MUSICIANS WHO DIED IN JANUARY 2020
MUSICIANS WHO DIED IN JANUARY 2020
JANUARY 1
TOMMY HANCOCK (90) / AMERICAN MUSICIAN FROM LUBBOCK, CALLED THE GODFATHER OF WEST TEXAS MUSIC. FIDDLER AND LEADER OF SWING GROUP THE ROADSIDE PLAYBOYS (INCL. SONNY CURTIS AND BENJAMIN "TEX" LOGAN). IN 1972 FOUNDED THE FLATLANDERS WITH JIMMIE DALE GILMORE, JOE ELY, BUTCH HANCOCK AND OTHERS. IN THE 1970s FOLLOWED THE TEACHINGS OF GURU MAHARAJ JI.
JANUARY 2
MARTY GREBB (74) / AMERICAN PIANO, KEYBOARD, GUITAR AND SAXOPHONE PLAYER. IN 1966 JOINED THE BUCKINGHAMS (SIX TOP-TEN SINGLES AND THREE TOP-TWENTY ALBUMS FOR COLUMBIA RECORDS). LATER TOURED WITH MUDDY WATERS, ELTON JOHN, LEON RUSSELL. SPENT 25 YEARS WITH THE BONNIE RAITT BAND. TOURED WITH CHICAGO. RECORDED WITH TAJ MAHAL, LEON RUSSELL, BONNIE RAITT, JJ CALE, ERIC CLAPTON, THE BAND, ROGER McGUINN, MARIA MULDAUR, RUFUS WAINWRIGHT, IAN McNABB, THE KNACK, JACKIE LOMAX, ALIEN ANT FARM, JOE VITALE, MICKEY THOMAS.
JANUARY 3
BO WINBERG (80) / SWEDISH SINGER AND GUITARIST. IN 1957, IN GOTHENBURG, JOINED THE REBELS WHO THEN BECAME ROCK-TEDDY AND THE BLUE CAPS. LATER RENAMED AS THE FRAZERS, FINALLY SIGNED RECORDING CONTRACT IN 1961 AS THE SPOTNICKS. KNOWN FOR WEARING "SPACE SUITS" ON STAGE AND INNOVATIVE ELECTRONIC GUITAR SOUND. RELEASED 42 ALBUMS, SOLD OVER 18 MILLION RECORDS. COMPARED TO THE SHADOWS AND THE VENTURES. HAD TOP 30 AND TOP 20 HITS IN THE UK SINGLES CHART 1962/1963. WERE #1 IN SWEDEN AND JAPAN. BO WINBERG ALSO RECORDED SOLO AS THE SHY ONES.
JANUARY 5
MARTIN GRIFFIN / ENGLISH ROCK DRUMMER IN ARK. IN 1978 MUSICIANS FROM HAWKWIND (ROBERT CALVERT, DAVE BROCK), ARK AND PILOT JOINED FORCES TO CREATE HAWKLORDS, FOR LEGAL REASONS NOT USING THE NAME HAWKWIND. IN 1978 THEY RELEASED THEIR FIRST ALBUM 25 YEARS ON, PROMOTED IN THE UK WITH A 41-GIG TOUR AND DURING ONE OF THE SHOWS, AT THE HAMMERSMITH ODEON, LEMMY KILMISTER PLAYED ON "SILVER MACHINE". THERE WERE ALSO: WEIRD TAPE 4, LIVE '78 AND HAWKLORDS LIVE (RELEASED BY GRIFFIN RECORDS IN 1992). MARTIN GRIFFIN JOINED THE OFFICIAL HAWKWIND LINEUP IN 1981, RECORDING WITH THEM (AFTER THE DEPARTURE OF GINGER BAKER) SONIC ATTACK (1981), CHURCH OF HAWKWIND (1982) AND CHOOSE YOUR MASQUES (1982). GRIFFIN ALSO JOINED HAWKWIND AT THE GLASTONBURY FESTIVAL'S PYRAMID STAGE IN 1981. APART FROM BEING A DRUMMER, HE RECORDED MANY EMERGING BANDS OF THE PUNK / NEW WAVE ERA IN A COUNTRYSIDE FARMHOUSE STUDIO, FOR EXAMPLE THE NOW LOST 1977 ELVIS COSTELLO & THE ATTRACTIONS SESSION FOR STIFF RECORDS.
JANUARY 7
NEIL PEART (67) / CANADIAN MUSICIAN (DRUMMER, PERCUSSIONIST), LYRICIST AND AUTHOR. BEST KNOWN AS THE DRUMMER AND LYRIC WRITER FOR THE ROCK GROUP RUSH. HE WROTE FAMOUS WORDS FOR "THE SPIRIT OF RADIO" (WHERE HE PLAYS LIKE A PUNK DRUMMER) OR "TOM SAWYER". PEART'S LYRICS WERE INFLUENCED BY LITERATURE, PHILOSOPHY, AGNOSTICISM, SECULAR HUMANITARIAN AND LIBERTARIAN VIEWS. INSPIRED BY GREAT ROCK DRUMMERS LIKE GINGER BAKER, KEITH MOON, CARMINE APPICE OR JOHN BONHAM AND BY JAZZ GIANTS GENE KRUPA AND BUDDY RICH AND BY IMPROVISATION. PERFORMED WITH THE BUDDY RICH BIG BAND AND RECORDED TWO TRIBUTE ALBUMS BURNING FOR BUDDY: A TRIBUTE TO THE MUSIC OF BUDDY RICH (1994 AND 1997). NEIL PEART STUDIED WITH JAZZ DRUMMER FREDDIE GRUBER WHO PLAYED WITH CHARLIE PARKER. PEART JOINED RUSH IN 1974 (THE BAND STARTED IN 1968) AND RECORDED 18 ALBUMS WITH THEM, BEGINNING WITH THEIR SECOND LP FLY BY NIGHT IN 1975. HE WROTE SEVEN NONFICTION BOOKS ABOUT HIS BICYCLE AND MOTORCYCLE TRAVELS AND THE TRAGEDY OF LOSING DAUGHTER AND WIFE. THERE ARE ALSO FOUR FICTION BOOKS INCLUDING A GRAPHIC NOVEL. RUSH RECEIVED 24 GOLD, 14 PLATINUM AND 3 MULTI-PLATINUM ALBUMS. GEDDY LEE, ALEX LIFESON AND NEIL PEART WERE OFFICERS OF THE ORDER OF CANADA IN 1996 AND IN 2017 THREE NEW MICROBE SPECIES WERE NAMED AFTER THEM.
JANUARY 10
WOLFGANG DAUNER (84) / GERMAN JAZZ, FREE JAZZ AND FUSION PIANIST, KEYBOARD PLAYER, COMPOSER. LED HIS OWN GROUPS AND WORKED WITH HANS KOLLER, ALBERT MAGELSDORFF, VOLKER KRIEGEL, ACK VAN ROOYEN AND THE UNITED JAZZ AND ROCK ENSEMBLE. HE WAS ONE OF THE PIONEERS OF EUROPEAN FREE JAZZ. HIS TRIO MADE FIRST FREE JAZZ RECORDINGS IN 1964.
JANUARY 13
HYLDA SIMS (87-88) / ENGLISH FOLK SINGER, POET AND NOVELIST. BORN IN 1932, TRAVELLED IN A CARAVAN WITH PARENTS WHO SOLD HERBAL MEDICINES. WENT TO SUMMERHILL SCHOOL WHICH OFFERED DEMOCRATIC AND ALTERNATIVE EDUCATION FREEDOM NOT LICENCE). FIRST GUITAR GIVEN TO HER BY IVOR CUTLER (A SCOTTISH POET, SONGWRITER AND HUMORIST WHO RECORDED FOR JOHN PEEL, WORKED WITH THE BEATLES, ROBERT WYATT AND NEILL INNES WHO DIED THREE WEEKS AGO). FROM MID-FIFTIES PERFORMED WITH THE CITY RAMBLERS (LATER CALLED THE CITY RAMBLERS SKIFFLE GROUP) PLAYING JAZZ, BLUES, MUSIC HALL AND FOLK SONGS. PUBLISHED THREE NOVELS AND TWO BOOKS OF POETRY. OFTEN GAVE POETRY READINGS AND SANG WITH CITY RAMBLERS REVIVAL.
JANUARY 17
CLAUDIO RODITI (73) / BRAZILIAN JAZZ TRUMPETER. IN 1970 STARTED STUDYING AT THE BERKLEE SCHOOL OF MUSIC IN BOSTON. 1976 MOVED TO NYC TO WORK WITH HERBIE MANN AND CHARLIE ROUSE. IN THE 1980's PLAYED WITH PAQUITO D'RIVERA AND WITH THE UNITED NATIONS ORCHESTRA LED BY DIZZY GILLESPIE.
JANUARY 19
JIMMY HEATH (93) / AMERICAN JAZZ SAXOPHONIST, COMPOSER, ARRANGER, LEADER OF BANDS AND BIG BANDS. IN 1975 IN PHILADELPHIA FORMED THE HEATH BROTHERS WITH PERCY HEATH ON BASS AND ALBERT "TOOTIE" HEATH ON DRUMS. FATHER OF A WELL-KNOWN JAZZ AND R&B MUSICIAN JAMES MTUME (WORKED WITH MILES DAVIS 1971-1975). IN 1946 JIMMY HEATH STARTED HIS OWN BAND WHICH INCLUDED YOUNG JOHN COLTRANE AND PLAYED WITH CHARLIE PARKER. THEN JOINED DIZZY GILLESPIE'S BAND. ONE OF HIS EARLY BIG BANDS HAD BENNY GOLSON, CAL MASSEY, RAY BRYANT, JOHN COLTRANE, JOHNNY COLES WITH CHARLIE PARKER AND MAX ROACH OCCASIONALLY GUESTING. ADDICTED TO HEROIN, ARRESTED TWO TIMES, SPENT SIX YEARS IN PRISON, WENT COLD TURKEY. IN PRISON COMPOSED MOST OF THE MATERIAL FOR THE 1956 PLAYBOYS ALBUM BY CHET BAKER AND ART PEPPER. IN 1959 REPLACED JOHN COLTRANE IN MILES DAVIS QUINTET. WROTE "FOR MINORS ONLY". AUTOBIOGRAPHY I WALKED WITH GIANTS 2010. BILL CLINTON BORROWED HIS TENOR SAX TO PLAY ONE SONG AT THE WHITE HOUSE. MADE 24 ALBUMS AS A LEADER, 10 WITH THE HEATH BROTHERS. WORKED AND RECORDED ALSO WITH ART FARMER, FREDDIE HUBBARD, NAT ADDERLEY, DONALD BYRD, BENNY CARTER. J.J. JOHNSON, NANCY WILSON, JOHNNY HARTMAN, RED GARLAND, CURTIS FULLER, MILT JACKSON, HOWARD McGHEE, HERBIE MANN, ELMO HOPE, MODERN JAZZ QUARTET, SAM JONES, BLUE MITCHELL, CAL TJADER, ALBERT HEATH, CARMELL JONES AND MANY OTHERS.
JANUARY 24
SEAN REINERT (48) / AMERICAN DRUMMER AND COMPOSER, FOUNDING MEMBER OF CYNIC (ALTERNATIVE ROCK, PROGRESSIVE METAL, EXTREME METAL). FIRST ALBUM FOCUS (1993) REGARDED A MILESTONE OF PROGRESSIVE METAL / EARLY TECHNICAL DEATH METAL. IN 1991 JOINED DEATH WITH WHOM MADE ONE ALBUM HUMAN CONSIDERED THE BEGINNING OF TECHNICAL DEATH METAL. SEAN REINERT WAS INFLUENCED BY DIFFERENT, MAINLY JAZZ AND FUSION, DRUMMERS: DAVE MIRANDA (OF HARDCORE PUNK LUDICHRIST), JOHN BONHAM, GARY HUSBAND, DAVE WECKL, VINNIE COLAIUTA.
JANUARY 25
BOB GULLOTTI (70-71) / AMERICAN JAZZ DRUMMER AND MUSIC PROFESSOR AT BERKLEE COLLEGE OF MUSIC. WORKED AND RECORDED WITH A FREE JAZZ GROUP FOUNDED BY TRAY ANASTASIO OF PHISH AS A TRIBUTE TO SUN RA, CALLED SURRENDER TO THE AIR (SELFTITLED ALBUM IN 1996). AMONG 11 MUSICIANS THREE PLAYED WITH SUN RA: MARSHALL ALLEN, MICHAEL RAY AND DAMON R. CHOICE. OTHERS WERE JOHN MEDESKI, MARC RIBOT AND MUSICIANS FROM PHISH, TEDESCHI TRUCKS BAND AND THE ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND.
JANUARY 27
REED MULLIN (53) / AMERICAN HARDCORE PUNK DRUMMER, SNGWRITER AND SINGER. IN 1982 WITH MIKE DEAN AND WOODY WEATHERMAN FOUNDED ONE OF A PIONEERING HARDCORE PUNK BANDS CORROSION OF CONFORMITY (C.O.C.). THEIR DEBUT STUDIO ALBUM RECORDED WITH THE SECOND VOCALIST ERIC EYCKE (DIED IN 2017) IN 1983 AND RELEASED IN 1984, EYE FOR AN EYE REMAINS A HC PUNK CLASSIC. MULLIN WITH WEATHERMAN WERE TOGETHER IN ANOTHER RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA HARDCORE GROUP, NO LABELS, WHICH SPLIT IN 1984. MULLIN LEFT COC IN FEBRUARY 2001 FOR HEALTH REASONS. THEN HE PLAYED IN A HC BAND MAN WILL DESTROY HIMSELF AND FRONTED THE POWER POP BAND BROWN. IN 2010 RETURNED TO CORROSION OF CONFORMITY . WITH MIKE DEAN AND MICK MURPHY (MY RUIN), MULLIN CO-FOUNDED TEENAGE TIME KILLERS, A HARDCORE PUNK SUPERGROUP IN 2014. THE BAND ALSO INCLUDED BRIAN BAKER (MINOR THREAT, BAD RELIGION, DAG NASTY, THE MEATMEN, SAMHAIN), DAVE GROHL (FOO FIGHTERS, SCREAM, NIRVANA), RANDY BLYTHE (LAMB OF GOD), NICK OLIVERI (QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE), COREY TAYLOR (SLIPKNOT, STONE SOUR). IN 2016 REED MULLIN, ADDICTED TO HEAVY DRINKING FOR MANY YEARS, SUFFERED AN ALCOHOL-RALETED SEIZURE AND WAS DISMISSED FROM TOURING.
JANUARY 30
LUCIEN BARBARIN (63) / AMERICAN JAZZ TROMBONE PLAYER FROM NEW ORLEANS. AT SIX DEBUTED AS A JAZZ DRUMMER, PLAYING IN THE ONWARD BRASS BAND WITH HIS GREAT-UNCLE PAUL BARBARIN. TOURED WITH THE PRESERVATION HALL JAZZ BAND AND HARRY CONNICK JR. WORKED AND RECORDED WITH DOC CHEATHAM, LIONEL HAMPTON, WYNTON MARSALIS, DIANNE REEVES, DR. MICHAEL WHITE, THE MARSALIS FAMILY.
JANUARY 31
JOSH PAPPE / AMERICAN HARDCORE PUNK / THRASHCORE / CROSSOVER THRASH MUSICIAN. PLAYED BASS WITH A PIONEERING HARDCORE BAND DIRTY ROTTEN IMBECILES (D.R.I.). ALTHOUGH NOT A FOUNDING MEMBER (D.R.I. FORMED ON MAY 2, 1982) PAPPE JOINED JUST IN TIME (1983)TO RECORD THE FAMOUS AND INFLUENTIAL EP VIOLENT PACIFICATION (RELEASED 1984). IN 1996 THE THRASHMETAL BAND SLAYER RECORDED AN ALBUM OF PUNK ROCK AND HARDCORE PUNK COVERS OF SONGS BY VERBAL ABUSE, TSOL, MINOR THREAT, D.I., DR. KNOW, THE STOOGES AND D.R.I. REPRESENTED BY "VIOLENT PACIFICATION ".
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