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LOST THIS MONTH

November 1
2004: Terry Knight/Richard Terrance Knapp (61) US rock and roll music producer, promoter, singer, songwriter and radio personality and manager of Grand Funk Railroad. He also founded and fronted The Pack. Between 1970-72, he was the most successful, and controversial, promoter in the rock business, racking up an unprecedented eight gold albums while simultaneously waging a war of words with Rolling Stone.(murdered, found stabbed to death in his apartment in Temple, Texas) b. April 9th 1943.
2004: Mac Dre/Andre Hicks (34) American gangsta rap artist (shot to death while returning to his hotel after a performance in Kansas City, Missouri).
2005: Skitch Henderson/Lyle Russell Cedric Henderson (87) Bandleader, founder of New York Pops Orchestra; he succeeded Toscanini as music director for NBC Television and was the original conductor of the orchestras for The Tonight Show and The Today Show ().
2008: Yma Sumac (86) Peruvian soprano; one of the most famous proponents of exotica music and became an international success, based on the merits of her extreme vocal range, claimed to span four and even five octaves at her peak (cancer) b. September 13th 1922.
2008: Nathaniel Mayer (64) American rhythm & blues singer who started his career in the early 1960s at Fortune Records in Detroit, Michigan. He had a raw, highly energetic vocal style and wild stage show. After a 35 year absence from music, in 2002 Mayer began recording and touring again, realeasing albums with Fat Possum, Alive Records and Norton Records. (stroke) b. February 10th 1944.
2008: Jimmy Carl Black/James Inkanish Jr (70) American Cheyenne drummer, vocalist and founding member of the Mothers of Invention; he worked as a guest vocalist with Muffin Men, with Jon Larsen on the surrealistic Strange News From Mars project, featuring several other Zappa alumni, such as Tommy Mars, Bruce Fowler, Arthur Barrow and several of his own bands (lung cancer) b. February 1st 1938.

November 2
1887: Jenny Lind (67) Swedish singer often known as the Swedish Nightingale; She is known for her performances in soprano roles in Sweden and Europe, as well as for an extraordinarily popular tour of America beginning in 1850, and for her philanthropic work. After years of world tours she retired to UK (she died at Wynd's Point, behind the Little Malvern Priory, and is buried in the Great Malvern Cemetery, Worcestershire, UK) b. October 6th 1820.
1966: Mississippi John Smith Hurt (74) US blues singer and guitarist; his first releases had coincided with the Great Depression, his later career could hardly have been better timed. A stellar performance at the 1963 Newport Folk Festival saw his star rise amongst the new "folk revival" audience. He played extensively in colleges, concert halls, coffee houses and the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, as well as recording three further albums. His influence spans several music genres including blues, country, bluegrass, folk and contemporary rock and roll (?) b. March 8th 1892.(date on his grave stone)
1996: Eva Cassidy (33) US vocalist known for her interpretations of jazz, blues, folk, gospel, country and pop classics. She released her first album "The Other Side", a set of duets with Chuck Brown in 1992 followed by a live solo album "Live at Blues Alley" in 1996. Sadly she was virtually unknown outside of her native Washington DC at the time of her death. (melanoma) b. February 2nd 1963.
2007: Witold "Vitek" Kieltyka (23) Polish drummer and percussionist for the technical death metal band Decapitated. He had been with the band ever since it was founded in 1996, when he was only twelve years of age. He also did work for the heavy metal bands Dies Irae and Panzer X. (Their tour bus collided with a truck carrying wood, he died from serious head injuries) b. January 24th 1984

November 3
1964: John Henry Barbee (58) US blues guitarist, singer; Sunnyland Slim, other bands and solo. Well known for being an amazing storyteller (involved in an auto accident and suffered a heart attack while in jail waiting for the case to come to court).
1990: Mary Martin (76) US actress, singer; she was a Tony Award winning American star of (mainly stage) musicals. Amongst the roles originally created by her were those of Nellie Forbush in South Pacific and Maria in The Sound of Music. (colon cancer).
1991: Mort Shuman (55) US singer, pianist and songwriter; on his own or teamed with songwriting partner Doc Pomus, his songs were recorded by artists such as Dion, Andy Williams, Bobby Darin, Fabian, The Drifters, and Elvis Presley, among others, most famous songs include "A Teenager in Love", "Turn Me Loose", "This Magic Moment", "Save The Last Dance For Me", "Little Sister", "Can't Get Used to Losing You", "His Latest Flame" and "Viva Las Vegas" (complications due to a liver operation).
2002: Lonnie Donegan (71) UK singer, guitar, banjo, songwriter who launched the skiffle craze in the UK, sometimes called the King of Skiffle, he was a large influence on the generation of British musicians who became famous in the 1960s.(heart problems).
2004: Joe Bushkin (87) World renowned jazz pianist, composer; Over the course of his seven-decade career, Bushkin accompanied the Bunny Berigan Boys, Eddie Condon, Muggsy Spanier, Louis Armstrong, Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, Judy Garland and many more. (pneumonia).
2006: Paul Mauriat (81) French conductor, arranger; a classically trained musician who decided to pursue a career in popular music. His first major success came in 1962, as a co-writer of the European hit "Chariot." ().

November 4
1931: Buddy Bolden/King Bolden (53) New Orleans jazzman and cornet player; the first New Orleans jazz musician to come to prominence, the first important name in jazz history, Bolden's career has long been buried in legend (diagnosed of schizophrenia, he was admitted to a mental institution in 1907, where he remained completely forgotten for his final 24 years).
1969: Ivory "Deek" Watson (60) Lead singer of the original Ink Spots. Later formed his own group, The the Brown Dots ().
1994: Fred Sonic Smith (45) US guitar player; co-founder of the legendary MC5 (heart failure).
2004: Robert Heaton (43) UK drummer with the punk band New Model Army (pancreatic cancer).
2008: Jheryl Busby (59) American record executive; First worked at Stax Records as head of West Coast promotion and marketing. Moved to Motown Records in 1988 as the company's President & CEO. He fostered the growth of younger talent, including Another Bad Creation, Boyz II Men and Johnny Gill. In early 1989, he was able to sign Diana Ross back to Motown and he retained artists such as Lionel Richie, Smokey Robinson and Stevie Wonder. When Polygram Records bought Motown he was retained as president. Jheryl was appointed head of the black music division at DreamWorks Records in 1998 till 2001. He was named president of Def Soul Classics in 2004. He also created Umbrella Recordings with producer Mike City (Found dead in the hot tub of his home in Malibu, cause not yet known) b. 1949
2008: Byron Lee (73) Jamaican musician and record producer; best known for his work as leader of Byron Lee and the Dragonaires, they turned professional in 1956 and went on to become one of Jamaica's leading ska bands, continuing since and taking in other genres such as calypso, Soca, and Mas. He also purchased the West Indies Records Limited (WIRL) recording studios, renaming it Dynamic Sounds it soon became one of the best-equipped studios in the Caribbean, attracting both local and international recording artists, including Paul Simon and The Rolling Stones (bladder cancer) b. June 27 1935.

November 5
1942: George M. Cohan (64) American musician, actor, writer, composer (abdominal cancer).
1954: Oran 'Hot Lips' Page (47) singer, trumpeter; leader of Kansas City Jazz Band/Walter Page's Blue Devils/Artie Shaws band/freelance; one of the great swing trumpeters in addition to being a talented blues vocalist (?).
1956: Arthur "Art" Tatum, Jr. (47) American jazz pianist (complications of uraemia as a result of kidney failure).
1960: Johnny Horton (35) US country & western singer; was one of the best and most popular honky tonk singers of the late '50s, managing to infuse honky tonk with an urgent rockabilly underpinning. His career may have been cut short by a fatal car crash in 1960, but his music reverberated throughout the next three decades. (car crash).
1964: Buddy Cole (47) US jazz pianist and bandleader; played behind a number of pop singers, including Rosemary Clooney, Jill Corey, and The Four Lads (heart attacks).
1967: Robert Lee McCollum/Robert Lee McCoy/Robert Nighthawk (57) US guitarist & slide guitarist (heart attack).
1970: Albert Ayler (34) American jazz saxophonist, singer and composer (It is said November 5, 1970, he took the ferry to the Statue of Liberty and jumped off as the boat neared Liberty Island.He was found dead in New York City's East River on November 25, a presumed suicide. Rumors circulated that he had been murdered, possibly due to his involvement in the black power movement. There was no autopsy).
1986: Billy Nunn (61) lead and bass singer in The Coasters/his own Coasters (heart failure)?
1989: Vladimir Horowitz (86) Ukrainian pianist of world wide fame, he married Wanda Toscanini (he died in New York of a heart attack and was buried in the Toscanini family tomb in Cimitero Monumentale, Milan, Italy).
1989: Lucius "Lu" Watters (77) trumpeter and bandleader in the "West Coast revival" of Dixieland music. This is relational to trad jazz as the musicians tended to be white and had little or no actual connections to New Orleans (?)
2002: Billy Guy/Frank William Phillips (66) US singer comedy singer but better known for being lead singer and baritone singer with The Coasters (?)
2003: Bobby Lee Hatfield (63) singer, one half of the duo The Righteous Brothers. (He was found dead in hotel room in Michigan 30 minutes before he was due on stage, an overdose of cocaine had precipitated a fatal heart attack).
2005: Frederick Lincoln "Link" Wray (76) singer, guitarist; inspired Bob Dylan, Marc Bolan, Pete Townsend, Bruce Springsteen, countless others, credited with inventing 'fuzz' guitar after punching a hole in a speaker (heart failure).

November 6
1672: Heinrich Schütz (87) worked most of Europe, including in the court of Prince Christian of Denmark and the court of Prince Johann Georg (stroke)
1893: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (53) Russia composer, pianist of often dramatic, richly expressive works, including the symphony Romeo and Juliet, the ballets Swan Lake and The Nutcracker, and the opera Eugene Onegin.(cholera)
1965: Clarence Williams (67) jazz pianist, composer, promoter, theatrical producer ().
1968: Charles Munch (77) French conductor and violinist; In 1967 he founded the Orchestre de Paris. (He died in Richmond, Virginia the following year, while on an American tour with them).
1972: Billy Murcia (21) drummer, New York Dolls (died after choking on coffee after an overdose of Mandrax and alcohol, while on a UK tour).
1987: Zohar Argov (32) popular Israeli oriental Mizrahi style singer (committed suicide by hanging himself in his jail cell after he was arrested for the attempted rape of a woman).
1997: Epick Soundtracks/Kevin Paul Godfrey (37) piano, drums, singer, songwriter; The Swell Maps/Crime and the City Solution/solo. Although working with many heavy bands, his solo records came closest to representing his personality, soft-spoken and rumpled, with a dry humor (died in his sleep, suicide was suspected).
2005: Minako Honda (38) Japanese singer and musical actress; She got famous and popular known as "Japan's Madonna" (complications from myelocytic leukemia).
2006: Jance Garfat (62) US bassist in the pop-country rock band Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show, later named Dr.Hook, from 1972 till they disbanded in 1985. At the height of their success Dr Hook were top of the charts in 42 countries, they amassed 60 gold and platinum singles and albums. (tragically killed in a motorcycle accident, while swirving to avoid a dog in Oakland, Ca).
2007: Hank Thompson (82) American country music singer and songwriter whose career spanned seven decades. He sold over 60 million records worldwide. His musical style, characterized as Honky Tonk Swing, was a mixture of fiddles, electric guitar and steel guitar that featured his distinctive, gravelly baritone vocals.(lung cancer).
2007: George Osmond (90) US patriarch of the Osmond singing family (natural causes).
2007: Jimmy Staggs (72) American radio disk jockey; a longtime Chicago, USA radio disc jockey and record store owner.(esophageal cancer)

November 7
1960: A.P. Carter/Alvin Pleasant Delaney Carter (68) Country musician; despite dying in relative obscurity, A. P. Carter was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970. In 1993, his image appeared on a U.S. postage stamp honoring the Carter Family. In 2001 he was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor.()
1964: Jasper Taylor (70) American drummer; Young Buffalo Bill's Wild West show/ Original Washboard Band; he joined the military during World War I and served in France with the 365th Infantry Band. The 365th Infantry were nicknamed the "Buffalo Soldiers," the enlisted personnel were almost entirely African-American soldiers from Texas and Oklahoma. In the early 1920s he went to Chicago and worked with the greats ()
1994: Shorty Rogers/Milton Rajonsky (70) American jazz musician; one of the principal creators of West Coast jazz. He played both the trumpet and flugelhorn, and was in demand for his skills as an arranger (fell ill in the early 1990s and died during KLON's West Coast Jazz festival).
2004: Howard Keel/Harry Clifford Leek (85) US singer, actor; starred in many of the classic film musicals of the 1950s, such as Oklahoma and Carousel.(colon cancer)
2008: Jody Reynolds/Ralph Joseph Reynolds (75) American singer and guitarist; he released 13 singles inthe 60' & 70s, his biggest hit single was 1958's "Endless Sleep" which reached #5 in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart (liver cancer) b. December 3rd 1932.

November 8
1999: Lester Bowie (58) US jazz trumpet player and composer; member of the AACM, he cofounded the Art Ensemble of Chicago remaining a member for the rest of his life. He was also a member of Jack DeJohnette's New Directions quartet and played and recorded with Fela Kuti. (died of liver cancer, the following year he was inducted into the Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame) b. Oct 11th 1941
2003: Guy Speranza (47) US singer; best known as New York-based metal band Riot's original frontman, from 1976-1981. He sung on their first tree albums, 1977's Rock City, 1979's Narita and 1981's Fire Down Under, before leaving the band in 1981. (Pancreatic cancer) b. 1956
2006: Basil Poledouris (61) Greek-American film score composer; his score for Conan the Barbarian is considered by many to be one of the finest examples of motion picture scoring ever written. In 1996 he scored the "The Tradition of the Games" for the Atlanta Olympics Opening Ceremony that accompanied the memorable dance tribute to the athletes and goddesses of victory of the ancient Greek Olympics using silhouette imagery (complications from cancer) b. August 21st 1945

November 9
1951: Sigmund Romberg (64) Hungarian operetta composer; Columbia Records asked him to conduct orchestral arrangements of his music (which he had played in concerts) for a series of recordings from 1945 to 1950 that were issued both on 78-rpm and 33-1/3 rpm discs. These performances are now prized by record collectors (died in New York City)*July 29th 1887.
1968: Jan Johansson (37) Swedish jazz pianist; sadly he is little known outside Scandinavia, and his records are not widely available, though Jazz på svenska (Jazz in Swedish) has sold more than a quarter of a million copies, and is the best selling jazz release ever in Sweden. (died in a car crash on his way to a concert) b. September 16th 1931.
1999: Herb Abramson (82) US record producer; he produced such performers as Billy Eckstineat, Joe Turner and The Ravens at National Records and founded his first record company Jubilee Records in 1946 with Jerry Blaine producing jazz, R&B and Gospel recordings, he went on to co-found Atlantic records; In 1998 he received the Pioneer Award from the Rhythm & Blues Foundation (?) b. Nov 16 1916.
2003: Davey Goldsworthy (40) UK singer and guitarist and founer member of the Chesterfields, the English indie pop band (killed by a hit & run driver in Oxford, UK) b. 1960

November 10
1973: David "Stringbean" Akeman (57) American banjo player and comedy musician best known for his role on the hit television show, Hee Haw. He is one of the most celebrated performers of "old-time" banjo playing, also called "clawhammer" or "frailing", and he is listed along with Uncle Dave Macon, Grandpa Jones, and Ralph Stanley, as among the great old-time style banjo players (the Akemans returned home after performing a show at the Grand Ole Opry, and were shot dead upon their arrival. Thieves had lain in wait for hours. The Akemans' bodies were discovered the following morning by neighbour and fellow performer, Grandpa Jones aka Louis Marshall Jones) b. June 17th 1916.
1994: Carmen Mercedes McRae (74) US jazz singer, pianist; worked with Count Basie, Mercer Ellington, also a solo artist and was considered one of the most influential jazz vocalists of the 20th century. Drawing inspiration from Billie Holiday, she established her own distinctive voice, she recorded over 60 albums during her career (emphysema) b. April 8th 1920.
1997: Tommy Tedesco (67) American master session musician and renowned jazz and bebop guitarist; described as the most recorded guitarist in history, having played on thousands of recordings, including the Beach Boys, Everly Brothers, The Association, Barbra Streisand, Elvis Presley, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Zappa, Sam Cooke, Cher, and Nancy and Frank Sinatra. TV themes include Bonanza, The Twilight Zone, Green Acres, M*A*S*H, Batman, and Elvis Presley's '68 Comeback Special. Film soundtracks include The French Connection, The Godfather, Jaws, The Deer Hunter, Field of Dreams, plus several Elvis Presley films. He was also the guitarist for the Original Roxy cast of The Rocky Horror Show. He was one of the very few sidemen credited for work on animated cartoons for the The Ant and the Aardvark cartoons (Heart disease) b. July 3rd 1930.
2002: Johnny Griffith (67) US keyboardist, member of the Motown Funk Brother house band; played the Steinway grand piano, the Hammond B-3 organ, the Wurlitzer electric piano, the Fender Rhodes, and the celeste and harpsichord. Among the hundreds of Motown recordings he played on are "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" by Marvin Gaye, "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)" by Four Tops, and "Stop! In the Name of Love" by The Supremes (?) b. July 10th 1936.
2004: Katy de la Cruz (97) Leading Filipino singer who specialized in jazz vocals and torch songs in a performing career that lasted eight decades. Hailed as "The Queen of Filipino Jazz" and as "The Queen of Bodabil", she was, by the age of 18, the highest paid entertainer in the Philippines, ill health caused her to retire from public life in the 1990s (?) b. February 13th 1907.
2006: Gerald LeVert (40) US R&B soul baritone singer; He was the most sensual, powerful baritone R&B singer of his generation. He sang with his brother, Sean Levert, and friend Marc Gordon in the R&B trio LeVert. He was also a part of LSG, an R&B musical group as well as recording solo (died at home in his sleep of a sudden, unexpected heart attack) b. July 13th 1966.
2008: Miriam Makeba (76) South African singer and civil rights activist often referred to as Mama Afrika. When in London she met Harry Belafonte, who assisted her in gaining entry to and fame in the United States. She released many of her most famous hits there including "Pata Pata", "The Click Song" ("Qongqothwane" in Xhosa), and "Malaika". In 1966, she received the Grammy Award for Best Folk Recording together with Harry Belafonte for An Evening With Belafonte/Makeba. The album dealt with the political plight of black South Africans under apartheid. (heart attack) b. March 4th 1932.

November 11
1972: Berry Oakley (24) American bassist and one of the founding members of The Allman Brothers Band. He was known for his long, melodic bass runs underneath Duane Allman and Dicky Betts' furious guitar soloing. "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed" and "Whipping Post" from the At Fillmore East live album capture Oakley at his best (died in a motorcycle accident at the same intersection as his friend and former band member Duane Allman, who had died a year earlier) b. April 4th 1948.
1977: Greta Keller (74) Austrian cabaret singer and actress; For over 45 years, her voice a legend-in radio shows, films, revues, concerts and musicals, but above all her records circled the globe. First called 'The Great Lady Of Chanson' in her native Vienna, it followed her to London and America. Her voice featured in the Oscar-winning movie, Cabaret, singing the song, "Heirat", she also appeared on Stage with Marlene Dietrich in "Broadway", in which she sang and danced. (?) b. February 8th 1903.
1993: Erskine Hawkins (79) US trumpet player and big band leader; dubbed "The 20th Century Gabriel". He is most remembered as the composer of the jazz standard, "Tuxedo Junction" (1939), which became a popular hit during World War II. In 1978 he became one of the first five artists inducted into the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame (?) b. July 26th 1914.
1998: Paddy Clancy (76) Irish folk singer best known as a member of the group The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem. The group achieved phenomenal success in America after an appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show" which led to a contract with Columbia Records. They performed together for about eight years until Makem left the group to pursue a solo career in 1969. (cancer) b. March 7th 1922.
2004: Pete Jolly/Peter Ceragioli Jr (72) US jazz keyboardist, accordionist, pianist; best known for his performance of various television themes, his music can be heard on television programs such as Get Smart, The Love Boat, I Spy, Mannix, M*A*S*H, and Dallas, as well as hundreds of movie soundtracks. With the Pete Jolly Trio, and also as a solo artist, he recorded several albums, the last in 2000, a collaboration with Jan Lundgren. He also worked with other notable jazz artists, including Art Pepper, Buddy DeFranco, and Red Norvo, and for many years with EZ music arranger and director Ray Conniff.
(complications of bone marrow cancer) b. June 4th 1932.
2007: John Petersen (62) US drummer with The Beau Brummels and Harpers Bizarre. In late 1966, he left the Beau Brummels for the Tikis, who were in the process of changing their name to Harpers Bizarre. He went on to become a successful producer (heart attack) b. January 8th 1945.

November 12
1983: Preston Jackson/James Preston McDonald (81) American trombonist; played and-or recorded with Tig Chambers, Al Simone, Eli Rice, and Art Sims, Bernie Young and his Creole Jazz Band, Richard M. Jones, Dave Peyton, Erskine Tate, Benny Waters, Louis Armstrong, Half Pint Jaxon, Carroll Dickerson, Jimmy Bell, Jimmie Noone, Roy Eldridge, Walter Barnes, Johnny Long, Johnny Dodds and Zilner Randolph's W.P.A. Band among others as well as having his own band (?) b. January 3rd 1902.
2003: Tony Thompson (48) International session drummer with Rod Stewart, David Bowey, Diana Ross, Debbie Harry, Sister Sledge, Mick Jagger & manymore. He is best known for his work with Chic. In 2005 Tony and the Chic band members were inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame.(died within a month of being diagnosed with kidney cancer, just 3 days before his 49th birthday) b. November 15th 1954.
2008: Mitch Mitchell (61) UK drummer of the legendary Jimi Hendrix Experience, was the last surviving member of the power trio which proved one of the most influential bands in the history of rock music. As well as playing in the Jimi Hendrix Experience and he played and/or recorded with the likes of Martha Velez, Junior Brown, Greg Parker, Bruce Cameron, Roger Chapman, Billy Cox, Buddy Miles, Jack Bruce among others (He had just finished an eighteen city, coast to coast tour across American, and was due to fly back home to the UK, but was found dead that morning in his hotel bedroom at Portland, Oregon, USA. Officals say he died of natural causes) b. July 9th 1947.

November 13
1967: Harriet Cohen CBE (61) UK pianist particularly associated with J. S. Bach's music: a few composers wrote music specifically for her, particularly Sir Arnold Bax (her lover) who wrote most of his piano pieces for her, including music for David Lean's 1948 film version of Oliver Twist. He also composed Concertino for Left Hand for her after she lost the use of her right hand in 1948. The Harriet Cohen International Music Award was introduced in her honour in 1951 (?).
1973: Jerry Lee Lewis Jr (19) US drummer in his father's band (car accident)
1987: Harold Vick (51) US hard bop and soul jazz saxophonist and flautist probably better known for his work with musicians like Grant Green, Jack McDuff, Jimmy McGriff, Shirley Scott, and a host of others (?).
1992: Ronnie Bond (49) UK drummer; The Troggs ()
1996: Bill Doggett (80) US pianist; created one of rock's greatest instrumental tracks "Honky Tonk" (heart attack)
2002: "Sir" Roland P. Hanna (70) jazz pianist; a style diverse enough to fit into swing, bop, and more adventurous settings. He was given knighthood, thus the "Sir", from the President of Liberia in 1970 in recognition for a series of concerts held to benefit Liberian children. (hear attack)
2004: John Balance (42) UK musician and artist; he was the founder and half of the experimental music group Coil. He was responsible for vocals, lyrics, chants, synthetics and various esoteric sound-making instruments and devices (lost his balance & tipped over the banisters at his home while under the influence of alcohol)
2004: Ol' Dirty Bastard /Russell Tyrone Jones (35) US rap artist with Wu-Tang Clan (collapsed and died at a Manhattan recording studio in New York after complaining of chest pain)
2007: Erik Kurmangaliev (47) Russian-Kazakh opera singer, actor and a leading public figure in Russia's perestroika music scene.; debuted in 1980 at the Leningrad Philharmonia. He later performed in Alfred Shnitke's Second Symphony and "Dr. Faust" cantata during his career. His career reached his peak when he teamed up with director Roman Viktyuk in the early 1990s, when he appeared in the Russian language version of David Hwang's M. Butterfly. He made his last appearance in film appearance in Rustam Khamdanov's "Vocal Parallels" (liver infection) b. December 31st 1959

November 14
1873: Carl Flesch (71) Hungarian violinist,teacher; He published a number of instructional books, including the 1923 'Die Kunst des Violin-Spiels' (he died in Lucerne)
1968: Hilton Jefferson (65) banjoist, jazz alto sax; working for the big bands of Chick Webb, Fletcher Henderson, McKinney's Cotton Pickers and Duke Ellington (?)
1992: George Rufus Adams (52) US jazz musician who played tenor saxophone, flute and bass clarinet. He was also known for his idiosyncratic singing. He is best known for his work with Charles Mingus, Gil Evans, Roy Haynes and in the quartet he co-led with pianist Don Pullen (?).
1992: Theodore Riley (68) jazz trumpet player and bandleader; worked with Fats Domino, Champion Jack Dupree, The Dookie Chase Orchestra, Roy Brown's Band, The Olympia Brass Band, The Williams Brass Band, and The Royal Brass Band ()
2004: Gene Anthony Ray (41) actor, dancer, singer; 'Leroy' in the film & TV's Fame (stroke/aids)
2007: Bud Mills (40) US drummer for death metal band Insanity; he created the 1-1 drum beat that was faster than the fastest thrash beat used at the time. (esophageal cancer)

November 15
1987: Ray Pablo Falconer (26) UK Reggae producer in the 1970s and 1980s. Brother to Earl Falconer from UB40, he produced most of singles and albums for that band. (car crash) b. ???
1991: Jacques Morali (45) French music producer, who is best remembered for being the creator and driving force behind the disco group, Village People. Also between 1974 and 1982 he wrote, co-wrote and produced over 65 albums, including hits like "Brazil", "The Best Disco In Town", "Life Is Music", "African Queens", "Quiet Village" and "American Generation" (aids) b. July 4th 1947.
1997: Saul Chaplin (85) American composer and musical director; he worked on stage, screen and television since the days of Tin Pan Alley. In film, he won four Oscars for collaborating on the scores and orchestrations of An American in Paris, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and West Side Story as well as a nomination for High Society. Other films included Can-Can, I Could Go On Singing, The Sound of Music, STAR!, Man of La Mancha and That's Entertainment and the list goes on (suffered a bad fall and died as a result of his injuries) b. February 19th 1912.
2003: Wesley Webb "Speedy" West (79) Country Music Hall of Fame US pedal steel guitarist and record producer. Top session player until a stroke left him partilly paralized in 1981, just between 1950 and 1955 alone, he played on over 6,000 recordings with a total of 177 different artists, including Frankie Laine, Jo Stafford, and Paul Weston's Orchestra, Billy May's Orchestra, Betty Hutton, Helen O'Connell, Doris Day, Johnnie Ray, Ella Mae Morse, Spike Jones, Jean Shepard, Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra and many others. (long term heart problems) b. January 25th 1924.

November 16
1978: Jimmy Nottingham (52) American big band trumpeter, Flugelhorn; his first pro job was with Cecil Payne in 1943. Also played with Willie Smith, Charlie Barnet, Lucky Millinder, Count Basie and Herbie Fields. While working for CBS for over 20 years he played jazz in his spare time with Budd Johnson, Oliver Nelson, Dizzy Gillespie, Benny Goodman, Thad Jones/Mel Lewis, and Clark Terry (?) b. Dec 15th 1925
1982: Al Haig (58) Freelance US jazz pianist; started out playing with Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker in 1944, and performed with Eddie Davis and His Beboppers, the Eddie Davis Quintet, Stan Getz, he was part of the celebrated nonet on the first session of Miles Davis' Birth of the Cool. He was known for his distinctive and pioneering bebop style (?) b. July 19th 1924.
1984: Vic Dickenson (78) African-American jazz trombonist. His career started out in the 1920s and led him through musical associations with such legends as Jimmy Rushing, Coleman Hawkins, Count Basie, Sidney Bechet, Earl Hines, Pee Wee Russell, Benny Carter, Lester Young, Roy Eldridge, Gerry Mulligan, Billie Holliday. At one time he was a member of "The World's Greatest Jazz Band," which was the house band at The Roosevelt Grill in NYC. Also a soloist of wide acclaim known for the distinctive sound he coaxed out of the trombone (Died in New York) b. August 6th 1906
1994: Chester "Chet" William Powers, Jr /Dino Valente/Jesse Oris Farrow (56) US singer, guitarist and songwriter. In the early 1960s he went under the name of Dino Valente, and while involved in the Greenwich Village folk music scene, he wrote "Get Together", a quintessential 1960s love-and-peace anthem. Moving west, he became a member of the band Big Sur and the San Francisco psychedelic rock group Quicksilver Messenger Service (died in Santa Rosa, California) b. November 7th 1943.
1999: Grady Owen (?) US guitarist and singer - songwriter; a one time member of Gene Vincent & The Blue Caps after which he worked solo and with a number of other acts, including Johnny Carroll, Howard Reed and the Levee Singers. Several of his songs have been recorded by Sonny James and other singers. Gene Vincent recorded some of Grady's songs, including "Lovely Loretta," Grady himself can be heard singing one of his own song's "I Don't Feel Like Rockin' Tonight" on the recently released album "Gene Vincent -- the lost Dallas Sessions," from Dragon Street Records (?) b. ??
2000: Russ Conway/Trevor Stanford (75) English pop music pianist, composer; his piano instrumentals dominated the UK Singles Chart during 1959, including two number one hits. He maintained a chart presence in the early 1960s, and was a fixture on light entertainment TV shows and radio for many years afterwards.He wrote the music for the West End musical "Mr Venus" but his career was blighted by ill-health, and his later life was notable for charity work. (cancer) b. September 2nd 1925.
2000: Joe C/Joseph Calleja (26) American rapper who became popular as part of Kid Rock's band.He was first featured on the demo "Cool Daddy Cool" in 1995. He also appeared on television, including a guest role on The Simpsons and as a celebrity deathmatch competitor on MTV's Celebrity Deathmatch in 2000. In his songs he claims to be "3 foot 9 with a 10 foot dick". (He suffered and died from the effects of a digestive condition called Celiac disease, which caused him constant pain and his stunted growth, he died in his sleep) b. November 9th 1974.
2000: DJ Screw/Robert Earl Davis, Jr (29) US, DJ, and hiphop rapper with Screwed Up Click; was a central figure in the Houston hip hop scene. His innovation included the trademark technique of slowing down the basic tracks of a cut when he remixed it. This process is called "screwing" a song. Slowing down the song was supposed to recreate the effect of recreationally using Promethazine with Codeine . (died of a heart attack. His cause of death was rumored to be either a codeine overdose or the result of long-term buildup of codeine in his system. However, Screwed Up Click member Z-Ro stated that Screw's death came from someone putting methamphetamine into his codeine, and he believes that it was someone very close to the Click who sabotaged him) b. July 22nd 1971.
2001: Tommy Flanagan (71) US jazz pianist particularly remembered as an accompanist of Ella Fitzgerald. He played on a number of critically acclaimed recordings, such as John Coltrane's Giant Steps, Sonny Rollins' Saxophone Colossus, The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery, Art Pepper's Straight Life. During his career, he was nominated for four Grammy Awards, two for Best Jazz Performance as a Group and two for Best Jazz Performance ~ Soloist (arterial aneurysm). b. March 16th 1930
2007: Grethe Kausland (60) Norwegian singer and performer; as a child star she was one of Norway's most popular singers, her debut single “Teddyen min” from 1955, sold more than 100 000 records . Sung and performed on stage,TV and films throughout her life (lung cancer) b. July 3rd 1947.

November 17
1979: John Glascock (28) English bass player and electric guitarist with The Juniors, Head Medicine, The Gods, Toe Fat, Chicken Shack, Carmen, his last band being Jethro Tull. He played on the Jethro Tull albums Too Old to Rock 'n' Roll: Too Young to Die!, Songs from the Wood, Heavy Horses, Live - Bursting Out, and Stormwatch (congenital heart defect) b. May 2nd 1951
1981: Bob Eberly (65) US big band singer and was the brother of another well-known big-band singer, Ray Eberle. He is known for singing with Jimmy Dorsey's band and is most well-known for singing "Green Eyes". (?) b. July 24th 1916.
1987: Irene Wicker/The Singing Lady (80) US singer and actress; The Kellogg Company sponsored "The Singing Lady," beginning in 1931. The show was billed as the nation's first radio network program for children. The show itself was always hosted by Irene Wicker, who was known for her melodic and soothing voice (?) b. ???
1995: Alan Hull (50) English lead singer, songwriter and founding member of the Tyneside folk rock band, Lindisfarne, he also played rhythm guitar and keyboards. He was hailed as the most innovative songwriter since Bob Dylan. His most famous songs include "Lady Eleanor", "Fog on the Tyne", and "Run for Home" (died suddenly of what was determined to be a heart thrombosis) b. February 20th 1945.
2001: Michael Karoli (53) German guitarist, violinist and composer. He was a founding member of the influential krautrock band Can. His main role was that of the guitarist, later also providing vocals. He was a constant member of the band, playing with it between 1968 and its break-up in 1979. He also joined the band for its two reunions, in 1986 and 1991 (cancer) b. April 29th 1948.
2003: Arthur Conley (57) US horn player, vocalist, songwriter; Arthur & the Corvets/solo; well known for the 1967 hit, "Sweet Soul Music". It shot to the number two spot on both the pop and R&B charts, earning Conley the number eleven male artist ranking for 1967. The song paid homage to other soul singers like Lou Rawls, Wilson Pickett and James Brown.(died in Ruurlo, The Netherlands after a long battle with intestinal cancer) b. January 4th 1946.
2003: Don Gibson (75) American songwriter and country musician. A Country Music Hall of Fame inductee, Gibson penned and recorded such country standards as "Oh Lonesome Me", "Blue Blue Day", "Sweet Dreams" and "I Can't Stop Loving You" and enjoyed a string of country hits from 1957 into the early 1970's. He was nicknamed "The Sad Poet," because he frequently wrote songs that told of loneliness and lost love. was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1973, and in 2001, he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame (natural causes) b. April 3rd 1928.
2006: Ruth Brown (78) US blues singer; known as "Queen Mother of the Blues", you can hear her influence in everyone from Little Richard to Etta James, Aretha Franklin, Janis Joplin and in today's divas like Christina Aguilera. A series of hit songs for fledgling Atlantic Records in the 1950s, such as "So Long", "Teardrops from My Eyes" and "(Mama) He Treats Your Daughter Mean." For these contributions, Atlantic became known as "The house that Ruth built". She used her influence to press for musicians' rights regarding royalties and contracts, which led to the founding of the Rhythm and Blues Foundation. Her performances in the Broadway musical Black and Blue earned Brown a Tony Award, and the original soundtrack won a Grammy Award. (stroke and heart attack) b. January 12th 1928
2007: Hy Lit/Hyman Litsky (73) American radio disc jockey; Philadelphia-area DJ since the 1950s, with WIBG-AM, WDAS-AM/FM, WKBS-TV, WSNI/WPGR. He also hosted the nationally syndicated "Hy Lit Show," from WKBS-TV in Philadelphia which aired in more than 30 markets nationwide (suffered with Parkinson's disease, but died of kidney and heart failure at Paoli Memorial Hospital from what his son termed "bizarre complications" after a knee injury) b. May 20th 1934.

November 18
1971: Herman 'Junior' Parker (39) American blues singer and harmonica player also known as Little Junior Parker or "Mr Blues"; he is best remembered for his unique voice which has been described as "honeyed," and "velvet-smooth". He was posthumously inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2001. His biggest influence as a harmonica player was Sonny Boy Williamson, with whom he worked before moving on to work for Howlin' Wolf in. He was also a member of Memphis's ad hoc group, the Beale Streeters, with Bobby 'Blue' Bland and B.B. King (died after a series of brain operations) b. May 27 1932.
1994: Cabell "Cab" Calloway III (86) US jazz singer, bandleader; one of the great entertainers, a household name by 1932, and never really declined in fame. A talented jazz singer and a superior scatter, his gyrations and showmanship on-stage at the Cotton Club sometimes overshadowed the quality of his always excellent bands. Calloway's Orchestra featured performers that included trumpeters Dizzy Gillespie and Adolphus "Doc" Cheatham, saxophonists Ben Webster and Leon "Chu" Berry, New Orleans guitar ace Danny Barker, and bassist Milt Hinton. He continued to perform until his death (died after having suffered a major stroke six months previously) b. December 25th 1907
1999: Doug Sahm (57) US musician, proficient on dozens of musical instruments; he was a child prodigy in country music, but became a significant figure in blues, rock and other genres, he is said to have been offered a permanent spot on the Grand Ole Opry, but his mother wanted him to finish junior high. Today he is considered one of the most important figures in what is identified as Tex-Mex. He was the founder and leader of the 1960s hippie band The Sir Douglas Quintet, and later with Augie Meyers, Freddy Fender and Flaco Jimenez - The Texas Tornados (heart attack) b. November 6th 1941
2003: Michael Kamen (55) American composer, especially of film scores, orchestral arranger, orchestral conductor, song writer, and session musician.He wrote eleven ballets, a saxophone concerto, and provided scores for films such as The Dead Zone, For Queen & Country, Polyester, Brazil, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, Highlander, X-Men, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Licence to Kill, the Lethal Weapon series, the first three films of the Die Hard series, Mr. Holland's Opus, Splitting Heirs and many others. Other successes include his work with Pink Floyd, David Gilmour and Roger Waters (he is one of the few people to have been invited to work with both former Pink Floyd members, after their split), as well as Queen, Eric Clapton, Roger Daltrey, Aerosmith, Tom Petty, David Bowie, Metallica, Eurythmics, Queensrÿche, Rush, Herbie Hancock, The Cranberries, Bryan Adams, Jim Croce, Sting, and Kate Bush (heart attack) b. April 15th 1948
2007: John Hughey (73) US pedal steel guitar player, credited with developing the "crying sound" steel guitar technique; over 20 years with Conway Twitty, 12 years with Vince Gill and recorded with Elvis Presley, Willie Nelson, Marty Stuart and around 140 others (heart complications) b. Dec 27th 1933
2007: Chickie Williams/Jessie Wanda Crupe (88) US country music singer and wife of Doc Williams; The Williams' were popular performers, although the couple and their band the Border Riders recorded, performed live and appeared on the radio for over five decades (?) b. 1919.

November 19
1974: George Brunies (72) American trombonist; By the age of 8 he was already playing alto horn professionally in Papa Jack Laine's band. A few years later he switched to trombone. He played with many jazz, dance, and parade bands in New Orleans. He never learned to read music, but could quickly pick up tunes and invent a part for his instrument. Moving to Chicago in the early 20's he joined a band of his New Orleans friends playing at the Friar's Inn, this was the band that became famous as the New Orleans Rhythm Kings (?) b. February 6th 1902.
1977: William "Sonny" Criss (50) American alto saxophonist; his first major break came in 1947, on a number of jam sessions arranged by jazz impresario Norman Granz. He developed his own, concise, bluesy tone and then went on to play in various bands including Buddy Rich's band and Howard McGhee's, which also featured Charlie Parker, and bands led by Johnny Otis, Stan Kenton and Billy Eckstine to mention a few (stomach cancer) b. October 23rd 1927
1983: Tom Evans (36) UK bassist, guitar, vocals, songwriter; started his music career as a member of "The Inbeateens" in 1961, he soon progressed to a Liverpool mod/soul group called Them Calderstones. In 1967, he joined a Welsh band called The Iveys who later changed their name to Badfingers (Evans & Molland argued on the telephone, reportedly about the publishing royalty of the song "Without You." Following the argument, Evans sadly hanged himself in the garden at his home in an eerie replay of fellow band mate Pete Ham's 1975 death scene) b. June 5th 1947
1992: Bobby Russell (51) American songwriter; wrote hits including "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia,"; "Used To Be" from the film The Grasshopper; and "Little Green Apples," which won him a Song of the Year Grammy Award in 1968. He also wrote and performed a major hit in 1971 about a suburban father nursing a hangover while his children raise Cain on a Saturday morning, appropriately called "Saturday Morning Confusion." (coronary artery disease) b. April 19th 1941
2003: Greg Ridley (56) UK bassist - Spooky Tooth, Humble Pie; he entered music using the name Dino, part of a local band called "Dino & the Danubes", and playing guitar and bass in other local bands before he and his friend Mike Harrison formed the V.I.P.s, which later became Spooky Tooth. He co-founded one of the first super-groups in 1969, Humble Pie which originally consisted of himself on bass, Steve Marriott former lead singer, songwriter and lead guitarist of Small Faces, Peter Frampton former lead singer and guitarist of The Herd, and seventeen-year-old drummer Jerry Shirley (pneumonia) b. October 23rd 1947.
2004: Terry Melcher (62) US singer-songwriter, record producer, and managed much of his mother Doris Day's affairs. in the early 60's he and Bruce Johnston formed the vocal duet Bruce & Terry. The duo also created another band together, The Rip Chords. He had joined Columbia Records working with The Byrds he produced their song, Turn, Turn, Turn, and helped produce Mr. Tambourine Man. He later worked with Paul Revere, Wayne Newton, Frankie Laine, Jimmy Boyd, Pat Boone, Glen Campbell, Mark Lindsay and The Mamas & The Papas. He was instrumental in signing another near-legendary L.A. band, the Rising Sons led by Taj Mahal and Ry Cooder. He earned a Golden Globe nomination for co-writing the song Kokomo with The Beach Boys.(skin cancer) b. February 8th 1942
2007: Paul Brodie (73) Canadian saxophonist with 50 albums to his credit; co-founded the World Saxophone Congress in Chicago. In 1994, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada, Canada's highest civilian honour, for having "shown true mastery of his art through his ability to reach all ages with his music."(died while undergoing heart surgery at Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto) b. April 10th 1934.
2007: Kevin DuBrow (52) American rock singer, best known as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Quiet Riot from 1973 until his death. During Quiet Riot's commercial heyday in the 1980s, he was known for his on-stage charisma, gravelly bluesy voice, and suspenders. He recorded 10 albums with his band and 4 solo albums (cocaine overdose) b. October 29th 1955

November 20
1973: Allan Sherman/Allan Copelon (48) US comedy singer, parodist, satirist, and TV producer; his biggest chart hit was a spoof of summer camp entitled "Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh," reaching #2 on the national Billboard Hot 100 chart for three weeks in late 1963. The lyrics were sung to the tune of one segment of Ponchielli's "Dance of the Hours". He released 10 albums, 2 best of's and a box set. In 1971 he was the voice of the Cat in the Hat from the television special. His last film before his death was Dr. Seuss on the Loose.(emphysema) b. November 30th 1924.
1998: Roland Alphonso/The Cheif Musician (67) Jamaican tenor saxophonist; he joined the band Clue J & The Blues Blasters and backed many sessions of Coxsone Dodd in a typical Jamaican R&B style. By 1960, he was recording for many other producers such as Duke Reid, Lloyd "The Matador" Daley and King Edwards. During this period he played in many different bands, such as The Alley Cats, The City Slickers, and Aubrey Adams & The Dew Droppers. In 1963, after few months spent in Nassau, Bahamas, he took part in the creation of The Studio One Orchestra, the first session band of the freshly opened recording studio of Coxsone. This band soon adopted the name of The Skatalites. He played on numerous records coming out from Jamaican studios, especially for Bunny Lee, and he toured with many bands. He was awarded Officer of the Order of Distinction by the Jamaican government in 1980. The Skatalites reformed in 1983, he toured and recorded with them constantly until his death (?) b. January 12th 1931.
2004: Jenny Ross (42) English keyboardist and vocals with post-punk/techno band "Section 25" best known for their classic Techno single "Looking from a Hilltop." She was also known by her married name, Jennifer Cassidy (cancer) b. 1962
2005: James King (80) American singer, widely regarded as the finest American heldentenor of the post-war period. He started singing as a baritone, as a tenor he won the American Opera Auditions in Cincinnati in 1961 and made his debut as Don Jose in Bizet's Carmen with the San Francisco Opera. He sang the French and Italian repertoire with the Deutsche Oper Berlin from 1962 to 1965 and world-wide at most of the major opera houses, being a particular favorite at the Vienna State Opera, where he last appeared as Florestan in Beethoven's Fidelio, in 1997 (heart attack) b. May 22nd 1925.
2005: Chris Whitley (45) US guitarist, because of his unique style of playing, he used many alternate tunings for his guitars. He appeared in the concert film documentary Hellhounds on my Trail - The Afterlife of Robert Johnson. As well as his solo work he has also recorded with Shawn Colvin, Cassandra Wilson, Rob Wasserman, Little Jimmy Scott, Mike Watt, Johnny Society, Joe Henry, Michael Shrieve, Chocolate Genius, DJ Logic, Ely Guerra, Goat, Dave Pirner (of Soul Asylum), Clint Mansell and Jeff Lang (lung cancer) b. August 31st 1960
2007: Ernest 'Doc' Paulin (100) American jazz trumpet player with the Paulin Brass Band and played with such greats as Kid Ory, Danny Barker, Papa Celestine and Harold Dejean, to name a few. He made a great contribution to New Orleans music with his drafting of young musicians into his band. His band was featured in Always for Pleasure, an award-winning film about New Orleans culture (died at a daughter's home in suburban Marrero in Jefferson Parish) b. June 22nd 1907

November 21
1953: Lawrence James "Larry" Shields (60) US jazz clarinetist; he joined the Original Dixieland Jass Band in November of 1916. The following year that band made the first jazz phonograph records, propelling Shield's playing to national prominence ()
1995: Peter Grant (60) manager for The Yardbirds, Led Zeppelin and Bad Company, and a record executive for Swan Song Records. He is widely credited with improving pay and conditions for musicians in dealings with concert promoters (heart attack)
1995: Matthew Ashman () Guitarist, Adam And The Ants/ Bow Wow Wow (complications caused by diabetes)
2002: Hadda Brooks (86) US jazz singer, pianist, composer; she began to mutate from swing jazz and boogie-woogie into the sort of rhythm & blues that helped lay the foundation for rock & roll (heart failure)

November 22
1997: Michael Hutchence (37) Australian singer-songwriter, most famous for his work with rock band INXS; raised primarily in Hong Kong, at the age of eight he made his professional debut singing in a commercial for an area toy company. He gained a reputation as a enigmatic, sensual frontman, although his close friends and family always maintained he was much more introverted than his on stage persona. A talented lyricist, he co-wrote almost all of INXS' songs with Andrew Farriss, who has attributed his own success as a songwriter to Hutchence's 'genius.' (His naked body was found behind the door to his room. He had apparently hanged himself with his own belt and the buckle has broken away and his body was found kneeling on the floor, facing the door) b. January 22nd 1960.
2008: MC Breed/Eric Breed (36) American rapper; a Flint, Michigan-based rapper best known for his singles "Ain't No Future in Yo Frontin", which peaked at #66 on the Billboard Hot 100 [2], and "Gotta Get Mine", featuring 2Pac, that made it to #6 on the Hot Rap Singles. (kidney failure) b. 1972

November 23
1979: Judee Sill (35) US pianist, guitarist, singer, songwriter toured a lot with Graham Nash and David Crosby (heroin & cocaine drug overdose)
1979: Henry Coker (59) American jazz trombonist (?)
1983: Tom Evans Songwriter Harry Badfinger (suicide by hanging himself)
1985: Joe Turner () US blues songwriter ()
1992: Roy Acuff (89) US country singer, fiddle, songwriter. The first living artist elected to the Country Music Hall Of Fame in 1962 ()
1994: Tommy Boyce (55) songwriter, one half of Boyce & Hart, best known for The Monkees songs. Boyce and Hart wrote in excess of 300 songs and sold more than 42 million records as a partnership. (he struggled with depression, suffering a brain aneurysm, he shot himself while in the sitting room of his house)
1995: Junior Walker/ Autry DeWalt II / Autry De Walt Mixon (64) American singer, saxophonist; he formed his own band the 'Jumping Jacks' when he was only 14 years old. His friend, drummer Billy Nix, started his own group the 'Rhythm Rockers', now and again, the 2 musicians would play in each others bands. Billy aquired a regular gig at a local TV station in South Bend, Indiana, and asked Junoir to join him and his keyboardist, Fred Patton permanently. Shortly after, local singer Willie Woods joined the group. When Billy got drafted into the US Army, Jr.Walker, Fred and Willie moved to Battle Creek, Michigan, where they were joined by drummer Tony Washington and soon Victor Thomas replaced Fred on piano. This new line up called themseves the 'All Stars'. Junior got his big break in 1961, when Johnny Bristol saw the band he recommended them to Harvey Fuqua, who signed them to his record label and changed their name to Junior Walker & the All Stars. When Harvey's labels were taken over by Motown's Berry Gordy, Jr. Walker & The All Stars became members of the Motown Records family, recording on Motown's Soul label. In 1966, Billy "Stix" Nicks once again met up with Junior, and joined band. Their first and signature hit was "Shotgun", written by Junior, it reached No.4 on the Billboard Hot 100, and No. 1 on the R&B chart in 1965, and was followed by many other hits, such as "I'm a Road Runner", "Pucker Up Buttercup", "Shake and Fingerpop", "Come See About Me", and "What Does It Take (To Win Your Love)?". In 1979, Junior Walker went solo and was signed to Norman Whitfield's.. Whitfield Records label. He also played the sax on the group Foreigner's "Urgent" in 1981. In 1983, Junior re-signed with Motown and was inducted into the Rhythm and Blues Foundation in 1995, a few months before he died. Junior's song, "Shotgun", was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2002 (cancer) b. June 14th 1931.
1996: Art Porter Jr (35) US jazz saxophonist; pro musician at 9 yrs, Art Porter Sr. helped Bill Clinton pass legislation that would allow a minor to play in a night club if a parent or guardian was present. This became known as the Art Porter Bill. (drowned off the coast of Thailand when the boat he was on sprang a leach & sank)
2001: O.C. Smith/Ocie Lee Smith (69) US singer with Sy Oliver, Count Basie and solo; recorded a cover of the Bobby Russell song "Little Green Apples", which shot to number 2 on the billboard pop charts and won Smith a 1969 Grammy Award for "Best Song". He became Dr. O.C. Smith, pastor of the City of Angels Science of Mind Centre in Los Angeles, and he continued to preach until his death (Heart attack)
2005: Chris Whitley (45) US singer songwriter (lung cancer)
2006: Anita O'Day/Anita Belle Colton (87)US jazz singer sometimes nicknamed "Jezabel of Jazz"; admired for her sense of rhythm and dynamics, and her early big band appearances shattered the traditional image of the "girl singer". Refusing to pander to any female stereotype, O'Day presented herself as a "hip" jazz musician, wearing a band jacket and skirt as opposed to an evening gown.(pneumonia)
2007: Frank Guarrera (83) American baritone with the Metropolitan Opera (?).
2008: Richard Sidney Hickox CBE (60) UK conductor of choral, orchestral and operatic music; founded the City of London Sinfonia in 1971, remaining music director until his death, and also founded the Richard Hickox Singers & Orchestra in the same year. He was the director of music at the Endellion Music Festival from 1972 to 2008. In 1972 at the age of only 24 he was appointed Martin Neary's successor as organist and master of music at St. Margaret's, Westminster, subsequently adding the directorships of the London Symphony Chorus, and Bradford Festival Chorus. In 1990, he co-founded the baroque orchestra Collegium Musicum 90 with Simon Standage. He was Associate Guest Conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra from 1985 until his death. He was also Chorus Director of the London Symphony Chorus from 1976 to 1991, with whom he premiered The Three Kings by Peter Maxwell Davies in 1995. He also premiered that composer's A Dance on the Hill in 2005 (heart attack) b. March 5th 1948.
2008: Richard "Richey" James Edwards Welsh guitarist, the former co-lyricist and rhythm guitarist of the Welsh rock band Manic Street Preachers has been officially 'presumed dead'. (He disappeared on February 1st 1995 READ MORE) b. December 22nd 1967.
2008: Robert Lucas (46) American singer and guitarist former member of Canned Heat blues-rock band, He was one of four singers to have fronted the band during its more than 40 year history and had two stints fronting the band. In his solo career and has recorded seven solo albums and has performed with Big Joe Turner, George Smith, Pee Wee Crayton, Lowell Fulsom, Eddie 'Cleanhead' Vinson, and Percy Mayfield among others. He has been recognised by blues fans and critics worldwide as one of the most inspired singer, player and songwriter talents of the past decade (drug overdose) b. July 25th 1962.

November 24
1985: Big Joe Turner (74) US singer; although he came to his greatest fame in the 1950s with his pioneering rock and roll recordings, particularly "Shake, Rattle and Roll", his career as a performer stretched from the 1920s into the 1980s.He started singing on street corners for money, then leaving school at age fourteen to begin working in Kansas City's club scene, first as a cook, and later as a singing bartender, he became known as The Singing Barman, and worked in such venues as The Kingfish Club and The Sunset, where he and his piano playing partner Pete Johnson became resident performers. (heart attack) b. May 18th 1911.
1991: Eric "The Fox" Carr/ Paul Caravello (41) American drummer, best known for his work with the rock band Kiss, replacing Peter Criss in 1980, remaining a member until he became ill in 1991. He had been playing in cover bands throughout the 1970s.. His Kiss persona, was first made up as "The Hawk," but later adopted the persona of "The Fox", he was also part of the band's stage makeup removal of their live on MTV in 1983. He also played guitar, bass guitar, piano and sang background vocals, he sung lead vocals on "Black Diamond" and "Young and Wasted" live with Kiss. He sang lead on the remake of "Beth" in the studio on the album Smashes, Thrashes & Hits. In 1989 he sang lead vocal on a self-penned, studio track titled "Little Caesar,". His last live performance with Kiss was November 9, 1990 in New York City, at Madison Square Garden (heart cancer) b. July 12th 1950.
1991: Freddie Mercury/Farrokh Bulsara (45) Zanzibar-born British musician, best known as the lead singer, pianist and co-founder of the rock band Queen, who were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001. As a performer, he was known for his four-octave vocal range and onstage theatricality. As a songwriter, he composed many international hits, including "Bohemian Rhapsody", "Killer Queen", "Somebody to Love", "Don't Stop Me Now", "We Are the Champions", "Crazy Little Thing Called Love", and "Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy". In addition to his work with Queen, he also led a solo career and was occasionally a producer and guest musician, piano or vocals for other artists. He who was of Indian Parsi descent and grew up in India, has been referred to as "Britain's first Asian rock star." (Freddie died from complications of AIDS, his death greatly increasing awareness of the disease) b. Sept 5th 1946.
1993: Albert Collins (61) US legendary blues guitarist, singer; he had many nicknames, such as "The Ice Man", "The Master of the Telecaster" and "The Razor Blade". He began recording in 1960 and released singles, including many instrumentals such as the million selling "Frosty". In the spring of 1965 he moved to Kansas City, Missouri and made a name for himself. His genius was acknowledged by the music world in 1983, when he won the W. C. Handy Award for his album Don't Lose Your Cool, which won the award for best blues album of the year. The Fender Custom Shop created an accurate replica of the "Ice Man"'s namesake '66 Custom Telecaster in 1990, which featured a double-bound swamp ash body, a custom-shaped maple neck sporting a separate laminated maple fingerboard with 21 vintage frets, a custom-wound Seymour Duncan '59 humbucker in the neck position and a Fender Texas Special Tele single-coil in the bridge (lung and liver cancer) b. October 1st 1932
2001: Melanie Janene Thornton (34) American-German pop singer who found fame in Germany and fronted the Eurodance group La Bouche, who formed hits such as Be My Lover and Sweet Dreams in the mid-1990s. She forged a moderately successful solo career in Germany before her death. Her hits include Love How You Love Me, Wonderful Dream, Memories and Heartbeat ( died in a plane crash of the Crossair Flight 3597 near Bassersdorf by Zurich in Switzerland) b. May 13th 1967
2004: Wong Jim (64) Cantopop lyricist and writer based primarily in Hong Kong. He was also a well known in Asia as a columnist, actor, film director, scriptwriter and talk show hosts. He took part in creative directing positions within the entertainment industry in Hong Kong. He was also an alumnus of La Salle College. Many fans like to call him "Uncle Jim" (lung cancer) b. March 16th 1941
2006: Walter Booker (72) American jazz bass and double bassist; recorded and toured with Ray Bryant, Betty Carter, Chick Corea, Stan Getz, Art Farmer, Milt Jackson, Thelonious Monk and Sonny Rollins, before joining the Cannonball Adderley Quintet with who he stayed with til 1975. He then built, and ran the Boogie Woogie Studio in NYC, a mecca for musicians from all over the world, and through the 1980s, he played and recorded with Nat Adderley, Nick Brignola, Arnett Cobb, Richie Cole, John Hicks, Billy Higgins, Clifford Jordan, Pharoah Sanders, Sarah Vaughan, and Phil Woods. (?) b. December 17th 1933
2006: Juhani "Juice" Leskinen (56) Finnish singer-songwriter;one of the most prominent Finnish singer-songwriters of the late 20th century. From the early 1970s onward he released nearly 30 full-length albums, as well as writing song lyrics for dozens of Finnish artists (after suffering from renal insufficiency, cirrhosis and diabetes) b. February 19th 1950.
2007: Casey Calvert (26) American guitarist for the emo/post-hardcore band Hawthorne Heights.The band, who were originally named A Day in the Life, have released three studio albums on Victory Records since changing their name to Hawthorne Heights of which Casey recorded on the first two, "The Silence in Black and White" which reached platinum and the gold selling "If Only You Were Lonely" (Toxicology and autopsy reports state Calvert died of Combined Drug Intoxication) b. October 20th 1981.
2008: Michael Lee/Michael Gary Pearson (39) British world renowned drummer; toured and recorded with former Led Zeppelin musicians Robert Plant and Jimmy Page, also played drums with Little Angels, The Cult, Echo & The Bunnymen, the reformed version of Thin Lizzy, ZZ Top, Aerosmith, Bon Jovi, Bryan Adams, Guns 'N' Roses, Lenny Kravitz, Holosade, Alaska, Sweet Janes and many more. Most recently he had toured with Jeff Martin and played drums on Jeff's new solo album, "Exile and the Kingdom". He also performed with The Cult founders Billy Duffy and Ian Astbury on their Ceremony tour and cooperated on the 2006 album Gillan's Inn (cause of death not yet established) b. November 19th 1969.
2008: Kenny MacLean (52) Scottish/Canadian bassist best known as a former member of the Canadian New Wave group, the multi-platinum selling band Platinum Blonde. He has been a SOCAN member for over 28 years and written and recorded tracks for many prominent Canadian artistes and has worked with noted producers, Terry Brown, David Foster, Bernard Edwards and Carter. He had been working on his 3rd solo album, which he had completed just before his death entitled "Completely at Toronto's Mod Club", it was released on Friday November 21st 2008 (heart related problem) b.?January 9th 1956?

November 25
1974: Nick Drake (26) UK singer songwriter, his primary instrument was the guitar, though he was also proficient at piano, clarinet, and saxophone. Not appreciated in his lifetime, but since his death his work has grown steadily in stature, to the extent that he now ranks among the most influential English singer-songwriters of the last 50 years, his songs have been covered by many greats and in 2004, 30 years after his death, he gained his first chart hit when two singles, "Magic" and "River Man", were released to coincide with the compilation album 'Made to Love Magic', later that year, the BBC aired a radio documentary about Nick, narrated by Brad Pitt (drug overdose while suffering from a depressive illness) b. 19 June 1948
1997: Barbara/Monique Andrée Serf (67) French female singer; she appeared on TV variety shows, toured Japan, Canada, Belgium, Israel, the Netherlands and Switzerland. Her album "Seule" was one of France's top grossing releases of 1981. In 1982, she was awarded the prestigious Grand Prix du Disque in recognition of her contribution to French culture. An icon of French musical history, she has been honored with her image on a French postage stamp. A number of books have been written about her life and her records still sell in large numbers to this day (respiratory problems) b. November 24th 1997.
2006: Valentin Elizalde (27) Mexican singer also known as "El Gallo de Oro", The Golden Rooster; his biggest Banda hits included "Vete Ya," "Ebrio de Amor", "Vencedor", " Vete Con El", "Vuelve Cariñito", "Como Me Duele", " Mi Virgencita", and "Soy Así.". He will be remembered as one of the best Mexican singers of our time. (gunned down in an ambush; 28 bullets were found in his body. Some of his songs were narcocorridos, and it appears he was murdered by drug trafficking gangs)b. February 1st 1979.

November 26
1956: Tommy Dorsey (51) American jazz trombonist, trumpeter, and bandleader of the Big Band era. He was the younger brother of Jimmy Dorsey. His lyrical trombone style became one of the signature sounds of his band and of the Swing Era. The biographical film of 1947, "The Fabulous Dorseys" describes sketchy details of how the brothers got their start from-the-bottom-up into the jazz era of one-nighters, the early days of radio in its infancy stages, and the onward march when both brothers ended up with Paul Whiteman before 1935 when The Dorsey Brothers' Orchestra split into two.(died by choking in his sleep after a heavy meal following which he had taken sleeping pills. Jimmy Dorsey (out of whose band Tommy had walked two decades earlier) led his brother's band until his own death of throat cancer the following year) b. November 10th 1905.
1973: John Rostill (31) UK bass guitarist and composer, recruited by The Shadows to replace Brian Locking. He worked with several artists before joining The Shadows, including The Interns, The Flintstones and a stint in the backing group of Zoot Money. After The Shadows break up at the end of the 1960s, he toured with Tom Jones. He was also was a prolific songwriter, contributing to the Shadows' output from the start, both as a solo composer and as part of the mid-sixties "Marvin/Welch/Bennett/Rostill" team , and later going on to write for other artists such as Olivia Newton-John (electrocuted in his home recording studio) b. June 16th 1942.
1978: Frank Rosolino (52) American jazz trombonist; he became famous in the early 50's playing in the most popular of Stan Kenton's progressive big bands, before settling in L.A., where he worked with everybody in the business: Howard Rumsey's Lighthouse All-Stars, Terry Gibbs, Shorty Rogers, Benny Carter, Buddy Rich, Dexter Gordon, Carl Fontana, Jean "Toots" Thielemans, Stan Levey, Shelly Manne, Pete Christlieb, Bobby Knight, Conte Candoli, Med Flory, Donn Trenner, Mel Tormé, Louis Bellson, Tutti Camarata, Marty Paich, Zoot Sims, and Quincy Jones (suffering with depression after his wife's death, he committed suicide after shooting his children, Justin, 9; and Jason, 7; Jason was blinded, but survived, and was adopted by his mother's cousin, Claudia Eien, and her husband) b. August 20th 1926.
2002: Polo Montañez (47) Cuban singer and songwriter; formed his own ensemble of family and friends and quickly became the house act at a resort in the nearby touristic community of Las Terrazas, and in 1999, he signed with European record label Lusafrica after being discovered by one of their directors that was staying at the resort. He had his biggest success in March 2000 with his first CD "Guajiro Natural" and the song "Un montón de Estrellas". He became known as the Guajiro Natural (Natural Countryman) because of his humble personality and songs about the peasant life in Cuba. (died in hospital, as a result of a tragic car accident) b. June 5th 1955.
2003: Soulja Slim/James Tapp Jr (26) US rapper; one of Master P's No Limit soldiers, who made his solo debut in 1998 with "Give It 2 'Em Raw". Following a prison stint for armed robbery, he reappeared 3 years later with "Streets Made Me". The following year he released "Years Later...A Few Months After", which would prove to be the last (on his way to do a show he was shot three times in the face, and once in the chest, in front of his mother's home in the 8th Ward, New Orleans) b. September 9th 1977.

November 27th
1932: Evelyn Preer (36) American actress and singer; a notable pioneering African-American stage and screen actress and a blues singer of the 1910s through the early 1930s. As well as her many film roles an accomplished vocalist and during stints in cabaret and musical theatre was occasionally backed by such legendary and diverse musicians as Duke Ellington and Red Nichols. (after giving birth to her first and only child, she developed post-parturition complications and died of double pneumonia) b. July 16th 1896.
1973: Jimmy Widene (?) US guitarist with Hank Snow (shot dead, his body was left in an alley)b.?
1973: Frank Christian (86) American New Orleans jazz trumpeter; started working with bandleader Papa Jack Laine about 1908 and became a mainstay in Laine's bands. He also worked in the bands of Tom Brown, Johnny Fischer, and led his own band. He worked in Chicago, New York and toured on Vaudeville with Gilda Gray and played in various theatre and dance bands before returning to his home town of New Orleans (?) b. September 3rd 1887
1981: Lotte Lenya (81) Austrian singer and actress; In 1956 she won a Tony Award for her role as Jenny in Marc Blitzstein's English version of The Threepenny Opera, the only time an Off-Broadway performance has been so honored. She went on to record a number of songs from her time in Berlin, as well as songs from the American theater. Her voice had grown a lot deeper than during her first success as a performer. When she was to sing the soprano part in Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny and opera, the part needed transposition to substantially lower keys (cancer) b. October 18th 1898
1998: Barbara Acklin (55) American singer and songwriter; Her biggest hit was "Love Makes a Woman" in 1968 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Other hits included "Show Me the Way to Go," and her first single, "Raindrops,". She was also a background singer on Chess Records sessions with artists like Etta James and Fontella Bass. Besides her singing career she was proficient as a songwriterand she co-wrote "Have You Seen Her", a major hit for The Chi-Lites and several of their other biggest songs: "Oh Girl", "Stoned Out Of My Mind" and "Toby" as well as her own releases. Her distinctive voice also featured occasionally on background vocals on some of The Chi-Lites' records (pneumonia ) b. ?.?.1943
2005: Joe Jones (79) American R&B singer, songwriter and arranger; he is credited with discovering The Dixie Cups. (he is not to be confused with guitarist Ivan "Boogaloo Joe" Jones) As a singer, his greatest hit was the Top Five 1960 R&B hit "You Talk Too Much" that also reached #3 on the Pop chart. He claimed to have written a few songs, including some New Orleans Mardi Gras classic, but his claims have not be proven (complications from quadruple bypass surgery) b. August 12th 1926
2006: Alan "Fluff" Freeman (79) UK/Australian disc jockey, TV & radio personality; presented late-evening programmes on Radio Luxembourg in the 1960s and early 1970s. He also worked for the BBC and then Capital Radio from 1979 to 1988, returned to the BBC on BBC Radio 2, he revived both Pick of the Pops and The Rock Show, in the 1990s. He was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 1998. In May 2000 he was presented with a Lifetime Achievement award at the Sony Radio Academy Awards. He originally wanted to be an opera singer, but decided his voice was not strong enough. In 1952 he was invited to audition as a radio announcer and commenced working for 7LA in Tasmania, known as the teenager's station, before moving to radio station 3KZ in Melbourne. He came to UK in 1957.(died peacefully at his home in Twickenham, London, after a brief illness) b. July 6th 1927
2006: Don Butterfield (83) American tuba player; started late 1940s playing for the CBS and NBC radio networks. He played in orchestras, including the American Symphony, Radio City Music Hall Orchestra and on albums by Jackie Gleason. In the 1950s, he switched to jazz, backing such artists as Dizzy Gillespie, Frank Sinatra, Charles Mingus, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Jimmy Smith and Moondog. He fronted his own sextet for a 1955 album on Atlantic Records and played the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival. In the 1970s he worked as a session musician. He played on recordings for a variety of artists and on television and film soundtracks, including The Godfather Part II. (stroke-related illness) b. January 4th 1923.
2007: Cecil Payne (84) American Jazz baritone saxophonist, also played the alto saxophone and flute. He began his professional recording career with J. J. Johnson in 1946. He has played with many jazz greats, in particular Dizzy Gillespie and Randy Weston, in addition to his solo work as bandleader. He was still recording regularly for Delmark Records in the 1990s, when he was in his seventies, and indeed on into the new millennium (?) b.December 14th 1922.

November 28
1935: Erich Moritz von Hornbostel (58) Austrian ethnomusicologist; remembered for his pioneering work in the field of ethnomusicology, and for the Sachs-Hornbostel system of musical instrument classification which he co-authored with Curt Sachs (?) b. February 25th 1877.
1972: Jimmy Lytell (67) American clarinetist;first professional experience came at age twelve, and by the beginning of the 1920s he was recording with early jazz ensembles. He played in the Original Indiana Five in 1921 and the Original Memphis Five in 1922-25, and also played in the Original Dixieland Jazz Band in 1922-24. After the 1920s he rarely performed in jazz settings, spending more time as a studio and orchestra musician. He worked as a staff musician for NBC during this time. From 1949 into the late 1950s he appeared in the New Original Memphis Five revival band (?) b. December 1st 1904
1992: Wayne Bennett (57) US blues guitarist; He worked with prominent blues musicians such as Bobby Bland, Boxcar Willie, Buddy Guy, John Lee Hooker and Elmore James, as well as with renowned jazz musicians, including Cannonball Adderley, Sonny Stitt and Dexter Gordon. In 1990, he played on Willy DeVille's album Victory Mixture, also played with such R & B acts as the Chi-Lites, the Lost Generation, the Hues Corporation; among many others and even cut his own record in 1968, an instrumental called "Casanova, Your Playing Days are Over" on the Brunswick label () b. December 13th 1931
1993: Jerry Edmonton/Jerry McCrohan (47) Canadian drummer; he and his brother performed in a group called The Sparrows. John Kay and Goldy McJohn joined this group in Toronto in 1965 and, after some more changes in personnel and relocating to California, the group was renamed Steppenwolf. When Steppenwolf temporarily broke up on Valentine's Day 1972, he and Goldy McJohn formed a band "Seven" after which they formed "Manbeast" before Steppenwolf reconvened in 1974 for three albums before breaking up again in 1976 (car crash) b. October 24th 1946.
2001: Kal Mann (84) American lyricist; he co-wrote Elvis Presley's "Teddy Bear," Bobby Rydell's "Wild One", and Chubby Checker's "Let's Twist Again." Charlie Gracie's "Butterfly and "Fabulous", just to mention a few of hits many hits. He wrote some songs such as "Limbo Rock" credited under the pseudonym Jon Sheldon (Alzheimer's disease) b. May 6th 1917.
2002: Dave "Snaker" Ray (59) US blues singer and guitarist who was most notably associated with Spider John Koerner and Tony Glover recording 6 albums. In the 80,s he and Glover released 3 albums and in 1998, he and Glover joined with Camile Baudoin and Reggie Scanlan of The Radiators to form The Back Porch Rockers band, which released the album "By The Water" in 2000 (cancer)*August 17th 1943.
2005: Tony Meehan (62) UK drummer, one of the founder members of the British group The Shadows, along with Jet Harris, Hank B. Marvin and Bruce Welch. He played drums on all the early Cliff Richard and The Shadows hits and also played on the early hits the Shadows had as an instrumental group. In 1961 he went to work as an arranger/producer and occasional session drummer for Joe Meek and from early 1962 on at Decca Records. He subsequently teamed up again with Jet Harris (who had also left the Shadows and moved to Decca) and as a duo they had great success notably on the track, "Diamonds" which also included Jimmy Page on acoustic rhythm guitar. "Diamonds" was a number one hit in the UK Singles Chart (died from head injuries after a fall) b. March 2nd 1943.
2007: Frédéric "Fred" Chichin (53) French singer guitarist born in Clichy, France, he was the lead member of the band Les Rita Mitsouko, along with Catherine Ringer, whom he met in 1979. Prior to this he had also been active in the rock bands Fassbinder, Taxi Girl and Gazoline (heart failure, following complications of the cancer the doctors had diagnosed two months earlier) b. May 1st 1954.
2007: Ashley Titus/Mr. Fat (36) South African rapper and TV presenter; started making hip hop in the 1980s, as well as hosting a hip hop show on Bush Radio. In the 1990s he rapped for Cape Flats-based hip hop group Brasse vannie Kaap, who won an audience that crossed both musical and racial boundaries, attracting hip hop and rock fans of various ethnic backgrounds; they were also noted for their prominent use of the Afrikaans language in their music. With BVK, he also became known for his strong community involvement, musical focus on Cape Flats issues, and attempts to reach out to youth imprisoned in local jails. The 1990s also saw Titus present a magazine show simply named Hip Hop for the MK89 music channel. (heart problems) b. December 28th 1970.

November 29
1924: Giacomo Puccini (73) Italian composer, organist; his operas, including La bohème, Tosca, and Madama Butterfly, are among the most frequently performed in the standard repertoire. Some of his arias, such as "O mio babbino caro" from Gianni Schicchi, "Che gelida manina" from La bohème, and "Nessun dorma" from Turandot, have become part of popular culture. (throat cancer led his doctors to recommend a new and experimental radiation therapy treatment, he died from complications from the treatment; uncontrolled bleeding led to a heart attack the day after surgery) b. December 22nd 1858
1954: Oliver "Dink" Johnson (62) US multi musician; played drums with Jelly Roll Morton, clarinet with the Five Hounds of Jazz and recorded exstensivley mainly on piano. He worked around Mississippi and New Orleans, before moving to the western United States in the early 1910s. He played around Nevada and California, often with his brother Bill. Most prominently he played with the Original Creole Orchestra, mainly on drums. He made his first recordings in 1922 on clarinet with Kid Ory's Band. For many years he was based in Los Angeles, where he led a band in the 1920s. He made more recordings in the 1940s and 1950s, mostly on piano, also doing some one-man band recordings, playing all three of his instruments through over dubbing (died in Portland, Oregon) b. October 28th 1892.
1999: Curtis Knight/Curtis McNear (54) US singer; worked and recorded with Jimi Hendrix in the early 60's and introduced Hendrix to Ed Chalpin who had him sign a contract that gave Hendrix only 1% of any royalties that his recordings earned. In the 70s Curtis moved to London, England where he formed the group "Curtis Knight & Zeus", and toured throughout Europe, relying on his "Hendrix" connection for many years.(?) b. 1945.
2001: George Harrison (58) UK rock guitarist, singer, songwriter, author, film producer and sitarist best known as the lead guitarist and youngest member of The Beatles. Following the band's demise, he had a successful career as a solo artist and later as part of the Traveling Wilburys super group where he was known as both Nelson Wilbury and Spike Wilbury. (lung cancer) b. February 25th 1943
2007: Jim Nesbitt (76) US country comic singer; his first hit "Please Mr. Kennedy" reached No.1, he recorded over 200 tunes including "A Tiger In My Tank", "New Frontier" "Lookin' For More In '64" (died after battling a heart condition for several years) b. December 1st 1931.
2007: Tom Gerald Terrell (57) was a music journalist, photographer, deejay, promoter, and NPR music reviewer. He made his mark as a radio personality and concert promoter, impacting the music scene as a programmer for WHFS and WPFW, and was an early force behind d.c. space, its non-profit offshoot, District Curators Inc., and the Nightclub 9:30. Blessed with a honey baritone "radio voice" and encyclopedic music knowledge, his pioneering radio shows included "Stolen Moments" on WPFW, and "Sunday Reggae Splashdown" and "Café C'est What" on WHFS. His perceptive music journalism was carried in the Unicorn Times, the Washington City Paper, JazzTimes, Vibe, Essence, Emerge, Savoy, JAZZIZ, Trace, Village Voice, MTV Magazine, Down Beat Magazine, and Global Rhythms, to name a few.
He was a life-long musicologist who recognized talent and trends long before they became popular, and, until his death from , worked to promote new acts in jazz, funk, rock, hip-hop, and world music (prostate cancer) b. July 16, 1950

November 30
1964: Don Redman (64) US jazz man, began playing the trumpet at the age of 3, joined his first band at 6 and by age 12 he was proficient on all wind instruments ranging from trumpet to oboe as well as piano. In 1922 he joined the Fletcher Henderson orchestra, mostly playing clarinet and saxophones. He soon began assisting in writing arrangements, and did much to formulate the sound that was to become big band Swing. Notable musicians in his own band included Sidney De Paris, trumpet, Edward Inge, clarinet, and singer Harlan Lattimore, who was known as "The Colored Bing Crosby". He also did arrangements for other band leaders and musicians, including Paul Whiteman, Isham Jones, and Bing Crosby. Most consider him first great arranger in jazz history (died in New York) b. July 29th 1900.
1988: Charlie Rouse (64) American hard bop tenor saxophonist and flautist; well known for his work with the highly influential Thelonious Monk's quartet, a period which lasted from 1959 to 1970. He was later a founding member of the group Sphere, which began as a tribute to Monk. He also worked with Mal Waldron's quintet. In 2007 the asteroid "(10426) Charlierouse" was officially named to honor him by its discoverer, the American planetary scientist and astronomer Joe Montani, an ardent fan of Monk and Rouse (lung cancer) b. April 6th 1924.
1995: Stretch/Randy Walker (23) US rapper and hip hop producer from New York City, New York. He starred in the film Who's the Man? but is perhaps most famous for his close affliation with Tupac Shakur during the early 1990s, and was part of the hip hop group "Live Squad" (murdered) b.April 8th 1972.
1996: Tiny Tim/Herbert Buckingham Khaury (64) US singer, ukulele; most famous for his rendition of 'Tiptoe Through The Tulips' sung in his distinctive high falsetto/vibrato voice. He was generally thought of as a novelty act, though his records display a wide knowledge of American songs. In August 1970 he performed at the "Isle of Wight Festival 1970" in front of a crowd of 600,000 people. His performance, which included English folk songs and rock and roll classics, was a huge hit with the multinational throng of hippies. At the climax of his set, he sang "There'll Always Be an England" through a megaphone which brought the huge crowd to its feet. This can be seen in the 1995 movie of the event, "Message to Love". In 2000, the Rhino Handmade label released the posthumous Tiny Tim Live at the Royal Albert Hall. This recording had been made in 1968 at the height of Tiny Tim's fame, but Reprise Records never released it. It sat on the shelf until its limited Internet release some 32 years later. The limited-numbered CD sold out and was reissued on Rhino's regular label (he suffered a heart attack on stage at The Woman's Club of Minneapolis and was rushed to Hennepin County Medical Center where he died after doctors tried to resuscitate him for an hour and fifteen minutes) b. April 12th 1932.
1999: Charlie Byrd (74) American jazz and classical guitarist; played a classical guitar with nylon strings using fingerstyle. He collaborated on the famous 1962 album Jazz Samba with Stan Getz, a recording which pushed bossa nova into the mainstream of American music. During the late 1950s he toured Europe with Woody Herman as part of a United States State Department "goodwill tour". He also led his own groups that at times featured his brother Joe Byrd, and other distinguised musicians. In 1997 he was deemed a "Maryland Art Treasure" by the Community Arts Alliance, in 1999 he was knighted by the government of Brazil as a Knight of the Rio Branco (lung cancer) b. September 16th 1925.
1999: (or Dec 1st) Don "Sugarcane" Harris (61) US Blues, jazz and rock violinist and guitarist; was given the nickname "Sugarcane" by LA bandleader Johnny Otis. He started an act called Don and Dewey in the mid 1950s. In the 1960s he played exclusively the electric violin, as a sideman with John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers and Frank Zappa, most recognized for his appearances on the Mothers of Invention albums Hot Rats, Burnt Weeny Sandwich, and Weasels Ripped My Flesh. His lead vocal and blues violin solo on a cover of Little Richard's "Directly From My Heart to You" on Weasels, and his extended solo on the lengthy "Little House I Used To Live In" on Weeny are considered highlights of those albums. The 70's sees him fronting the Pure Food and Drug Act (pulmonary disease) b. June 19th 1938.

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