On July 17, 1959, Eleonora Fagan aka Billie Holiday, died aged 44. Nicknamed “Lady Day” by her friend and musical partner Lester Young, Holiday is one of the true jazz icons and one of the most influential singers of all time. Famous jazz critics Leonard Feather, said about her: “Billie Holiday’s voice was the living intensity of soul in the true sense of that greatly abused word. As a human being, she was sweet, sour, kind, mean, generous, profane, lovable and impossible, and nobody who knew her expects to see anyone quite like her again.”
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Johnny Winter
On July 16, 2014, John Dawson Winter III aka Johnny Winter, died aged 60. He was musician (guitar, multi-instrumentalist), singer, and producer, best known for his unique guitar style and explosive live performances. Winter was producer of three Muddy Waters “Grammy Award” winning albums. In 1988, he was inducted into the “Blues Foundation Hall of Fame” and in 2003, he was ranked 63rd in “Rolling Stone” magazine’s list of the “100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time”.
Jon Lord
On July 16, 2012, John Douglas “Jon” Lord, died aged 71. He was musician (piano, keyboard, Hammond organ) and composer, best known as member of Deep Purple. Lord also performed with Whitesnake, Paice Ashton Lord, The Artwoods, and The Flower Pot Men. On November 11, 2010, he was inducted as an Honorary Fellow of “Stevenson College” in Edinburgh, and on July 15, 2011, Lord was awarded an honorary Doctor of Music degree at “De Montfort Hall” by the University of Leicester.
Benny Carter
On July 12, 2003, Bennett Lester “Benny” Carter, died aged 96. He was musician (alto saxophone, clarinet, trumpet), composer, arranger, and bandleader, regarded a major figure in jazz from the 1930s to the 1990s. In his career the “King” performed with Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan, Coleman Hawkins, Peggy Lee, Carmen McRae, Ella Fitzgerald, Ray Charles, Miles Davis, Django Reinhardt, Benny Goodman, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Lena Horne, Glenn Miller, Gene Krupa, Tommy Dorsey, Phil Woods, Dizzy Gillespie, Earl Hines, Ben Webster, Billy Eckstine, Pearl Bailey, Lou Rawls, Louis Armstrong, Freddie Slack and Mel Torme.
For his work Benny Carter received big number of awards including: “The NEA Jazz Masters Award by The National Endowment for the Arts”, “Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award” , “Grammy Award” for his solo “Prelude to a Kiss”, “A Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame”, “National Endowment for the Arts”, “National Medal of Arts”.
Chris Wood
On July 12, 1983, Christopher Gordon Blandford ‘Chris’ Wood died aged 39. He was musician (saxophone, flute, keyboards), was best known as one of the founding members of the band “Traffic”. In his career he has worked and recorded with Ginger Baker’s Air Force, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Electric Ladyland, Free, Fat Mattress, Martha Velez, Chicken Shack, Gordon Jackson, Locomotive, Shawn Phillips, Sky, Jim Capaldi, Reebop Kwaku Baah, John Martyn, Hanson, Free Creek, Crawler, Third World and Spencer Davis Group.
Tommy Ramone
On July 11, 2014, Thomas Erdelyi aka Tommy Ramone, died aged 65. He was musician (drums), record producer, and songwriter, best known as member of the “Ramones”. He worked as an assistant engineer at the “Record Plant” studio, where, he worked on the production of the 1970 Jimi Hendrix album “Band of Gypsys”.Tommy Ramone was the last surviving original member of the “Ramones” before his death.
Jelly Roll Morton
On July 10, 1941, Ferdinand Joseph LaMothe aka Jelly Roll Morton, died aged 60. He was musician (piano), bandleader and composer, regarded as the pivotal figure in early jazz. His composition “Jelly Roll Blues” was the first published jazz composition, in 1915. He wrote number of ragtime and early jazz standards such as “King Porter Stomp”, “Wolverine Blues”, “Black Bottom Stomp”, and “I thought I heard Buddy Bolden Say”.
Louis Armstrong
On July 4, 1971, Louis Armstrong died aged 69. He was musician (trumpet) and singer, brought various inventions in jazz music, including shifting the focus from collective improvisation to solo performance, bringing improvisation to singing (scat singing) and “reviving” the stage performance with charismatic and expressive stage presence. Armstrong became one of the first African-American artists that were popular among wide “white” audience. His influence extended far beyond jazz music and he is regarded as one of the most influential artists in the history of the 20th Century popular music.
Jim Morrison
On July 3, 1971, James Douglas “Jim” Morrison, died aged 27. He was a singer, songwriter, and poet, best known as the lead singer of The Doors. His poetic odes to rebellion, his charismatic, wild personality, and his mysterious death made him one of the most legendary, Influential, and best-loved rock artists of all times. On the “Rolling Stone” magazine list of “100 Greatest Singers of All Time” Morrison was ranked 47.
Brian Jones
On July 3, 1969, Lewis Brian Hopkin Jones died aged 27. He was musician (guitar, sitar, harmonica, keyboards) and songwriter, the founder, and original bandleader of the Rolling Stones. As he developed a serious drug problem over the years, his role in the band slowly diminished and Jagger and Richards overshadowed him. In June 1969, he was asked to leave the band and was replaced by Mick Taylor. Jones died by drowning in the swimming pool at his home on Cotchford Farm Hartfield, East Sussex. Bill Wyman (the original Rolling Stones bass player) said of Jones, “He formed the band, he chose the members. He named the band. He chose the music we played. He got us gigs. ..Very influential, very important, and then slowly lost it – highly intelligent – and just kind of wasted it and blew it all away.”
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