MUSICIANS WHO DIED IN JUNE 2023
MUSICIANS WHO DIED IN JUNE 2023
JUNE 2
KAIJA SAARIAHO (70) / FINNISH CONTEMPORARY MUSIC COMPOSER BASED IN PARIS. ACCORDING TO THE 2019 BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE COMPOSERS' POLL, WAS THE GREATEST LIVING COMPOSER. STUDIED COMPOSITION IN HELSINKI, FREIBURG AND PARIS, WORKED AT IRCAM, FIRST INTERESTED IN SERIALISM, THEN SPECTRALISM. USED ELECTRONICS. GOT COMMISSIONS FROM THE LINCOLN CENTER (KRONOS QUARTET), IRCAM (ENSEMBLE INTERCONTEMPORAIN), THE BBC, THE NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC, THE SALZBURG MUSIC FESTIVAL AND MANY OTHERS.
JUNE 6
TONY McPHEE (79) / ENGLISH BLUES ROCK AND BLUES GUITARIST, SINGER, SONGWRITER AND BANDLEADER. IN 1962 McPHEE JOINED THE LONDON GROUP DOLLAR BILLS AND IN 1963 FOUNDED THE BLUES ROCK POWER TRIO RENAMING IT THE GROUNDHOGS AND PLAYED WITH THEM UNTIL 2014 AS THE ONLY PRMANENT MEMBER. THE GROUNDHOGS TOURED WITH JOHN LEE HOOKER, CHAMPION JACK DUPREE, LITTLE WALTER, JIMMY REED AND IN 1964 RECORDED THE ALBUM ...AND SEVEN NIGHTS WITH JOHM LEE HOOKER FOR THE VERVE FOLKWAYS LABEL. IN 1966 TONY McPHEE MADE A DUO SINGLE WITH CHAMPION JACK DUPREE. THE GROUNDHOGS HAD MANY LINEUPS AND INFLUENCES INCLUDING PSYCHEDELIC AND SPACE ROCK. THEY RELEASED ABOUT 30 ALBUMS, SOME OF THEIR BEST BEING THANK CHRIST FOR THE BOMB (1970) AND SPLIT (1971). TONY McPHEE ALSO HAD A SOLO CAREER AND TOURED WITH EDGAR WINTER AND ALVIN LEE. RELEASED DUETS WITH JO ANN KELLY AND THE HUNT, HIS ART ROCK ELECTRONIC COMPOSITION AGAINST FOX AND STAG HUNTING (1973). AFTER A STROKE, DISBANDED THE HOGS AND WORKED WITH DAVID TIBET'S CURRENT 93.
JUNE 18
TERESA TAYLOR (60) / AKA TERESA NERVOSA, AMERICAN PUNK DRUMMER AND ACTRESS. NERVOSA WAS THE SECOND DRUMMER IN THE EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHEDELIC NOISE PUNK BAND BUTTHOLE SURFERS FORMED IN SAN ANTONIO IN 1981 AND A PART OF A HARDCORE PUNK SCENE. SHE PLAYED WITH THEM 1983-1985, 1986-1989 AND 2008-2009. TERESA PLAYED DRUMS IN UNISON WITH KING COFFEY, WHO SHE HAD PLAYED WITH IN MARCHING BANDS IN THEIR HIGH SCHOOL TIMES. TOGETHER WITH THE LEADERS GIBBY HAYNES AND PAUL LEARY THEY MADE THE CLASSIC BUTTHOLE SURFERS LINEUP. WHEN NERVOSA LEFT BUTTHOLE SURFERS IN 1989 SHE HAD A BRAIN SURGERY. IN 1990 SHE PLAYED A SMALL ROLE IN RICHARD LINKLATER'S INDEPENDENT COMEDY-DRAMA FILM SLACKER. IN NOVEMBER 2021, TAYLOR WAS DIAGNOSED WITH END-STAGE LUNG DISEASE WHICH FINALLY KILLED HER.
JUNE 22
PETER BRÖTZMANN (82) / GERMAN PAINTER, RECORD LABEL OWNER AND JAZZ MUSICIAN. PLAYED SAXOPHONES, CLARINET AND TAROGATO. WAS A PIONEER OF EUROPEAN FREE JAZZ. GOT INTERESTED IN JAZZ AT SCHOOL WHEN HE SAW SIDNEY BECHET. STUDIED PAINTING IN WUPPERTAL AND WAS A PART OF THE FLUXUS MOVEMENT. DEBUT ALBUM FOR ADOLPHE SAX IN 1967 ON HIS BRÖ LABEL, FOLLOWED NEXT YEAR BY THE NOW CLASSIC MACHINE GUN. AS A LEADER BRÖTZMANN MADE OVER FIFTY ALBUMS.
JUNE 30
RICK FROBERG (55) / AMERICAN PINK ROCK, POST-PUNK, POST-HARDCORE MUSICIAN AND VISUAL ARTIST. PLAYED GUITAR AND SANG IN BANDS LIKE POST-HARDCORE PITCHFORK (1986-1990), FORMED IN SAN DIEGO, IN WHICH HE WORKED WITH HIS FUTURE LONG-TIME COLLABORATOR, GUITARIST JOHN REIS. THEN THEY FORMED THE EMO HARDCORE / NOISE ROCK DRIVE LIKE JEHU (1990-1995, 2014-2016)
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