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Obituary

Carlos Lyra (1933-2023)

Carlos Lyra (1933-2023)

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

Carlos Lyra, a Brazilian singer-songwriter and guitarist, and one of the fathers of the bossa nova who, with Antonio Carlos Jobim, Vinicius de Moraes, Luiz Bonfá, Roberto Menescal and Ronaldo Bôscoli, among others, turned a new form of middle-class aspirational music into a global sensation, died in Rio de Janeiro on December 16. He was 90. In the same league as Jobim in terms of poetic lyricism and musical beauty, Lyra composed dozens of aching bossa-nova love songs that have ...

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Obituary

Les McCann (1935-2023)

Les McCann (1935-2023)

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

Les McCann, a self-taught soul-jazz pianist and singer whose essence and feel were deeply rooted in the black church of his youth and the bars in black neighborhoods where jukeboxes were stocked with early soul-pop and blues singers such as Al Hibbler, Arthur Prysock, Ray Charles. Brook Benton, Clyde McPhatter and Floyd Dixon, died on December 29. He was 88. The freedom of McCann's playing and his earthy and original collaborations with saxophonist Eddie Harris led to seminal works that ...

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Obituary

Carla Bley: 1936-2023

Carla Bley: 1936-2023

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

Carla Bley, a pianist, composer and arranger who carved out her own niche in avant-garde jazz, creating a singular musical style that was both daring and distinctly tender, died on October 17. She was 87. During my interview with Carla for The Wall Street Journal in 2020, she was remarkably open and almost journalistic recalling her childhood years. As she said during our conversation: My family lived in East Oakland, Calif., in a small white house next to a vacant ...

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Obituary

Tony Bennett (1926-2023)

Tony Bennett (1926-2023)

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

For me, Tony Bennett's passing was personal. Since 2011, I interviewed the singer five different times for The Wall Street Journal, four at his art studio overlooking Central Park. Each time was a revelation, from the interview we did sitting in close quarters on a sofa to the last in 2018, when his Alzheimer's was already evident. It was one of the last media interviews he would give. The first time I saw Tony, I was with my artist father ...

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Obituary

João Donato (1934-2023)

João Donato (1934-2023)

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

João Donato, one of Brazil's original bossa nova pianist-composers who stood out among a sea of extraordinarily talented peers by integrating jazz and Latin chord voicings and rhythms into his playing style, died on July 17. He was 88. Donato's contemporaries included Brazilian musician-composers Johnny Alf, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Carlos Lyra, Roberto Menescal, João Gilberto, Eumir Deodato and others who softened the samba with a West Coast jazz feel. Born and raised initially in Rio Branco, in western Brazil near ...

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Obituary

Chicago-Area Jazz Publicist, Producer And Vocalist Ralph Lampkin, Jr. Passes At 66

Chicago-Area Jazz Publicist, Producer And Vocalist Ralph Lampkin, Jr. Passes At 66

Source: All About Jazz

This article by Carrie Maxwell was originally published on Windy City Times. Music producer, vocalist and business owner Ralph Lampkin, Jr. died June 24 of a heart attack. He was 66. Lampkin was born April 29, 1957, in New York City, where he lived with his parents Ralph Lampkin, Sr. and Betty Jane Lampkin and younger siblings Lisa, Mark and Craig. During Lampkin's childhood, his parents made sure he and his siblings were exposed to the culture in New York ...

Obituary

Astrud Gilberto (1940-2023)

Astrud Gilberto (1940-2023)

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

Astrud Gilberto, who as the wife of Brazilian singer João Gilberto was urged to record “The Girl From Ipanema" and “Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars" in English in March 1963 because he didn't speak the language and whose hit vocals helped send the bossa nova into the pop stratosphere and her into stardom, died on June 5. She was 83. Astrud Gilberto would go on to record numerous bossa nova and pop albums. Rather than return to Brazil with her ...

Obituary

Tina Turner (1939-2023)

Tina Turner (1939-2023)

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

The moment I heard that Tina Turner had died yesterday at 2:45 p.m., I started writing. I knew what was about to happen. Within minutes, I heard from the arts editor asking for an appreciation needed asap. An hour and 45 minutes later, my essay was done, fact-checked and filed. Tina was a force of nature. Driven, high-energy and charismatic, she had three careers. As a member of the Ike & Tina Turner Revue, she was instrumental in their many ...


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