MUSICIANS WHO DIED IN SEPTEMBER 2022
MUSICIANS WHO DIED IN SEPTEMBER 2022
SEPTEMBER 2
DRUMMIE ZEB (62) / BORN ANGUS GAYE, ENGLISH SINGER, DRUMMER, RECORD PRODUCER. BORN TO GRENADIAN IMMIGRANT PARENTS. THE DRUMMER AND LEAD SINGER FOR THE REGGAE BAND ASWAD, WHICH HE CO-FOUNDED IN 1974 IN LADBROKE GROVE, WEST LONDON. ASWAD WAS SIGNED BY ISLAND RECORDS AND THEIR FIRST SINGLE "BACK TO AFRICA" (1976) WAS A HIT. THEY MADE 21 ALBUMS AND WERE GRAMMY AWARD NOMINATED THREE TIMES. IN 1996 ASWAD BECAME A DUO OF DRUMMIE ZEB AND TONY 'GAD' ROBINSON. IN THE LATE 1990s ASWAD TOURED WITH THE WAILERS AND DRUMMIE ZEB BECAME THE WAILERS' REPLACEMENT DRUMMER.
SEPTEMBER 4
JOHN TILL (76) / CANADIAN GUITARIST, AT 11 HE WAS A FOUNDER OF THE ROCK AND ROLL BAND THE REBELS (LATER THE REVOLS) WITH KEN KALMUSKY (11) ON BASS IN 1957 IN STRATFORD ONTARIO. PIANO PLAYER AND SINGER RICHARD MANUEL JOINED THEM IN EARLY 1959 AT 15. SOON THEY BECAME VERY POPULAR AND IN THE SUMMER 1960 THE REVOLS OPENED FOR RONNIE HAWKINS AND THE HAWKS. THE NEXT TIME HAWKINS PLAYED IN STRATFORD, HE SUPPORTED THE REVOLS, NOW THE MAIN ATTRACTION. HAWKINS HIRED THE REVOLS AS HIS TOURING BAND, BUT TILL DID NOT GO AS HE WANTED TO FINISH SCHOOL. IN 1962 TILL AND KALMUSKY FORMED THE FAB FOUR. IN 1969 (SUMMER OF LOVE), TILL JOINED JANIS JOPLIN'S KOZMIC BLUES BAND (PERFORMING AT THE WOODSTOCK FESTIVAL) AND IN 1970 HE WAS IN JOPLIN'S LAST GROUP THE FULL TILT BOOGIE BAND AND APPEARED ON HER LAST ALBUM PEARL.
SEPTEMBER 8
SONNY WEST (85) / BORN JOSEPH WEST, AMERICAN SONGWRITER AND MUSICIAN, PLAYED GUITAR AND SANG. FAMOUS FOR WRITING OR CO-WRITING "OH, BOY!" AND "RAVE ON". HIS VERSIONS WERE NOT VERY SUCCESSFUL, BUT WHEN BUDDY HOLLY COVERED THEM, THEY BECAME BIG HITS. WAYLON JENNINGS COVERED "RAVE ON" AND "LOVE DENIED". ROLLING STONE RANKED "RAVE ON" AS ONE OF THE GREATEST SONGS OF ALL TIME. FOR "OH BOY" IN 2000 SONNY WEST RECEIVED A BMI AWARD "MILLION-AIR", GIVEN TO SONGWRITERS WITH A SONG PLAYED ON THE RADIO OVER ONE MILLION TIMES.
SEPTEMBER 12
RAMSEY LEWIS (87) / AMERICAN JAZZ COMPOSER, PIANIST, RADIO PERSONALITY. PLAYED JAZZ, JAZZ-FUNK, POP. PIANO LESSONS AT 4. FIRST PLAYED WITH LOCAL BANDS IN CHICAGO, THEN FORMED THE RAMSEY LEWIS TRIO AND WAS SIGNED BY CHESS RECORDS. MADE OVER 80 ALBUMS, GOT FIVE GOLD RECORDS, THREE GRAMMY AWARDS. MADE HIT SINGLES "THE IN CROWD", "HANG ON SLOOPY", "WADE IN THE WATER" (EACH SOLD OVER MILLION COPIES) AND "SUN GODDESS". RECORDED WITH MAX ROACH, JIMMY WOODE, NANCY WILSON, BILLY TAYLOR, MAURICE WHITE, EARTH, WIND & FIRE. RAMSEY LEWIS HOSTED POPULAR RADIO SHOWS LIKE LEGENDS OF JAZZ OR RAMSEY LEWIS MORNING SHOW AND 13-EPISODE LEGENDS OF JAZZ TV SERIES.
SEPTEMBER 13
GIUSEPPE PINO (82) / ITALIAN PHOTOGRAPHER, KNOWN FOR HIS EXQUISITE PORTRAITS OF JAZZ MUSICIANS. STUDIED AT THE PHOTOGRAPHY SCHOOL IN MILAN AND DEBUTED IN 1962. 1967-1974 WORKED FOR THE PANORAMA MAGAZINE. LATER BECAME AN INDEPENDENT PHOTOGRAPHER. IN 1973 MOVED TO NEW YORK TO DOCUMENT THE JAZZ SCENE THERE. RETURNED TO ITALY IN THE LATE 1980s. SOME OF HIS PHOTOBOOKS WERE MONTREUX JAZZ (1976), FOTOSTORIA DEL JAZZ, FROM SPIRITUAL TO SWING (1979), L'IMPROVISTE (1980), JAZZ MY LOVE (2002), BLACK AND BLUES (2005), SAX! (2005), 50 SUMMERS OF MUSIC, LIVRE DES 50 ANS DU MONTREUX JAZZ FESTIVAL (2016). ASSOCIAZIONE FOTOGRAFI ITALIANI D JAZZ (AFIJ) AWARDED GIUSEPPE PINO PREMIO ALLA CARRIERA 2021 (LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD).
SEPTEMBER 14
IRENE PAPAS (93) / AKA IRENE PAPPAS BORN EIRINI LELEKOU GREEK ACTRESS AND SINGER. STARRED IN OVER 70 FILMS IN OVER 50 YEARS, INCL. THE GUNS OF NAVARONE (1961), ANTIGONE (1961), ELECTRA (1962), ZORBA THE GREEK (1964), Z (1969), IPHIGENIA (1977). IN 1967 PAPAS CALLED FOR BOYCOTT AGAINST THE MILITARY JUNTA IN GREECE AND, LIKE MIKIS THEODORAKIS AND MANY OTHERS, HAD TO ESCAPE. IN 1968 IN NEW YORK SHE MADE A LIVE ALBUM SONGS OF THEODORAKIS. CONTRIBUTED TO TRACK "∞" ON THE 666 ALBUM BY THE PSYCHEDELIC PROG ROCK BAND APHRODITE'S CHILD (1972). IN 1979 AND 1986 IRENE PAPAS MADE TWO ALBUMS ODES AND RHAPSODIES, BOTH WITH VANGELIS.
SEPTEMBER 21
ANTON FIER (66) / AMERICAN DRUMMER, PRODUCER, COMPOSER, BANDLEADER. PLAYED EXPERIMENTAL ROCK, PUNK, JAZZ, ALTERNATIVE ROCK. FIER PLAYED NO WAVE AND AVANT-GARDE JAZZ WITH THE LOUNGE LIZARDS, POST-PUNK WITH THE FEELIES (1978-1979), PUNK WITH RICHARD HELL AND THE VOIDOIDS, ART PUNK WITH PERE UBU (1977-1978, 1981-1982). TOURED AND RECORDED WITH BOB MOULD OF HARDCORE PUNK HÜSKER DÜ AND SUGAR, SHORTLY WITH THE PETER BLEGVAD AND JOHN GREAVES PROJECT THE LODGE (WITH JAKKO JAKSZYK). ANTON FIER FOUNDED AND HEADED HIS OWN EXPERIMENTAL / ALTERNATIVE ROCK BAND GOLDEN PALOMINOS (1981-2000, 2010-2022) WITH MANY MUSICIANS INCLUDING NICKY SKOPELITIS, ARTO LINDSAY, SYD STRAW, AMANDA KRAMER, JODY HARRIS, DAVID MOSS, PETER BLEGVAD, BERNIE WORRELL, BILL LASWELL AND OTHERS. FIER ALSO WORKED AND RECORDED WITH JACK BRUCE, JOHN ZORN, JOHN LYDON, MIC JAGGER, YOKO ONO, JOE HENRY, LOS LOBOS, MICHAEL STIPE, THE SWANS ON WHITE LIGHT FROM THE MOUTH OF INFINITY IN 1991 AND LAURIE ANDERSON ON HER MISTER HEARTBREAK ALBUM IN 1984.
SEPTEMBER 22
JOHN HARTMAN (72) / AKA LITTLE JOHN, AMERICAN DRUMMER. WITH SINGER / GUITARIST TOM JOHNSTON AND BASSIST DAVE SHOGREN, HARTMAN WAS A FOUNDING MEMMBER OF THE ROCK GROUP THE DOOBIE BROTHERS. INITIALLY A POWER TRIO (SOMETIMES ADDING SKIP SPENCE OF MOBY GRAPE), THEY BECAME A BIKER BAND, POPULAR WITH THE HELLS ANGELS. HE PLAYED WITH THE DOOBIES 1970-1979 AND 1987-1992. THE DOOBIE BROTHERS SOLD OVER 48 MILLION RECORDS. THE BEST OF THE DOOBIES ALBUM SOLD OVER 12 MILLION COPIES. HARTMAN PLAYED ON BIG HIT SINGLES "LISTEN TO THE MUSIC", "LONG TRAIN RUNNING", "BLACK WATER" (BILLBOARD #1 IN 1975), "TAKIN' IT TO THE STREETS" (THEIR FIRST WITH SINGER MICHAEL McDONALD), "THE DOCTOR". IN 2020 JOHN HARTMAN WAS INDUCTED INTO THE ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME AS A MEMBER OF THE DOOBIE BROTHERS.
SEPTEMBER 24
PHAROAH SANDERS (81) / BORN FARRELL SANDERS, AMERICAN JAZZ SAXOPHONIST, ACCORDING TO ORNETTE COLEMAN HE WAS "PROBABLY THE BEST TENOR PLAYER IN THE WORLD". ALBERT AYLER SAID: "TRANE WAS THE FATHER, PHAROAH WAS THE SON, I AM THE HOLY GHOST". SANDERS BEGAN ON CLARINET, IN HIGH SCHOOL GOT INTO JAZZ AND SWITCHED TO TENOR. OFTEN PLAYED WITH VISITING JAZZ AND R&B MUSICIANS IN HIS HOME TOWN LITTLE ROCK. BECAUSE OF SEGREGATION, LEFT FOR CALIFORNIA WHERE HE MET JOHN COLTRANE, A LIFELONG FRIEND. IN 1961 SANDERS MOVED TO NYC WHERE HE WAS POOR AND HOMELESS. SUN RA HELPED HIM AND CALLED HIM "PHAROAH". IN 1965 JOINED JOHN COLTRANE'S BAND. COLTRANE WAS THEN INFLUENCED BY THE AVANT-GARDE JAZZ CONCEPTS OF ALBERT AYLER, SUN RA, CECIL TALOR AND LATER BY PHAROAH SANDERS. SANDERS' DEBUT ALBUM WAS PHAROAH'S FIRST ON ESP-Disk IN 1965. THEN MADE 12 ALBUMS WITH COLTRANE AND 11 ON HIS OWN FOR THE IMPULSE! RECORDS. APART FOM FREE JAZZ AND AVANT-GARDE, SANDERS WAS INTERESTED IN R&B, ETHNIC JAZZ, SPIRITUAL JAZZ, HARD BOP, MODAL JAZZ. HIS COLLABORATION WITH VOCALIST LEON THOMAS IS LEGENDARY ("THE CREATOR HAS A MASTER PLAN"). PHAROAH SANDERS WORKED AND RECORDED WITH MANY DIFFERENT MUSICIANS, FROM DON CHERRY TO JAH WOBBLE. SOME OF THEM WERE SUN RA, ORNETTE COLEMAN, ALICE COLTRANE, BENNY GOLSON, ART DAVIS, SONNY SHARROCK, LARRY YOUNG, TERRY CALLIER, RASHIED ALI, GARY BARTZ, DAVID MURRAY, HILTON RUIZ, MAHMOUD GANIA, MICHAEL MANTLER, JOEY DeFRANCESCO, IDRIS MUHAMMAD, BHEKI MSELEKU, WALLACE RONEY, WILL CALHOUN, AÏYB DIENG, CHICAGO UNDERGROUND, FLOATING POINTS AND THE LONDON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA AND OTHERS.
SUE MINGUS (92) / BORN SUSAN GRAHAM, AMERICAN RECORD PRODUCER AND BAND MANAGER.
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SEPTEMBER 24
JOE BUSSARD (86) / AMERICAN RECORD COLLECTOR, RECORD LABEL FOUNDER.
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