 she won a Tony Award for her role as Jenny in Marc Blitzstein's English version of The Threepenny Opera, the only time an Off-Broadway performance has been so honored. She went on to record a number of songs from her time in Berlin, as well as songs from the US theatre. Her voice had grown a lot deeper so when she was to sing the soprano part in Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny and opera, the part was re-written in lower keys (cancer) b. October 18th 1898
1994: Fernando Lopes-Graça (87) Portuguese composer and conductor, he worked both as a contemporary music composer and as a musicologist. His major influences came from Portuguese popular music, and continued the work of other musicologists, like Francisco de Lacerda. He was a member of the Portuguese Communist Party and was a strong opponent to "Estado Novo" and its leader António de Oliveira Salazar. He completed the "Dicionário de Música"/Dictionary of Music, started by his teacher, Tomás Borba (?) b. December 17th 1906.
1998: Barbara Acklin (55) American singer and songwriter born in Chicago; she began singing in church and then as a teenager in nightclubs while attending Dunbar Vocational High school. Her biggest hit was "Love Makes a Woman" in 1968 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Other hits included "Show Me the Way to Go," and her first single, "Raindrops,". She was also a background singer on Chess Records sessions with artists like Etta James and Fontella Bass. Besides her singing career she was proficient as a songwriterand she co-wrote "Have You Seen Her", a major hit for The Chi-Lites and several of their other biggest songs: "Oh Girl", "Stoned Out Of My Mind" and "Toby" as well as her own releases. Her distinctive voice also featured occasionally on background vocals on some of The Chi-Lites' records (sadly lost to pneumonia) b. February 28th 1943
2002: John McLevy (75) Scottish jazz trumpeter born Dundee; he played in local bands in his mid teens, before moving to London where he joined the line-up of the BBC Show Band lead by Cyril Stapleton. Included in his London years was a lengthy stint at the Savoy Hotel with bandleader, Francisco Cavez. He also recorded numerous albums with Max Bygraves. He played in Europe for Benny Goodman in the 1970s, alongside George Masso, Hank Jones and Slam Stewart and also performed with artists such as , Roy Williams, accordionist Jack Emblow and later in a duo with veteran trumpeter Tommy McQuater, retiring in the 90s (?) b. January 2nd 1927.
2005: Joe Jones (79) American R&B singer, songwriter and arranger; he is credited with discovering The Dixie Cups. (he is not to be confused with guitarist Ivan "Boogaloo Joe" Jones) As a singer, his greatest hit was the Top Five 1960 R&B hit "You Talk Too Much" that also reached No.3 on the Pop chart. He claimed to have written a few songs, including some New Orleans Mardi Gras classic, but his claims have not be proven (complications from quadruple bypass surgery) b. August 12th 1926
2006: Alan "Fluff" Freeman (79) English/Australian DJ, TV & radio personality; he presented late-evening programmes on Radio Luxembourg in the 1960s and early 1970s. He also worked for the BBC and then Capital Radio from 1979 to 1988, returned to the BBC on BBC Radio 2, he revived both Pick of the Pops and The Rock Show, in the 1990s. He was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 1998. In May 2000 he was presented with a Lifetime Achievement award at the Sony Radio Academy Awards. He originally wanted to be an opera singer, but decided his voice was not strong enough. In 1952 he was invited to audition as a radio announcer and commenced working for 7LA in Tasmania, known as the teenager's station, before moving to radio station 3KZ in Melbourne. He came to UK in 1957 (died peacefully at his home in London, after a brief illness) b. July 6th 1927
2006: Don Butterfield (83) American tuba player; born in Centralia, Washington started in the late 1940s playing for the CBS and NBC radio networks. He played in orchestras, including the American Symphony, Radio City Music Hall Orchestra and on albums by Jackie Gleason. In the 1950s, he switched to jazz, backing such artists as Dizzy Gillespie, Frank Sinatra, Charles Mingus, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Jimmy Smith and Moondog. He fronted his own sextet for a 1955 album on Atlantic Records and played the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival. In the 1970s he worked as a session musician. He played on recordings for a variety of artists and on television and film soundtracks, including The Godfather Part II. (stroke-related illness) b. January 4th 1923.
2006: Tony "Panama" Silvester (65) US Panama born singer; relocated in Harlem New York, he co-founded a trio called the Poets in 1964, with singers Donald McPherson and Luther Simmons Jr., but they soon changed their name to the Insiders and signed with RCA. After a couple of singles, they changed their name once again in 1966, to the Main Ingredient, taking the name from a Coke bottle. They had hits with "You've Been My Inspiration", "I'm So Proud", "Spinning Around (I Must Be Falling in Love)" and "Black Seeds Keep on Growing," but sadly in 1971 McPherson, was suddenly taken ill and died unexpectedly of leukemia. Eventually Cuba Gooding Sr took his place. "Everybody Plays the Fool," become the group's biggest hit. After some solo releases Tony, Gooding and Simmons reunited as the Main Ingredient in 1979, and recorded two more albums, 1980's Ready for Love and 1981's I Only Have Eyes for You. The trio reunited for a second time in 1986, recording "Do Me Right". Simmons was replaced by Jerome Jackson on the 1989 Polydor album I Just Wanna Love You. In the wake of Aaron Neville's Top Ten revival of "Everybody Plays the Fool," Gooding resumed his solo career and issued his third album in 1993. Tony and Simmons re-formed the Main Ingredient in 1999 with new lead singer Carlton Blount; this line-up recorded Pure Magic in 2001 (died after a six-year struggle with multiple myeloma) b. October 7th 1941.
2007: Cecil Payne (84) American Jazz baritone saxophonist, but also played the alto saxophone and flute. Born in Brooklyn, New York, he began his professional recording career with J. J. Johnson in 1946. He has played with many jazz greats, in particular Dizzy Gillespie and Randy Weston, in addition to his solo work as bandleader. He was still recording regularly for Delmark Records in the 1990s, when he was in his seventies, and indeed well into the new millennium (?) b. December 14th 1922.
2009: Al Alberts/Al Albertini (87) American singer born in Chester, Philadelphia. As a teenager, Al appeared on the radio program the Horn and Hardart Children's Hour. After graduating from South Philadelphia High, he went to Temple University and into the US Navy, where he met Dave Mahoney. They went on to found The Four Aces. The Four Aces recorded the song "Three Coins in the Fountain", the song hit the No.1 spot twice in 1954, and won the Academy Award. Their biggest hit "Love is a Many Splendored Thing", the theme to a 1955 movie was at No.1 for four weeks, this track also won the Academy Award for best song. Al also popularized the song "On the Way to Cape May", on record , and later on his television show and specials. Al went on to became a TV personality in Philadelphia where he also hosted a one-hour Saturday afternoon talent show, called Al Alberts Showcase (kidney failure) b. August 10th 1922
2009: Jacques Braunstein (78) Romanian- Venezuelan economist, publicist and jazz disc jockey, born in Bucharest. He studied violin at six and at 13 took up the acoustic bass. He moved to Brazil with his family before settling in Caracas, Venezuela in the early 1950s, becoming a Venezuelan citizen in 1955. He studied at the Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, earning two post-graduate degrees in economics and chemical industry. Jacques founded his radio show Idioma del Jazz in 1955 and the Caracas Jazz Club in 1956 and August 12th 1956, he promoted the first official jazz concert in Venezuela at Caracas National Theatre inviting the clarinetist and saxophonist John LaPorta to play. Over the years he organized many concerts with notables jazz groups led by the likes of Nat Adderley, Jeff Berlin, Eddie Bert, Randy Brecker, Gary Burton, Charlie Byrd, Chick Corea, Paco de Lucía, Paquito D'Rivera, Bill Evans, Maynard Ferguson, Miroslav Vitouš, Dizzy Gillespie, Woody Herman, Barney Kessel, Tito Puente, and Paul Winter, among others. For many years, he also worked as a foreign correspondent for magazines such as Billboard, Down Beat and Paris Match. He was honored by the U. S. Embassy in Venezuela on the 50th anniversary of his weekly jazz radio show, in virtue of his public profile, his love of jazz, his dedication and becoming an ambassador of good will for the radio listeners during more than 2500 continuous editions from 1955 through 2005 (heart failure) b. August 30th 1931.
2009: Bess Lomax Hawes (88) American folklorist and musician, born in Austin, Texas. Bess learnt piano, guitar and folk music from a very early age, from her father, twice president of the American Folklore Society. In the early 1940s she moved to New York City, where she was active on the folk scene. She was an on-and-off member of the Almanac Singers and married singer Baldwin "Butch" Hawes; another fellow Almanac member, Woody Guthrie, taught her mandolin. She wrote campaign songs for Walter A. O'Brien and co-wrote, with Jacqueline Steiner, "M.T.A.," a hit for the Kingston Trio. In the 1950s she moved to California, she taught guitar, banjo, mandolin and folk singing, as well as playing at local clubs and folk festivals such as the Newport Folk Festival and the Berkeley Folk Festival. In 1975, Bess worked in administration at the Smithsonian Institution, where she was instrumental in organizing the Smithsonian's 1976 Bicentennial Festival of Traditional Folk Arts on the National Mall. Bess was given an Honorary Doctorate from the University of North Carolina and the National Medal of Arts awarded in 1993 by President Bill Clinton. Her memoir, Sing It Pretty, was published by Illinois University Press in 2008 (stroke) b. January 21st 1921.
2009: Geneviève Joy (90) French classical and modernist pianist, born in the small commune of Bernaville in the Somme. Geneviève was a piano prodigy who was accepted in to the world-renowned Conservatoire de Paris in 1932 at the age of 12. At the end of World War II in 1945, she formed a duo-piano partnership with Jacqueline Robin which lasted for forty-five years, until 1990. Her husband composer Henri Dutilleux, dedicated his Piano Sonata to her, Geneviève recorded the sonata for Erato Records in 1988 (died in her sleep) b. October 4th 1919
2011: Sultan Khan (71) Indian sarangi player and singer who performed Hindustani classical music. He was one of the members of the Indian fusion group Tabla Beat Science, with Zakir Hussain and Bill Laswell. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan, India's third highest civilian honor, in 2010 (sadly died from kidney failure) b. 1940.
2012: Mickey "Guitar" Baker/MacHouston Baker (87) American guitarist and songwriter born in Louisville, Kentucky. At the age of 16 he ran away from an orphanage and stayed in New York City. He found work as a laborer and then a dishwasher, but he gave up work to become a full-time pool shark. At 19, he wanted to become a jazz musician, so taught himself guitar. By 1949, he had his own combo, and he went west where he was introduced to the blues. He returned east where he did sessions with Little Willie John- "Need Your Love So Bad", The Drifters- "Money Honey", Ruth Brown- "(Mama) He Treats Your Daughter Mean", Big Joe Turner- "Shake, Rattle and Roll", Ike & Tina Turner- "It's Gonna Work Out Fine", as well as Coleman Hawkins, Ivory Joe Hunter, Ray Charles, Louis Jordan and many others. >>> READ MORE <<< (Mickey passed away from kidney and heart failure his home in Montastruc-la-Conseillère, France) b. October 15th 1925.

November 28 .
1935: Erich Moritz von Hornbostel (58) Austrian ethnomusicologist; remembered for his pioneering work in the field of ethnomusicology, and for the Sachs-Hornbostel system of musical instrument classification which he co-authored with Curt Sachs (?) b. February 25th 1877.
1972: William "Havergal" Brian (96) British classical composer, who at last acquired a legendary status when his work was rediscovered in the '50s and '60s, 32 symphonies he had managed to write, an unusually large number for any composer since Haydn or Mozart, and of which eight were completed after the age of 90. He is also notable for his creative persistence in the face of almost total neglect during the greater part of his long life. Few composers who have fallen into neglect after an early period of success have continued to produce so many serious and ambitious works so long after any chance of performance had gone (?) b. January 29th 1876.
1972: Jimmy Lytell (67) American clarinetist; his first professional experience came at age 12, and by the beginning of the 1920s he was recording with jazz ensembles. He played in the Original Indiana Five in 1921 and the Original Memphis Five between 1922-25, and also played in the Original Dixieland Jazz Band in 1922-24. After the 1920s he rarely performed in jazz settings, spending more time as a studio and orchestra musician. He worked as a staff musician for NBC during this time. From 1949 into the late 1950s he appeared in the New Original Memphis Five revival band (?) b. December 1st 1904
1992: Wayne Bennett (57) American blues guitarist; he worked with prominent blues musicians such as John Lee Hooker, Bobby Bland, Boxcar Willie, Buddy Guy, and Elmore James, as well as with renowned jazz musicians, Dexter Gordon, Cannonball Adderley, and Sonny Stitt. In 1990, he played on Willy DeVille's album Victory Mixture, also played with such R & B acts as the Chi-Lites, the Lost Generation, the Hues Corporation; among many others and cut his own record in '68, an instrumental "Casanova, Your Playing Days are Over" (?) b. December 13th 1931
1993: Jerry Edmonton/Jerry McCrohan (47) Canadian drummer; he and his brother formed the band The Sparrows. John Kay and Goldy McJohn joined the group in Toronto in 1965, after some more line up changes and relocating to California, the group was renamed to Steppenwolf. When Steppenwolf temporarily broke up on Valentine's Day 1972, he and Goldy McJohn formed a band "Seven" after which they formed "Manbeast" before Steppenwolf reconvened in '74 for three albums before breaking up again in 1976 (car crash) b. October 24th 1946.
2001: Kal Mann/Kalman Cohen (84) American lyricist born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; he began his career in entertainment as a comedy writer for Danny Thomas and Red Buttons, until his friend and songwriter, Bernie Lowe, encouraged him to try writing lyrics for the music industry. He went on to co-write among many others Elvis Presley's "Teddy Bear," Bobby Rydell's "Wild One", and Chubby Checker's "Let's Twist Again." Charlie Gracie's "Butterfly and "Fabulous", just to mention a few of hits many hits. He wrote some songs such as "Limbo Rock" credited under the pseudonym Jon Sheldon (sadly taken by the cruel Alzheimer's disease) b. May 6th 1917.
2002: Dave "Snaker" Ray (59) American blues singer and guitarist who was most notably associated with Spider John Koerner and Tony Glover recording 6 albums. In the 80,s he and Glover released 3 albums and in 1998, he and Glover joined with Camile Baudoin and Reggie Scanlan of The Radiators to form The Back Porch Rockers band, which released the album "By The Water" in 2000 (sadly lost his battle with cancer) b. August 17th 1943.
2005: Tony Meehan (62) English drummer, born in New End, Hampstead, London; he a founder members of the group The Shadows, along with Jet Harris, Hank B. Marvin and Bruce Welch. He played drums on all the early Cliff Richard and The Shadows hits and also played on the early hits the Shadows had as an instrumental group. In 1961 he went to work as an arranger / producer and occasional session drummer for Joe Meek and from early 1962 at Decca Records. He subsequently teamed up again with Jet Harris, who had also left the Shadows and moved to Decca and as a duo they had great success notably on the track, "Diamonds" which also included Jimmy Page on acoustic rhythm guitar. "Diamonds" was a number one hit in the UK Singles Chart. Tony briefly played with The Shadows some years later when Brian Bennett was hospitalised. He quit the music industry in the 1990s for a major career change as a psychologist (tragically he died from head injuries after a fall) b. March 2nd 1943.
2007: Frédéric "Fred" Chichin (53) French singer guitarist born in Clichy, France, he was the lead member of the band Les Rita Mitsouko, along with Catherine Ringer, whom he met in 1979. Prior to this he had also been active in the rock bands Fassbinder, Taxi Girl and Gazoline (heart failure, following complications of the cancer which had diagnosed two months earlier) b. May 1st 1954.
2007: Ashley Titus/Mr. Fat (36) South African rapper and TV presenter; started making hip hop in the 1980s, as well as hosting a hip hop show on Bush Radio. In the 1990s he rapped for Cape Flats-based hip hop group Brasse vannie Kaap, who won an audience that crossed both musical and racial boundaries, attracting hip hop and rock fans of various ethnic backgrounds; they were also noted for their prominent use of the Afrikaans language in their music. With BVK, he also became known for his strong community involvement, musical focus on Cape Flats issues, and attempts to reach out to youth imprisoned in local jails. The 1990s also saw Titus present a magazine show simply named Hip Hop for the MK89 music channel. (heart problems) b. December 28th 1970.
2011: Thomas Roady (62) American drummer born in in Alton Illinois; for nearly 40 years he had been a top studio musician recording with dozens of artists like Vince Gill, Dixie Chicks, Suzy Bogguss, Kenny Chesney, Etta James, Kenny Rogers, James Brown, Millie Jackson, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Andy Gibb Donovan, and Art Garfunkel. He toured many years with top acts like James Taylor, Paul Anka, Phil Driscoll and John Denver. At the time of his death he was touring with the Grammy-winning bluegrass legend Ricky Skaggs. (tragically Tom died in his sleep from heart problems while on the Ricky Skaggs tour bus) b. January 17th 1949.
2012: Franco Ventriglia (90) American opera singer born in Fairfield, Connecticut and enlisted in the Marine Corps, serving in the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing in the South Pacific during World War II. He went on to sing bass in every major European opera house during the 1950s, 60s, and 70s. He sang with Luciano Pavarotti in La bohème and Rigoletto and performed in Samson and Delilah at La Scala, a performance he considered the highlight of his career. He returned to the U.S. in 1978, where he continued to perform at venues including Carnegie Hall, and traveled to perform in southeast Asia, until his retirement in 2001 (?) b. October 20th 1922.

November 29 .
1924: Giacomo Puccini (73) Italian composer, organist; his operas, including La bohème, Tosca, and Madama Butterfly, are among the most frequently performed in the standard repertoire. Some of his arias, such as "O mio babbino caro" from Gianni Schicchi, "Che gelida manina" from La bohème, and "Nessun dorma" from Turandot, have become part of popular culture. (throat cancer led his doctors to recommend a new and experimental radiation therapy treatment, he died of complications from the treatment; uncontrolled bleeding led to a heart attack the day after surgery) b. December 22nd 1858
1954: Oliver "Dink" Johnson (62) American multi musician; played drums with Jelly Roll Morton, clarinet with the Five Hounds of Jazz and recorded exstensivley mainly on piano. He worked around Mississippi and New Orleans, before moving to the western United States in the early 1910s. He played around Nevada and California, often with his brother Bill. Most prominently he played with the Original Creole Orchestra, mainly on drums. He made his first recordings in 1922 on clarinet with Kid Ory's Band. For many years he was based in LA, where he led a band in the 1920s. He made more recordings in the '40s and '50s, mostly on piano, also doing some one-man band recordings, he played all three of his instruments through over dubbing (died in Portland, Oregon) b. October 28th 1892.
1963: Ernesto Lecuona y Casado (68) Cuban composer and pianist born in Guanabacoa, Havana. He composed over six hundred pieces, mostly in the Cuban vein, and was a pianist of exceptional quality. He was a prolific composer of songs and music for stage and film. His works consisted of zarzuela, Afro-Cuban and Cuban rhythms, suites and many songs which are still very famous. They include Siboney (Canto Siboney), Malagueña and The Breeze And I (Andalucía). In 1942, his great hit, Always in my heart (Siempre en mi Corazon) was nominated for an Oscar for Best Song; however, it lost to White Christmas. Lecuona was a master of the symphonic form and conducted the Ernesto Lecuona Symphonic Orchestra. The Orchestra performed in the Cuban Liberation Day Concert at Carnegie Hall (died in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands) b. August 6th 1895.
1972: Carl Stalling (81) American composer and arranger born in Lexington, Missouri; he was a composer for music in animated films. He is most closely associated with the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts produced by Warner Bros., where he averaged one complete score each week, for 22 years (?) b. November 10th 1891.
1989: Ann Burton/Johanna Rafalowicz (56) Dutch jazz singer born in Amsterdam where her family had to go into hiding because of her Jewish descent, not to get caught by the German occupiers. Ann started out singing with a touring combo, at this stage she adopted her stage name Ann Burton. She next joined the small Amsterdam theatre 'Het Bavohuis', before she debuted in 1965 with her self titled album, followed by Blue Burton; Ballads And Burton; Ann Burton Sings For Lovers And Other Strangers; Misty Burton; and By Myself Alone in 1974. From 1965 to her death Ann released 20 albums (Unfortunately in 1980 Johanna was stricken by a fatal disease of which after brave and long suffering she died) b. March 4th 1933.
1998: George Van Eps (85) American swing and mainstream jazz guitarist and son of the legendary classic banjo player Fred Van Eps. Often called "the Father of the Seven String Guitar", he was noted both for his recordings as a leader, and for his work as a session musician. He was also the author of instructional books that explored his approach to guitar-based harmony. He was well known as a pioneer of the seven-string guitar, which allowed him to incorporate sophisticated bass lines into his improvisation. He was a strong influence on later seven-string players such as Howard Alden, Bucky Pizzarelli, and John Pizzarelli (?) b. August 7th 1913.
1999: Curtis Knight/Curtis McNear (54) American singer; he worked and recorded with Jimi Hendrix in the early 60's and introduced Hendrix to Ed Chalpin who had him sign a contract that gave Hendrix only 1% of any royalties that his recordings earned. In the 70s Curtis moved to London, England where he formed the group "Curtis Knight & Zeus", and toured throughout Europe, relying on his "Hendrix" connection for many years (?) b. 1945.
2001: Mic Christopher (32) Irish singer and songwriter born in the Bronx, New York, but he moved back to Dublin with his parents. In 1990 Christopher formed the band, the Mary Janes with former Kila bass player and fellow busker, Karl Odlum, with Simon Goode on guitar and Steven Hogan on drums. Over the following years The Mary Janes played everywhere from the Feile and the Fleadh music festivals in Ireland, to Glastonbury Festival in England, to the CMJ in New York. The band also performed a six week stint in Bosnia with the War Child charity organization. The Mary Janes finally split in 1999 and Christopher embarked on a three month solo tour of Victoria, Australia. Mic had been working on a solo album entitled Skylarkin' prior to his death. (while in Groningen, Netherlands, after he had played his set, Mic was found unconscious, having apparently struck his head on some steps following a fall. On arrival at a local hospital, he was found to have lapsed into a coma as a result of severe swelling to the brain. Sadly he never regained consciousness) b. September 21st 1969.
2001: George Harrison (58) English rock guitarist, singer, songwriter, author, film producer and sitarist born in Liverpool; he is best known as the lead guitarist and youngest member of The Beatles. Following the band's demise, he had a successful career as a solo artist and later as part of the Traveling Wilburys, a super group where he was known as both Nelson Wilbury and Spike Wilbury. (sadly lost to lung cancer) b. February 25th 1943.
2007: Jim Nesbitt (76) American country comic singer; his first hit "Please Mr. Kennedy" reached No.1, he recorded over 200 tunes including "A Tiger In My Tank", "New Frontier" "Lookin' For More In '64" (died after battling a heart condition for several years) b. December 1st 1931.
2007: Tom Gerald Terrell (57) was a music journalist, photographer, deejay, promoter, and NPR music reviewer. He made his mark as a radio personality and concert promoter, impacting the music scene as a programmer for WHFS and WPFW, and was an early force behind d.c. space, its non-profit offshoot, District Curators Inc., and the Nightclub 9:30. Blessed with a honey baritone "radio voice" and encyclopedic music knowledge, his pioneering radio shows included "Stolen Moments" on WPFW, and "Sunday Reggae Splashdown" and "Café C'est What" on WHFS. His perceptive music journalism was carried in the Unicorn Times, the Washington City Paper, JazzTimes, Vibe, Essence, Emerge, Savoy, JAZZIZ, Trace, Village Voice, MTV Magazine, Down Beat Magazine, and Global Rhythms, to name a few. He was a life-long musicologist who recognized talent and trends long before they became popular, and, until his death from , worked to promote new acts in jazz, funk, rock, hip-hop, and world music (sadly Tom died after battling prostate cancer) b. July 16th 1950.
2010: John Gerrish (100) American composer, best known for The Falcon, a cappella piece for SATB based on the Middle or Early Modern English Corpus Christi Carol. Other better-known works include Variations on a Burgundian Carol for 3 Recorders, based on the carol Patapan, published in New York by Associated Music Publishers in 1957, I Sing A Maiden-1953, Fifteen Christmas melodies for soprano recorder and piano-1954, and the piano solos Country Dance, Mountain Climbing and 'South Wind-1954 (?) b. August 14th 1910
2010: Peter Hofmann (66) German operatic tenor, born in born in Marienbad, German Sudetenland (now modern Mariánské Lázne, Czech Republic) and grew up in Darmstadt. He made his professional opera debut in 1972 as Tamino in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's The Magic Flute at Theater Lübeck and sang his first Siegmund in Richard Wagner's Die Walküre, a role which he became closely associated with, at the Wuppertal Opera in 1974. Peter wnet on to have a successful performance career within the fields of opera, rock, pop, and musical theatre. He first rose to prominence in 1976 as a heldentenor at the Bayreuth festival where he drew critical acclaim for his performance of Siegmund in Richard Wagner's Die Walküre. He was active as one of the world's leading Wagnerian tenors over the next decade, performing roles like Lohengrin, Parsifal, Siegfried, and Tristan at major opera houses and festivals internationally (Peter sadly died of dementia and Parkinson's disease) b. August 22nd 1944.

November 30 .
1954: Wilhelm Furtwängler (68) German conductor born in Berlin; At his first concert, he led the Kaim Orchestra - Munich Philharmonic, in Anton Bruckner's Ninth Symphony. After which held posts at Munich, Lübeck, Mannheim, Frankfurt, Vienna, before securing a job at the Berlin Staatskapelle in 1920, and in 1922 at the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and concurrently at the prestigious Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. In 1925 he appeared as guest conductor of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, making return visits in the following two years. Later he became music director of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, the Salzburg Festival and the Bayreuth Festival. In 1949 he accepted the position of principal conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and made a notable appearence with Philharmonia Orchestra, in London, May 22, 1950 (?) b. January 25th 1886
1955: Josip Štolcer-Slavenski (59) Croatian composer born in Cakovec, Austria-Hungary, present day Croatia. He started his career as a music teacher in Zagreb in 1923 but, in 1924, he moved to Belgrade. To some his is best works are incorporated in a symphony named Simfonija Orienta for soloists, choir and orchestra as well as in another symphony Balkanofonija. Further he composed numerous piano works, violin sonatas, string quartets, and solos; his best-known choir songs are Voda zvira and Romarska (?) b. May 11th 1896
1957: Beniamino Gigli (67) Italian operatic tenor born in Recanati, in the Marche, he was one of the most famous tenors of his generation, he was renowned internationally for the great beauty of his voice and the soundness of his vocal technique. In 1914, he won first prize in an international singing competition in Parma. His operatic debut came on October 15th 1914 when he played Enzo in Amilcare Ponchielli's La Gioconda in Rovigo, following which he was in great demand. He went on to perform in most of the top opera theatres. Before his retirement in 1955, Beniamino undertook an exhausting world tour of Farewell Concerts. In his two remaining years he prepared his Memoirs (died in Rome) b. March 20th 1890
1964: Don Redman (64) American jazz trumpeter, who began playing the trumpet at the age of 3, joined his first band at 6 years and by the age of 12 he was proficient on all wind instruments ranging from trumpet to oboe as well as piano. In 1922 he joined the Fletcher Henderson orchestra, mostly playing clarinet and saxophones. He soon began assisting in writing arrangements, and did much to formulate the sound that was to become big band Swing. Notable musicians in his own band included Sidney De Paris, trumpet, Edward Inge, clarinet, and singer Harlan Lattimore, who was known as "The Colored Bing Crosby". He also did arrangements for other band leaders and musicians, including Paul Whiteman, Isham Jones, and Bing Crosby. Most consider him first great arranger in jazz history (died in New York) b. July 29th 1900.
1979: Joyce Irene Grenfell OBE née Phipps (69) English actress, comedienne, diseuse singer-songwriter, born in London and had a priveleged upbringing, finishing her education in Paris. She made her stage debut in 1939 in the Little Revue. In 1942 she wrote what became her signature song "I'm Going to See You Today". During WWII, she toured Nth Africa, Southern Italy, the Middle East and India with her pianist Viola Tunnard performing for British troops. Her singing and comedic talents on stage led to her acting career in motion picture comedies. Her last of 24 films which included 3 St.Trinian films was The Yellow Rolls-Royce in 1964. Joyce also was a writer for the BBC, but maybe is now best remembered for her one-woman shows and monologues, in which she invented roles including a harassed nursery teacher..."George - don't do that", and she made frequent appearances on the BBC's music quiz show, Face the Music. In '89, her wartime journals were published under the title The Time of My Life: Entertaining the Troops (sadly Joyce died after a brave battle with cancer) b. February 10th 1910.
1988: Charlie Rouse (64) American hard bop tenor saxophonist and flautist, born in Washington, DC; well known for his work with the highly influential Thelonious Monk's quartet, a period which lasted from 1959 to 1970. He was later a founding member of the group Sphere, which began as a tribute to Monk. He also worked with Mal Waldron's quintet. The asteroid "(10426) Charlierouse" was officially named to honor him in 2007 by its discoverer, the American planetary scientist and astronomer Joe Montani, an ardent fan of Monk and Rouse (sadly died after a battle with lung cancer) b. April 6th 1924.
1993: David Houston (57) American country music singer born in Bossier City, Louisiana; In 1963, he rose to national stardom with the single "Mountain of Love"; the song, which rose to No.2 on Billboard's Hot Country Singles chart and his 1965's "Livin' in a House Full of Love". In 1966, Houston released his international breakthrough "Almost Persuaded". David was awarded 2 Grammy Awards for Best Country & Western Recording and Best Country & Western Performance, Male in 1967 for "Almost Persuaded". This was followed by a string of top five singles through 1973, including six more number ones: "With One Exception" and "You Mean the World to Me" (1967); "Have a Little Faith" and "Already It's Heaven" (1968); "Baby, Baby (I Know You're a Lady)" (1970); and 1967's "My Elusive Dreams" duet with Tammy Wynette. In later years, Houston dueted with Barbara Mandrell on several of her early hits, most notably 1970's "After Closing Time" and 1974's "I Love You, I Love You" (David was sadly taken by a brain aneurysm) b. December 9th 1935.
1994: Connie Kay/Conrad Henry Kirnon (67) American jazz drummer; he was a self-taught musician and played in the Lester Young quintet from 1949-55 before joining the Modern Jazz Quartet in '55 until the group's dissolution in 1974, recording 41 albums with them. At this time he also recorded 13 albums with Milt Jackson between 1955-64. Other musicians he recorded and worked with include Stan Getz, Coleman Hawkins, Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, Bobby Timmons, Bill Evans, Cannonball Adderley and others. He also played drums on Van Morrison's seminal LPs Astral Weeks, "Saint Dominic's Preview" and on 3 tracks on Tupelo Honey (?) b. April 27th 1927.
1995: Stretch/Randy Walker (23) American rapper and hip hop producer from New York City; he featured in the films Juice; Who's the Man?; Bullet, and contributed to the soundtrack Above the Rim, but is perhaps most famous for his close affliation with Tupac Shakur during the early 1990s, and was part of the hip hop group "Live Squad" (tragically he was murdered by being shot twice in the back by three men who pulled up alongside his green minivan at 112th Ave. and 209th St. in Queens Village while he was driving. His minivan smashed into a tree and hit a parked car before flipping over) b. April 8th 1972.
1996: Tiny Tim/Herbert Buckingham Khaury (64) US singer, ukulele; most famous for his rendition of 'Tiptoe Through The Tulips' sung in his distinctive high falsetto/vibrato voice. He was generally thought of as a novelty act, though his records display a wide knowledge of American songs. In August 1970 he performed at the "Isle of Wight Festival 1970" in front of a crowd of 600,000 people. His performance, which included English folk songs and rock and roll classics, was a huge hit with the multinational throng of hippies. At the climax of his set, he sang "There'll Always Be an England" through a megaphone which brought the huge crowd to its feet. This can be seen in the 1995 movie of the event, "Message to Love". In 2000, the Rhino Handmade label released the posthumous Tiny Tim Live at the Royal Albert Hall. This recording had been made in 1968 at the height of Tiny Tim's fame, but Reprise Records never released it. It sat on the shelf until its limited Internet release some 32 years later. The limited-numbered CD sold out and was reissued on Rhino's regular label (he suffered a heart attack on stage at The Woman's Club of Minneapolis and was rushed to Hennepin County Medical Center where he died after doctors tried to resuscitate him for an hour and fifteen minutes) b. April 12th 1932.
1999: Charlie Byrd (74) American jazz and classical guitarist; he played a classical guitar with nylon strings using fingerstyle. He collaborated on the famous 1962 album Jazz Samba with Stan Getz, a recording which pushed bossa nova into the mainstream of American music. During the late 50s he toured Europe with Woody Herman as part of a US State Department "goodwill tour". He also led his own groups that at times featured his brother Joe Byrd, and other great musicians. In 1997 he was deemed a "Maryland Art Treasure" by the Community Arts Alliance, in 1999 he was knighted by the government of Brazil as a Knight of the Rio Branco (lung cancer) b. September 16th 1925.
1999: (or Dec 1st) Don "Sugarcane" Harris (61) US Blues, jazz and rock violinist and guitarist; was given the nickname "Sugarcane" by LA bandleader Johnny Otis. He started an act called Don and Dewey in the mid 1950s. In the 1960s he played exclusively the electric violin, as a sideman with John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers and Frank Zappa, most recognized for his appearances on the Mothers of Invention albums Hot Rats, Burnt Weeny Sandwich, and Weasels Ripped My Flesh. His lead vocal and blues violin solo on a cover of Little Richard's "Directly From My Heart to You" on Weasels, and his extended solo on the lengthy "Little House I Used To Live In" on Weeny are considered highlights of those albums. The 1970's sees him fronting the Pure Food and Drug Act (sadly died from pulmonary disease) b. June 19th 1938.
2000: Scott Smith (45) Canadian bassist born in Winnipeg, Manitoba; he was the original bassist for the Canadian rock band Loverboy, best known for their hit singles "Working for the Weekend" and "Turn Me Loose", although their U.S. Top Ten hits were "Lovin' Every Minute of It" in 1985 and "This Could Be the Night" in 1986. (Scott was sailing with two friends off the coast of San Francisco near the Golden Gate Bridge, when a freak 26-foot wave swept him overboard. A four-hour search was conducted in vain. Experts say he could not have survived more than two and a half hours in waters that cold) b. February 13th 1955.
2006: Elhadi Adam Elhadi/Al-Hadi Adam Al-Hadi (79) Sudanese writer and song writer born in El-Helalelih village, Al Jazirah State in central Sudan on the bank of the Blue Nile. He became well known in Sudan and in the Arab world when his poem, "Agadan Algak" / "Tomorrow I Hope to Meet You" was sung by the pioneer Egyptian singer Umm Kulthum. The poem was selected by the diva Umm Kulthum among tens of poems offered to her during her visit to Sudan in 1968. She delayed to sing the song because of the death of Gamal Abdel Nasser, but later sang it in May 1971 on stage of the Cinema Gasser el-nil or Nile Palace, which was composed by Egyptian composer Muhammed Abdelwahab. Elhadi was a prolific writer and has several collections of poems. The most known of his work is Koukh Al-Ashwag from mid 1960s, considered by critics to be the best of his work (?) b. 1927
2008: Munetaka Higuchi (49) Japanese drummer born in Nara Nara, during his high school years Munetaka played in seven different bands, before forming the band Lazy with friend Akira Takasaki. The musical pair next formed the metal band Loudness in 1981. During his time with Loudness, Munetaka released his first solo album, Destruction, in 1983. He left Loudness to concertrate on his solo career and work on side projects, including Sly, Bloodcircus, Rose of Rose, and the Rock 'n' Roll Standard Club Band. In 1997, as "Munetaka Higuchi & Dream Castle", he released the album Free World. The band featured many famous musicians from the jazz and rock/metal spheres, like Steve Vai, Stanley Clarke, Billy Sheehan, Ty Tabor, Terry Bozzio, T. M. Stevens, Ronnie James Dio, Richie Kotzen and others. The album was released in February 1997 in Japan. He returned to Loudness in 2001, maintaining his high profile in the metal genre. (liver cancer) b. December 24th 1958.
2010: Monty Sunshine (82) English jazz clarinetist born in Stepney, London; revered by traditionalist fans the world over, he is maybe most famous to many, for his clarinet solo on the track "Petite Fleur", a million seller for the Chris Barber Jazz Band in 1959. He was a member of Chris Barber's band for seven years, participating fully in the band's overseas travels, including the 1959 American tour, and making many recordings. Eventually he felt less comfortable with Barber's musical direction and left in 1961 to form his own band, sticking firmly to the "trad" style. Monty also worked with The Eager Beavers, The Crane River Jazz Band, Beryl Bryden, George Melly, Johnny Parker, Diz Disley and Donegan's Dancing Sushine Band (?) b. April 9th 1928.
2011: J. Blackfoot/John Colbert (65) American soul singer, born in Greenville, Mississippi, moving to Memphis, Tennessee with his family as a child. After a short stint in Tennessee State Penitentiary he recorded a single under his own name and aafter the tragic plane crash that claimed the lives of Otis Redding and four members of The Bar-Kays, he joined the reconstituted group as lead singer, and performed with them for several months but did not record. In 1968 he became a founding member The Soul Children and produced 15 hits on the R&B chart, including three that crossed over to the Billboard Hot 100, and recorded seven albums over thenext 10 years. The Soul Children disbanded in 1979, after which he had a successful solo career. His biggest hit was "Taxi", which reached the charts in both the US and UK in 1984 (sadly died fighting cancer) b. November 20th 1946.
2011: Nelly Byl (92) Belgian songwriter born in Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, who wrote over 2000 songs in Dutch and other languages. She wrote some 200 songs for Will Tura, as well as songs for artists such as Conny Vandenbos' "Raak me niet aan"-1963 and the Gibson Brothers "Que Sera Mi Vida"-1980 (?) b. March 25th 1919.
2011: Kuldeep Manak/Latif Mohammed (62) Indian Punjabi language singer known for singing a genre of Punjabi songs called kaliyan. He left his birth place Bathinda and went to Ludhiana to pursue his career and started singing with the duo Harcharan Grewal and Seema. In 1976 his first LP 'Ik Tara' included the songs 'Tere Tilley Ton', 'Chheti Kar Sarwan Bachcha' and 'Garh Mughlane Dian Naaran'. Further albums included 'Ichhran Dhaahan Maardi', 'Sahiban Da Tarla', and 'Sahiban Bani Bharaawan Di' (sadly Kuldeep passed away with pneumonia) b. November 15th 1949.
2011: Benyamin Sönmez (28) Turkish cellist born to musical Turkish parents in Bremen, Germany and returned to Aksehir, a town in Konya Province,Turkey at the age of three. By the time he was 17, having proved his superior musical skills with his father's band, he came first in the national cello contest. He was given a place within BBC soloists in 2000. He won a special award at the International Young Concert Artists Contest organized in Leipzig, Germany in 2001 and was a prize winner in the 2006 International Adam Cello Festival and Competition in New Zealand that was chaired by Rostropovich. He received great admiration at each country he visited, and had a rich repertoire including modern composers such as Alfred Schnittke, Giya Kancheli, Sofia Gubaidulina, Ástor Piazzolla, Dmitri Shostakovich and Zoltán Kodály as well as the composers of Baroque and other eras (Tragically Benyamin died after suffering a heart attack) b. January 16th 1983.
2012: Keletigui Diabate (81) Malian musician, one of the greatest figures in Malian contemporary music, master of the balafon, a xylophone-like wooden-keyed percussion instrument. He became the first to popularise the West African balafon, in the west. He founded one of Mali's first bands Formation A in the 60s and played with guitarist Salif Keita in the band Ambassadors. He also performed with Mali's Symmetric Orchestra (?) b. 1931