Northwest Jazz Musicians, 86; saxophonist, clarinetist and composer whose career included big bands and minimalist trios (April 24)

Art Foxall, saxophonist who performed with Dinah Washington, Sarah Vaughn, Artie Shaw, Roy Eldridge, Little Richard, Ivory Joe Hunter.

Norm Bobrow, a well-known Seattle impresario and champion of Seattle jazz.


from the LA Times:

Bob Popescu, 77; co-owner of Catalina Bar & Grill, turned the Los Angeles club into one of the top jazz venues in the country (Jan. 5)

Lew Spence, 87; composed “Nice ‘n’ Easy,” the Grammy-nominated Frank Sinatra song (Jan. 9)

Pete Candoli, 84; leading high-register jazz trumpet player (Jan. 11)

Andy Palacio, 47; singer and guitarist who championed the language and culture of the Garifuna people of Belize (Jan. 19)

Teo Macero, 82; a producer of jazz albums for Miles Davis and other leading artists in the 1960s and ’70s (Feb. 19)

Buddy Miles, 60; rock and R&B drummer and singer whose eclectic career included stints working as a sideman for Jimi Hendrix (Feb. 26)

Israel “Cachao” Lopez, 89; Cuban bassist and composer credited with pioneering the mambo style of music (March 22)

William F. Ludwig II, 91; son of the founder of Ludwig Drum Co. who built a special kit for the Beatles’ Ringo Starr (March 22)

Ozzie Cadena, 83; record producer recorded jazz giants for the Savoy label (April 9)

Humphrey Lyttelton, 86; jazz trumpeter who hosted the BBC radio game show “I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue” (April 25)

Bob Florence, 75; bandleader and composer won Grammys and Emmys (May 15)

Bill Finegan, 91; an architect of the big band sounds of Tommy Dorsey and Glenn Miller who later traded in commercial success to co-create the Sauter-Finegan Orchestra (June 4)

Esbjorn Svensson, 44; Swedish jazz pianist whose fusion of lyrical melodies and rock-inspired electronics broke fresh ground in modern jazz (June 14)

Bobby Durham, 71; a jazz drummer who teamed with Oscar Peterson and Ella Fitzgerald (July 7)

Gerald Wiggins, 86; jazz pianist played with his trio and accompanied many great singers (July 13)

Joe Beck, 62; jazz guitarist who played with Miles Davis, Frank Sinatra and James Brown (July 22)

Johnny Griffin, 80; a jazz musician who was once billed as the “world’s fastest saxophonist” (July 25)

Lee Young, 94; jazz drummer who played with Nat King Cole and was one of the first African Americans to integrate a studio orchestra (July 31)

Isaac Hayes, 65; seminal figure in R & B and soul music who wrote theme from “Shaft” (Aug. 10)

Earl Palmer, 83; legendary session drummer played on rock classics including “Tutti Frutti” and “La Bamba” (Sept. 19)

Mitch Mitchell, 61; drummer for the legendary Jimi Hendrix Experience of the 1960s (Nov. 12)

Freddie Hubbard, 70; jazz trumpeter won a Grammy for the “First Light” album (Dec. 29)

… we would also like to add …

Dennis Irwin, 56, first-call New York bassist.

Category:
Seattle Jazz