MUSICIANS WHO DIED IN OCTOBER 2020
MUSICIANS WHO DIED IN OCTOBER 2020
OCTOBER 6
EDDIE VAN HALEN (65) / DUTCH-AMERICAN ROCK GUITARIST, SONGWRITER, PRODUCER, INVENTOR, CO-FOUNDER OF THE ROCK BAND VAN HALEN (WITH ALEX VAN HALEN DRUMS, MARK STONE BASS, DAVID LEE ROTH VOCALS. BORN IN AMSTERDAM IN JANUARY 1955, THE VAN HALEN FAMILY MOVED TO CALIFORNIA IN 1962. LEARNED PIANO AT SIX, THEN DRUMS AND GUITAR. THE VAN HALEN BROTHERS FORMED A BAND MAMMOTH WITH MARK ANTHONY BASS AND DAVID LEE ROTH VOCALS) IN 1972. IN 1974 CHANGED THE NAME TO VAN HALEN. DEBUT ALBUM VAN HALEN (WITH NEW BASS PLAYER MICHEAL ANTHONY SOBOLEWSKI) SOLD 10 MILLION COPIES IN THE US ONLY. IT INCLUDED HITS "RUNNIN' WITH THE DEVIL", "ERUPTION", AIN'T TALKIN' 'BOUT LOVE" AND THE COVER OF THE KINKS' "YOU REALLY GOT ME". VAN HALEN'S ALBUM 1984 WENT FIVE-TIMES PLTINUM (WITH THE MAIN SINGLE "JUMP" NO. 1 POP HIT).
JOHNNY NASH (80) / AMERICAN ROCKSTEADY AND REGGAE SINGER-SONGWRITER, RECORD LABEL CO-OWNER. IN 1965 HAD A TOP FIVE R&B HIT "LET'S MOVE AND GROOVE TOGETHER" AND MOVED TO JAMAICA. MET BOB MARLEY, BUNNY WAILER, PETER TOSH, RITA MARLEY AND SIGNED THEM. IN 1968 RELEASED A TOP-FIVE ROCKSTEADY HIT SINGLE "HOLD ME TIGHT" AND A COVER OF MARLEY'S "STIR IT UP". THEN IN 1972 HIS SINGLE "I CAN SEE CLEARLY NOW" SOLD MORE THAN A MILLION COPIES. 1976 "WHAT A ( WONDERFUL WORLD") AND 1985 "ROCK ME BABY".
BUNNY LEE (79) / (AKA STRIKER LEE) JAMAICAN RECORD PRODUCER AND LABEL OWNER. WORKED WITH SKA, ROCKSTEADY, REGGAE SINGERS ROY SHIRLEY AND SLIM SMITH (BOTH OF THE UNIQUES), ALTO SAXOPHONE AND TRUMPET PLAYER AND THE SKATALITES FOUNDING MEMBER LESTER "SKA" STERLING.
OCTOBER 9
PIERRE KEZDY (58) / AMERICAN PUNK ROCK BASS PLAYER FROM CHICAGO. HIS FIRST BAND WAS STRIKE UNDER (1979 / 1980), WHICH TRANSFORMED INTO TRIAL BY FIRE IN 1981. WHEN THEY SPLIT IN 1982, KEZDY JOINED NAKED RAYGUN (1985) TO RECORD THEIR SECOND ALBUM ALL RISE AND REMAINED WITH THEM UNTIL THEY SPLIT IN 1992 AND THEN AFTER REUNION IN 2006 TILL 2020. IN 1989 GUITARIST JOHN HAGGERTY LEFT NAKED RAYGUN TO START HIS NEW BAND PEGBOY, WHICH PIERRE KEZDY JOINED IN 1994. OTHER GROUPS THAT KEZDY WAS IN WERE RAINBOW GIRLS (INCLUDING HIS OLDER BROTHER JOHN KEZDY, THE LEAD SINGER OF THE EFFIGIES), THE INTERCEPTORS AND ARSENAL (IN BOTH WITH SANTIAGO DURANGO, FORMERLY OF NAKED RAYGUN AND BIG BLACK). IN 2007 A DOCUMENTARY FILM YOU WEREN'T THERE: A HISTORY OF CHICAGO PUNK, 1977-1984 WAS MADE BY CHRISTINA TILLMAN AND JOE LOSURDO (THE BASS GUITARIST FOR THE CHICAGO HARDCORE BAND LIFE SENTENCE) AND PIERRE KEZDY WAS INTERVIEWED AND HIS TWO BANDS STRIKE UNDER AND NAKED RAYGUN WERE FEATURED.
OCTOBER 11
PAWEŁ ROZWADOWSKI (58) / (AKA KELNER) POLISH UNDERGROUND MUSICIAN, SINGER, SONGWRITER, GUITAR AND KEYBOARD PLAYER. PLAYED IN PUNK BANDS FORNIT (1978-1980), DEXAPOLCORT, DEUTER (1980-1989) AND PUNKY REGGAE IZRAEL (1983-1984) AND A DUO PROJECT WITH ROBERT BRYLEWSKI CALLED MAX & KELNER (ALBUM TEHNO TERROR 1992). AS A GUEST PERFORMED WITH DEZERTER DURING THE TOUR PROMOTING THEIR TRIBUTE DEUTER ALBUM (1995). 2001-2003 REFORMED HIS MOST IMPORTANT GROUP DEUTER. WROTE AUTOBIOGRAPHY "TO ZUPEŁNIE NIEPRAWDOPODOBNE" (WARSAW UNIVERSITY PRESS 2012) ABOUT THE BEGINNINGS OF PUNK ROCK IN POLAND. APART FROM PLAYING PUNK ROCK, HE ALSO EXPERIMENTED WITH FUNK, TECHNO AND RAP.
OCTOBER 12
JON GIBSON (80) / AMERICAN MINIMALIST MUSICIAN, COMPOSER, FLUTE AND SAXOPHONE PLAYER, VISUAL ARTIST AND A FOUNDING MEMBER OF THE PHILIP GLASS ENSEMBLE. IN THE 1960's PLAYED IN THE NEW MUSIC ENSEMBLE ALONG WITH COMPOSERS LARRY AUSTIN, RICHARD SWIFT, STANLEY LUNETTA. JON GIBSON TOOK PART IN THE PREMIERES OF IMPORTANT MODERN COMPOSITIONS LIKE IN C BY TERRY RILEY OR DRUMMING BY STEVE REICH AND REED PHASE WRITTEN BY REICH ESPECIALLY FOR GIBSON (1967). WITH STEVE REICH AND PHILIP GLASS PLAYED MUSIC OF MOONDOG. A MEMBER OF THE THATRE OF ETERNAL MUSIC (WITH LA MONTE YOUNG). PLAYED AND RECORDED WITH COMPOSERS CHRISTIAN WOLFF, DAVID BEHRMAN, HAROLD BUDD, ALVIN CURRAN, FREDERIC RZEWSKI, ANNEA LOCKWOOD, ARTHUR RUSSELL. DEBUT SOLO ALBUM VISITATIONS RELEASED BY PHILIP GLASS ON HIS CHATHAM SQUARE LABEL (1973).
OCTOBER 16
GORDON HASKELL (74) / ENGLISH MUSICIAN AND SONGWRITER, POP, ROCK, BLUES SINGER, GUITARIST AND BASSIST. AS A TEENAGER, STILL AT SCHOOL WAS IN A BAND LEAGUE OF GENTLEMEN WITH ROBERT FRIPP. MOVED FROM DORSET TO LONDON (WHERE HE SHARED FLAT WITH JIMI HENDRIX). IN 1968 COMPOSED AND MADE A SINGLE WITH BRITISH FRAKBEAT / PSYCHEDELIC GROUP THE FLEUR DE LYS (PLAYED ON THEIR FOUR SINGLES). DEBUT SOLO ALBUM IN 1969 (SAIL IN MY BOAT). IN MARCH 1970 FRIPP ASKED HASKELL TO SING ON "CADENCE AND CASCADE" FOR IN THE WAKE OF POSEIDON ALBUM AND BECAME A REGULAR MEMBER ON THE NEXT, PROGRESSIVE ROCK / FREE JAZZ LIZARD ALBUM (HE SANG AND PLAYED BASS GUITAR). HASKELL DID NOT LIKE FRIPP'S MUSIC SO HE LEFT BEFORE THE EUROPEAN LIZARD TOUR. 1971 SOLO ALBUM IT IS AND IT ISN'T FOR ATLANTIC (FEATURING FUTURE KING CRIMSON BASSIST JOHN WETTON). RECORDED 13 SOLO ALBUMS (PLUS TWO LIVE ONES RECORDED IN POLAND), THE LAST ONE THE CAT WHO'S GOT THE CREAM (RELEASED JANUARY 2020). IN 2001 HAD A BIG HIT WITH JAZZY BALLAD "HOW WONDERFUL YOU ARE".
OCTOBER 17
TOSHINORI KONDO (71) // JAPANESE JAZZ TRUMPETER AND ELECTRIC TRUMPETER, PLAYED AVANT-GARDE JAZZ AND JAZZ FUSION. IN THE EARLY 1970's WORKED WITH YOSUKE YAMASHITA. IN 1978 IN NEW YORK PLAYED WITH BILL LASWELL, JOHN ZORN, FRED FRITH, ERALDO BERNOCCHI (PUNK ROCK AND EXPERIMENTAL GUITARIST AND SOUND DESIGNER). NEXT YEAR FIRST RECORDINGS AND EUROPEAN TOUR WITH EUGENE CHADBOURNE (TWO ALBUMS TOGETHER) AND WORK WITH PETER BROTZMANN. THEN IN JAPAN WITH RYUICHI SAKAMOTO, KAZUMI WATANABE, HERBIE HANCOCK. SINCE MID-1980's COMBINED AVANT-GARDE JAZZ WITH ELECTRONICS. IN 2002 INTERNATIONAL PEACE FESTIVAL IN HIROSHIMA INSPIRED BY DALAI LAMA. FOUNDED BAND KONDO IMA IN 1984 AND THEY WERE BIG IN JAPAN. IN 1993 STARTED SERIES OF RECORDINGS "BLOW THE EARTH". IN 2019 RELEASED BLOW THE EARTH (INDIA), WHICH HE COMPOSED, PERFORMED AND MIXED AT KONDO SOUNDBODY LABORATORY, JAPAN. TOSHINORI KONDO DIRECTED THE FILM "BLOW THE EARTH IN JAPAN". HE WAS ALSO MEMBER OF AN EXPERIMENTAL ROCK SUPERGROUP PRAXIS, STARTED BY BILL LASWELL AND FEATURING GUITARIST BUCKETHEAD WITH GUESTS LIKE IGGY POP, BOOTSY COLLINS, CINDY BLACKMAN, SERJ TANKIAN, MIKE PATTON, MICK HARRIS, JOHN ZORN, PAT THRALL AMONG OTHERS. KONDO ALSO WORKED WITH DEREK BAILEY, STEVE LACY, DJ KRUSH OR POLISH GROUP LEVITY (ALBUM CHOPIN SHUFFLE) MADE FILM MUSIC AND WAS AN ACTOR (FIVE FILMS INCLUDING GREATER THINGS IN 2015). HAD A RECORD LABEL TOSHINORI KONDO RECORDINGS WHICH OFFERED HIS UNRELEASED ALBUMS.
OCTOBER 18
JULIUSZ ŁUCIUK (93) / POLISH CONTEMPORARY COMPOSER FROM KRAKOW. STUDIED MUSICOLOGY AT THE JAGIELLONIAN UNIVERSITY (1947-1952), MUSIC THEORY, COMPOSITION, PIANO, ORGAN. 1958-1959 IN PARIS STUDIED COMPOSITION WITH NADIA BOULANGER AND MAX DEUTSCH. TOOK PART IN OLIVIER MESSIAEN SEMINARS AND IN 1959 IN THE INTERNATIONAL COURSES FOR COMPOSERS IN DARMSTADT. FIRST NEOCLASSICAL, THEN SONORIST, INTERESTED IN MODERN JAZZ, POETRY. LATE IN LIFE COMPOSED A LOT OF RELIGIOUS MUSIC. IN THE 1950's WROTE SONGS AND COMPOSITIONS FOR PIANO SOLO. THE THREE SONGS TO POETRY BY LEOPOLD STAFF (1954). IN THE 1960's TURNED TO EXPERIMENTAL MUSIC, WROTE FOR PREPARED PIANO. USED POETRY OF JULIAN PRZYBOŚ (TOOL MADE OF LIGHT 1966), TADEUSZ RÓŻEWICZ (WINGS AND HANDS 1972), WŁADYSŁAW BRONIEWSKI (WINDPOEMS 1971).
CHET "JR" WHITE (40) / AMERICAN BASSIST, RECORD PRODUCER AND MIXING ENGINEER. AS A TEENAGER HE PLAYED BASS IN THE HIGH SCHOOL PUNK BAND THE WILLIES. PLAYED LOTS OF SHOWS WITH BANDS LIKE YOUTH BRIGADE, NAKED AGGRESSION, GOOD RIDDANCE, YOUTH RIOT. LATER FORMED INDIE ROCK GROUP GIRLS (2007) WITH SINGER / GUITARIST CHRISTOPHER OWENS WHO WAS BROUGHT UP IN A CULT COMMUNE CALLED THE FAMILY INTERNATIONAL OR CHILDREN OF GOD (LIKE JEREMY SPENCER OR RIVER PHOENIX). JR WHITE PRODUCED GIRLS' DEBUT ALBUM ALBUM WHICH WAS LISTED AMONG TEN BEST 2009 ALBUMS BY SPIN, ROLLING STONE AND PITCHFORK.
OCTOBER 19
SPENCER DAVIS (81) / WELSH MULTI-INSTRUMENTALIST, VOCALS, GUITAR, HARMONICA, ACCORDION. AS A TEENAGER INFLUENCED BY JAZZ, BLUES, SKIFFLE, R&B. IN 1963 IN BIRMINGHAM STARTED SPENCER DAVIS GROUP WITH TEENAGE STEVE WINWOOD, MUFF WINWOOD AND PETER YORK. IN 1966 TWO No. 1 HIT SINGLES "KEEP ON RUNNING" AND "SOMEBODY HELP ME". 1967 ALBUM I'M A MAN WITH HIT SINGLE "I'M A MAN" (IN 1969 FANTASTICALLY COVERED BY CHICAGO). WHEN THE BAND BROKE UP, TRIED CAREER IN THE US (TWO ALBUMS), THEN GOT BACK TO FORM A NEW VERSION OF SPENCER DAVIS GROUP, BECAME A PROMOTER FOR ISLAND RECORDS (BOB MARLEY, ROBERT PALMER, EDDIE AND THE HOT RODS, STEVE WINWOOD) IN MID-1970's. FOR SOME TIME SPENCER DAVIS WAS A PART OF THE SUPRGROUP THE CLASSIC ROCK ALL-STARS WITH MUSICIANS FROM GRAND FUNK RAILROAD, IRON BUTTERFLY, STEPPENWOLF, BLUE OYSTER CULT, WAR, RARE EARTH, OINGO BOINGO, THE MOODY BLUES, THE KNACK AND OTHERS. 1995-1996 AND 1999-2002 WAS PART OF ANOTHER SUPERGROUP WORLD CLASSIC ROCKERS WITH NICK ST NICHOLAS (STEPPENWOLF), KURT GRIFFEY (CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL), JOEY MOLLAND (BADFINGER), RANDY MEISNER (EAGLES), DENNY LAINE (MOODY BLUES, WINGS).
OCTOBER 21
VIOLA SMITH (107) / AMERICAN DRUMMER, ACTRESS AND EDUCATOR. ONE OF THE FIRST PROFESSIONAL FEMALE DRUMMERS, WORKED WITH SWING BANDS, ORCHESTRAS AND POP GROUPS. IN CHILDHOOD IN AN ALL-GIRL ORCHESTRA WITH HER SEVEN SISTERS LED BY FATHER. 1938-1941 IN A VERY SUCCESSFUL (VIOLA ON THE COVER OF BILLBOARD MAGAZINE, FEB. 1940) ALL-FEMALE ORCHESTRA THE COQUETTES FORMED WITH SISTER MILDRED (CLARINET AND SAXOPHONE). 1942-1954 PLAYED AND RECORDED WITH THE ALL-GIRL PHIL SPITALNY'S HOUR OF CHARM ORCHESTRA. THEN HER OWN VIOLA AND HER SEVENTEEN DRUMS. ALSO IN FILMS WITH ABBOTT & COSTELLO, THE PERCUSSIONIST WITH THE NATIONAL SYMPHONY ORCHSTRA, PERFORMING OWN "DRUM CONCERTOS", APPEARING WITH CHICK WEBB, ELLA FITZGERALD, ALL-GIRL KIT KAT CLUB WITH JOEL GREY (CABARET) ON BROADWAY (1966-1970). IN 1942 WROTE ARTICLE FOR DOWN BEAT MAGAZINE "GIVE GIRL MUSICIANS A BREAK!". VIOLA SMITH WAS KNOWN AS "AMERICA'S FASTEST GIRL DRUMMER" AND "FEMALE GENE KRUPA". EVEN AROUND HER 107TH BIRTHDAY SHE STILL OCCASIONALLY PLAYED WITH LOCAL CALIFORNIA BANDS. A CENTURY OF DRUMMING!!!
OCTOBER 23
JERRY JEFF WALKER (78) / (AKA GYPSY SONGMAN) AMERICAN COUNTRY AND OUTLAW COUNTRY MUSIC SINGER SONGWRITER, PLAYED ELECTRIC AND ACOUSTIC GUITARS, HARMONICA. WROTE FAMOUS"MR. BOJANGLES" (1968) RECORDED ON ALBUM "MR. BOJANGLES" WITH RON CARTER, BOB CRANSHAW. IT HAD LOTS OF COVERS INCL. NITTY GRITTY DIRT BAND, SAMMY DAVIS JR., NINA SIMONE, BOB DYLAN, HARRY BELAFONTE, JJ CALE, CHET ATKINS, ESTHER PHILLIPS, CORNELL DUPREE, KING CURTIS, ELTON JOHN, CAT STEVENS, RADKA TONEFF, JIM CROCE, ROD McKUEN, BOBBIE GENTRY, ARLO GUTHRIE, DON McLEAN, JOHN DENVER, BOBBY COLE, WILLIAM SHATNER, CHRISTIAN McBRIDE, NEIL DIAMOND, WHITNEY HOUSTON, BILLY JOEL, DOLLY PARTON, LULU, JOHN HOLT, HARRY NILSSON, PAUL WINTER AND MANY OTHERS. PHILIP GLASS REFERRED TO "MR. BOJANGLES" IN HIS MINIMALIST OPERA EINSTEIN ON THE BEACH (1976).
OCTOBER 25
DIANE di PRIMA (86) / AMERICAN POET ASSOCIATED WITH THE BEAT GENERATION MOVEMENT. STARTED WRITING AT 14, AT 19 GOT IN TOUCH WITH KENNETH PATCHEN AND EZRA POUND WHO SHE LATER VISITED AT THE MENTAL HOSPITAL. FIRST BOOK THIS KIND OF BIRD FLIES BACKWARD PUBLISHED BY HETTIE JONES AND LeROI JONES' TOTEM BOOKS IN 1958. WITH AMIRI BARAKA AKA LeROI JONES SHE EDITED THE FLOATING BEAR NEWSPAPER, CO-FOUNDED NEW YORK POETS THEATRE, FOUNDED THE POETS PRESS. FREQUENTLY HARASSED BY POLICE FOR HER POETRY, IN 1961 ARRESTED BY FBI FOR TWO POEMS IN THE FLOATING BEAR. IN 1966 WITH TIMOTHY LEARY'S PSYCHEDELIC COMMUNITY AND PUBLISHED HIS PSYCHEDELIC PRAYERS. 1969 WROTE MEMOIRS OF A BEATNIK. 1974-1997 TAUGHT POETRY AT THE JACK KEROUAC SCHOOL OF DISEMBODIED POETICS WITH ALLEN GINSBERG, WILLIAM BURROUGHS, GREGORY CORSO AT THE NAROPA INSTITUTE IN BOULDER, COLORADO. IN 2009 di PRIMA WAS POET LAUREATE OF SAN FRANCISCO. READ TWO POEMS "GET YER CUT THROAT OFF MY KNIFE" AND "REVOLUTIONARY POEM #4" DURING THE BAND'S FAMOUS LAST WALTZ CONCERT (WITH LAWRENCE FERLINGHETTI, LENORE KANDEL, MICHAEL McCLURE, ROBERT DUNCAN). DIANE di PRIMA WAS ALSO A PHOTOGRAPHER, PAINTER, PROSE WRITER, PLAYWRIGHT, SOCIAL ACTIVIST, EDUCTOR.
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