jazz

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David Sanborn Was Influential as Solo Artist, With Others

Saxophonist won six Grammys, recorded solo on 'Young Americans'

(Newser) - David Sanborn, an influential saxophonist who blended jazz, pop, and R&B in his solo work while playing with the biggest pop and rock artists of the era, died Sunday. A statement posted to his social media accounts said he'd long battled prostate cancer, CNN reports. He was 78....

A Jazz Giant Is Gone


A Jazz
Giant
Is Gone
obituary
Mar 2, 2023 1:29 PM CST

A Jazz Giant Is Gone

Wayne Shorter hailed as one of the most influential modern musicians in the genre

(Newser) - Wayne Shorter, an influential jazz innovator whose lyrical, complex jazz compositions and pioneering saxophone playing sounded through more than half a century of American music, has died at age 89. Shorter died Thursday in Los Angeles, a representative for the musician said , per the AP . No cause of death was...

She Helped Put Sinatra on the Map, Then Fell Off It Herself
'All She Ever
Wanted to Do
Was Sing'
OBITUARY
Nov 28, 2022 10:49 AM CST

'All She Ever Wanted to Do Was Sing'

Louise Tobin, jazz vocalist who helped discover Sinatra and postponed own career, dies at 104

(Newser) - "All she ever wanted to do was sing." That's how the Denton Record-Chronicle recently described Texas' Mary Louise Tobin, a big-band jazz singer in the '30s and '40s who almost became a national superstar performing with Benny Goodman's band before shelving her career to...

Head-Scratching Century-Old Rule Reversed in Birthplace of Jazz

School board in New Orleans lifts ban on teaching jazz

(Newser) - It's hard to imagine jazz music being banned in any US public schools, let alone schools in New Orleans, known as the birthplace of jazz. But there's actually a policy on the books in the Big Easy that prohibits students from learning about the genre or taking part...

Jazz Great Asked His Fans to Play On
Jazz Great Asked
His Fans to Play On
obituary
Feb 11, 2021 6:30 PM CST

Jazz Great Asked His Fans to Play On

'It's a constant experiment,' Chick Corea said of his music

(Newser) - Chick Corea, a towering jazz pianist with a staggering 23 Grammy Awards who pushed the boundaries of the genre and worked alongside Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock, has died. He was 79, the AP reports. Corea died Tuesday of a rare form of cancer, his team posted on his website....

World's 'Fastest Girl Drummer' Is Gone
World's 'Fastest
Girl Drummer' Is Gone
obituary
Oct 25, 2020 4:30 PM CDT

World's 'Fastest Girl Drummer' Is Gone

Viola Smith has died at 107

(Newser) - The "fastest girl drummer in the world" is gone. Viola Smith, a swing musician who fought for female inclusion in the big-band era, died Wednesday at home in Costa Mesa, Calif., the Washington Post reports. She was 107. At a time when jazz giants like Artie Shaw and Benny...

Drummer Knew Iconic Album Was Pretty Good
Drummer Knew
Iconic Album
Was Pretty Good
obituary
May 25, 2020 5:10 PM CDT

Drummer Knew Iconic Album Was Pretty Good

Jimmy Cobb, 91, was the last of the band on Miles Davis' 'Kind of Blue'

(Newser) - Jimmy Cobb, a percussionist and the last surviving member of Miles Davis' Kind of Blue, a groundbreaking jazz album that transformed the genre and sparked several careers, died Sunday. His wife, Eleana Tee Cobb, announced on Facebook that her husband died at his New York City home of lung cancer,...

Coronavirus Leads to Death of New Orleans Jazz Legend

Ellis Marsalis Jr. had pneumonia caused by COVID-19

(Newser) - Ellis Marsalis Jr., jazz pianist, teacher, and patriarch of a New Orleans musical clan that includes famed performer sons Wynton and Branford, has died after battling pneumonia brought by the coronavirus, one of his sons said late Wednesday. He was 85. Ellis Marsalis III confirmed in an interview with the...

Last Member of the 'Classic Quartet' Is Dead at 81

McCoy Tyner's full-blooded playing gave post-bop its signature piano sound

(Newser) - McCoy Tyner is no more. The nimble and innovative jazz musician—called by one critic "the most influential pianist of his generation"—died Friday at home in Bergenfield, NJ. He was 81. Tyner will always be associated with John Coltrane's "classic quartet," which erupted in...

How Native Americans 'Rocked the World'

A new PBS documentary aims to set the record straight

(Newser) - As a child, Fred Lincoln "Link" Wray Jr. hid under a bed when the Ku Klux Klan came to his parents' home in rural North Carolina. Racist groups often targeted the poor family of Shawnee Native American ancestry as the Wrays endured segregation in the American South just like...

A Jazz Legend Is Gone at 81
A Jazz Legend
Is Gone at 81
OBITUARY
Dec 14, 2018 8:10 AM CST

A Jazz Legend Is Gone at 81

Vocalist, NPR host, and civil rights activist Nancy Wilson is dead

(Newser) - A powerful jazz vocalist has sung her last song. Nancy Wilson, a three-time Grammy winner and host of NPR's "Jazz Profiles," died Thursday at her home in Pioneertown, Calif., after a long illness, her manager confirms to NPR . She was 81. Known for telling stories through her...

'Immortal' Trumpeter Dies at 49
Roy Hargrove Dead at 49
obituary
Nov 3, 2018 5:10 PM CDT

Roy Hargrove Dead at 49

Winner of two Grammies played vast array of styles

(Newser) - Trumpeter Roy Hargrove, a prolific player who provided his jazz sound to records across a vast range of styles and won two Grammys, has died at age 49, his manager said Saturday. Hargrove died in New York on Friday of cardiac arrest stemming from a longtime fight with kidney disease,...

Ex-Wife Discovers 'Lost' Record by American Giant

1963 record by the John Coltrane Quartet is about to come out

(Newser) - One of America's most acclaimed musical artists has a new record coming out more than 50 years after he died, the New York Times reports. The newly revived label Impulse! says it will release Both Directions at Once: The Lost Album by the John Coltrane Quartet, a 1963 recording...

Jazz Vocal Pioneer Jon Hendricks Dies at 96
'Father of Vocalese'
Jon Hendricks Dies
OBITUARY
Nov 23, 2017 3:00 PM CST

'Father of Vocalese' Jon Hendricks Dies

The singer was 96

(Newser) - Jon Hendricks, the pioneering jazz singer and lyricist who with the trio Lambert, Hendricks & Ross popularized the "vocalese" singing style in which words were added to instrumental songs, has died. He was 96, AP reports. His daughter, Aria Hendricks, confirmed his death to the New York Times . She...

Jazz Great Al Jarreau Is Dead at 76
Jazz Great Al Jarreau
Is Dead at 76
obituary
Feb 12, 2017 1:43 PM CST

Jazz Great Al Jarreau Is Dead at 76

He was a 7-time Grammy winner

(Newser) - The Grammy's will surely be scrambling to pull together a tribute to a seven-time winner in time for Sunday night's show. R&B and jazz great Al Jarreau died Sunday morning at age 76, reports Rolling Stone , whose obituary notes that he was dubbed the "Acrobat of...

'Fun-Loving' Jazz Master Dead at 85

 'Fun-Loving' 
 Jazz Master 
 Dead at 85 
obituary
Jun 20, 2014 2:08 PM CDT

'Fun-Loving' Jazz Master Dead at 85

Horace Silver helped pioneer hard bop and wrote infectious tunes

(Newser) - Jazz fans lost one of the greats this week—pianist, composer, and band leader Horace Silver. He died at his home in New Rochelle, NY, on Wednesday at age 85, the New York Times reports. In the 1950s, Silver helped pioneer hard bop, a driving, rhythmic music that critics considered...

Remembering Jazz Titan, Saturn 'Native' Sun Ra

Late artist's legacy lives on in his Arkestra

(Newser) - He was a jazz titan who achieved little mainstream success, a big band leader, a free spirit, a poet, the author of thousands of songs, and, as he sometimes claimed, a resident of the planet Saturn who dropped by our humble planet for a little musical interlude. NPR today takes...

What Louis Armstrong Really Thought About Race

Jazz giant had on-off affair with the Civil Rights movement

(Newser) - People still love Louis Armstrong's music and warm, colorful personality, but we forget about his mixed record during the Civil Rights years—when one critic slammed him as a "racial cop-out." There's something to it: He sang for white audiences in movies (with Barbra Streisand, no...

Sandy Hook Victim's Dad Turns Her Life Into Music

Saxophonist Jimmy Greene says he grieves for his daughter every day

(Newser) - Jazz musician Jimmy Greene said he couldn't touch his saxophone for a month—after his 6-year-old daughter, Ana Márquez-Greene, was murdered in the Sandy Hook massacre , the New York Times reports. "I don’t know if we’ll ever feel whole again," said Green, who also...

Jazz Great Dave Brubeck Dead at 91
 Jazz Great 
 Dave Brubeck 
 Dead at 91 
OBITUARY
Dec 5, 2012 11:31 AM CST

Jazz Great Dave Brubeck Dead at 91

Pioneer of the genre attained pop-culture success

(Newser) - Jazz legend Dave Brubeck died this morning of heart failure in Norwalk, Conn., one day short of his 92nd birthday. Even those who are not aficionados will likely recognize hits such as "Take Five" and "Blue Rondo a la Turk," which came out in 1959 on what...

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