MUSICIANS WHO DIED IN NOVEMBER 2019
MUSICIANS WHO DIED IN NOVEMBER 2019
NOVEMBER 3
ERYK KULM (67) / POLISH JAZZ DRUMMER. GOT INTERESTED IN JAZZ AFTER ATTENDING A CONCERT BY MIECZYSŁAW KOSZ TRIO WITH ROMAN GUCIO DYLĄG IN SOPOT, ORGANIZED BY KRZYSZTOF KOMEDA'S WIFE. STARTED CAREER IN MARCIN JARNUSZKIEWICZ TRIO IN GDANSK IN 1970's, THEN JOINED JAZZ CARRIERS AND WORKED WITH THE KRAKOW STU THEATRE. IN 1975 BEGAN STUDYING AT BERKLEE COLLEGE OF MUSIC. FOR 15 YEARS PLAYED IN AMERICAN CLUBS AND IN THE STREETS, EVEN ON A SHIP. RETURNED TO POLAND IN 1989 AND JOINED ZBIGNIEW NAMYSŁOWSKI GROUP. WORKED WITH TOP POLISH PLAYERS, THEN STARTED HIS OWN BAND ERYK KULM QUINTESSENCE. IN 1992 RELEASED DEBUT ALBUM BIRTHDAY, WHICH WAS VOTED ALBUM OF THE YEAR AND KULM HIMSELF THE BEST DRUMMER. COULD PLAY GREAT HARD BOP, HIS LAST ALBUM AND BAND INCLUDED RASUL SIDDIK ON TRUMPET.
NOVEMBER 5
JAN ERIK KONGSHAUG (75) / NORWEGIAN SOUND ENGINEER, JAZZ GUITARIST, BASSIST, COMPOSER, BAND LEADER. MID-SIXTIES AND SEVENTIES WORKED FOR DIFFERENT RECORDING STUDIOS, IN 1984 FOUNDED HIS OWN, RAINBOW STUDIO IN OSLO. PRODUCED OVER 4,000 RECORDS, ABOUT 700 FOR ECM RECORDS (STARTING IN 1970 WITH AFRIC PEPPERBIRD BY JAN GARBAREK, TERJE RYPDAL, ARILD ANDERSEN, JON CHRISTENSEN). KONGSHAUG WAS RECOMMENDED TO MANFRED EICHER BY GARBAREK'S DRUMMER JON CHRISTENSEN. KONGSHAUG RECORDED LOTS OF CLASSIC ALBUMS BY KEITH JARRETT, KENNY WHEELER, DON CHERRY, CHARLIE HADEN, DEWEY REDMAN, ED BLACKWELL, PAUL BLEY, CHARLES LLOYD, CHICK COREA, GARY BURTON, PAT METHENY, JOHN ABERCROMBIE, LESTER BOWIE, EDDIE GOMEZ, JACK DeJOHNETTE, RALPH TOWNER, BOBO STENSON, STEVE KUHN AND MANY OTHERS. MAREN VICTORIA THINGNÆS, WHO KNEW HIM VERY WELL PERSONALLY, IS PLANNING TO MAKE A DOCUMENTARY FILM "THE KONGSHAUG EFFECT".
NOVEMBER 7
ROBERT FREEMAN (82) / ENGLISH PHOTOGRAPHER AND GRAPHIC DESIGNER. STUDIED AT CAMBRIDGE (TILL 1959), EARLY SIXTIES WORKED AS PHOTOGRAPHER FOR THE SUNDAY TIMES (KHRUSHCHEV IN THE KREMLIN AMONG OTHERS). SHOT ALL OF THE FIRST PIRELLI CALENDAR. AT A JAZZ FESTIVAL IN LONDON PHOTOGRAPHED GREAT JAZZMEN INCL. JOHN COLTRANE, CANNONBALL ADDERLEY, COLEMAN HAWKINS, DIZZY GILLESPIE AND ELVIN JONES. SHOWED THE PORTRAITS TO THE BEATLES AND WAS HIRED BY THE FABS. 1963-1966 DID PHOTOGRAPHY AND DESIGN FOR THEIR FIVE UK PARLOPHONE ALBUMS, A COUPLE FOR THE US CAPITOL RECORDS AND IN OTHER COUNTRIES. DIRECTED THE TOUCHABLES, A 1968 SWINGING LONDON CRIME STORY FILM ABOUT FOUR MOD GIRLS KIDNAPPING A POP IDOL. PLUS NIRVANA SINGING A MOD THEME SONG "ALL OF US". WELL, THE ORIGINAL NIRVANA, IT MUST BE SAID. A DIANA DORS MANNEQUIN FROM THAT FILM WAS ALSO USED FOR THE MONTAGE APPEARING ON THE COVER OF SGT. PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND.
NOVEMBER 10
JAN BYRCZEK (83) / POLISH JAZZ MUSICIAN (DOUBLE BASS), JAZZ CRITIC, JAZZ MAGAZINE FOUNDER AND EDITOR, ENTREPRENEUR, BANKING EXECUTIVE. WENT TO SCHOOL WITH THE FUTURE JAZZ GREATS ROMAN DYLĄG AND ANDRZEJ DĄBROWSKI. HIS CAREER AS A MUSICIAN WAS STOPPED WHEN HE WAS FORTY BECAUSE OF HEALTH PROBLEMS. HE PLAYED WITH MANY OF THE POLISH JAZZ GIANTS LIKE ANDRZEJ TRZASKOWSKI, KRZYSZTOF KOMEDA, ANDRZEJ KURYLEWICZ, ZBIGNIEW NAMYSŁOWSKI, MICHAŁ URBANIAK, JERZY MILIAN, WOJCIECH KAROLAK, ANDRZEJ DĄBROWSKI AND OTHERS. IN PARIS RECORDED MUSIC FOR A ROMAN POLAŃSKI FILM. HE LIVED IN KRAKÓW, THE CRADLE OF POLISH JAZZ AND HE ALSO MANAGED THE KRAKÓW JAZZ CLUB HELICON (SINCE 1961) AND FOUNDED THE POLISH JAZZ FEDERATION. IN 1969 JAN BYRCZEK CO-FOUNDED THE EUROPEAN JAZZ FEDERATION (THAT'S WHY HE MOVED TO VIENNA IN 1972), WHICH BECAME THE INTERNATIONAL JAZZ FEDERATION IN 1977 AND THEN THE WORLD JAZZ SOCIETY (WHEN BYRCZEK LIVED IN THE US). HE STARTED JAZZ FORUM, ONE OF THE BEST JAZZ MAGAZINES IN THE WORLD (FIRST ISSUE DECEMBER 1965). IT LATER HAD THREE DIFFERENT EDITIONS: POLISH, ENGLISH AND GERMAN AND ITS BEST DECADE WERE THE 1970's. AT THE END OF THE 1980's, JAN BYRCZEK CO-FOUNDED AMERBANK (ITS FIRST PRESIDENT WAS JERZY KOSIŃSKI). PUBLISHED VARIOUS JAZZ MAGAZINES AND DIRECTORIES. LATER HE WENT ONLINE AND CREATED GREAT INFORMATION RESOURCES CALLED THE AMERICAN MUSIC DATABASE AND JAZZ WORLD DATABASE. JAN BYRCZEK HAS SPENT THE LAST TWO DECADES OF HIS LIFE IN KRAKÓW.
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