On May 12, 2023, Francis Monkman died aged 73. He was musician (keyboards, guitar) and movie score composer, member of bands Sisyphus which evolved in Curved Air, and founding member of band Sky. He recorded and toured with Renaissance, The Shadows, Al Stewart, Lynsey de Paul, Phil Manzanera, Brian Eno and Brian Bennett. As leader, Monkman released 14 albums.
Tag Archives: 2023
The Winery Dogs: Same
On May 5, 2013, “Loud & Proud Records” label released the self-titled, debut Winery Dogs (The) album. It was recorded August – December 2012, in Los Angeles, and was produced by Richie Kotzen, Billy Sheenan and Mike Portnoy.
Personnel:
- Richie Kotzen – lead vocals, guitars, keyboards, engineer
- Billy Sheehan – vocals, bass
- Mike Portnoy – vocals, drums, percussion
- Alex Todorov – engineer
- Albert Alforcea – illustrations
- Stephen Van Baalen – artwork, layout
Track listing:
All tracks by Richie Kotzen, Billy Sheenan and Mike Portnoy.
- Elevate
- Desire
- We Are One
- I’m No Angel
- The Other Side
- You Saved Me
- Not Hopeless
- One More Time
- Damaged
- Six Feet Deeper
- Time Machine
- The Dying
- Regret
Ahmad Jamal
On April 16, 2023, Ahmad Jamal died aged 92. He was musician (piano), composer, bandleader, and educator, one of the most successful small-group leaders and one of the most important artists in jazz history. For his work Jamal received many awards including:
- 1959: Entertainment Award, Pittsburgh Junior Chamber of Commerce
- 1980: Distinguished Service Award, City of Washington D.C., Anacostia Neighborhood Museum
- 1986: Mellon Jazz Festival Salutes Ahmad Jamal, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- 1987: Honorary Membership, Philippines Jazz Foundation
- 1994: American Jazz Masters award, National Endowment for the Arts
- 2001: Arts & Culture Recognition Award, National Coalition of 100 Black Women
- 2001: Kelly-Strayhorn Gallery of Stars, for Achievements as Pianist and Composer, East Liberty Quarter Chamber of Commerce
- 2003: American Jazz Hall of Fame, New Jersey Jazz Society
- 2003: Gold Medallion, Steinway & Sons 150 Years Celebration
- 2007: Living Jazz Legend, Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
- 2007: Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, French government
- 2011: Down Beat Hall of Fame, 76th Readers Poll
- 2015: Honorary Doctorate of Music, The New England Conservatory
- 2017: Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, The Recording Academy
- 2018: Leopolis Jazz Music Awards Leopolis Jazz Fest, Lviv
As leader, Jamal released 69 albums.
Duško Gojković
On April 5, 2023, Duško Gojković died aged 91. He was musician (trumpet), composer and arranger. Regarded as one of the best jazz trumpet players in the world, he recorded and performed with many famous musicians, including Stan Getz, Chet Baker, Oscar Pettiford, Maynard Ferguson, Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Gerry Mulligan, Sonny Rollins, Duke Jordan, Slide Hampton, Rolf Ericson, Kenny Clarke, Francy Boland and Woody Herman. In 1966, he released “Swinging Macedonia”, which is regarded as the definitive album of the Balkan’s jazz music. As leader, Gojković released 32 albums.
Ray Shulman
On March 30, 2023, Raymond Shulman died aged 73. He was musician (guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, drums, percussion, trumpet, violin), singer, song-writer and record producer, member of the band Simon Dupree and the Big Sound, but was best known as founding member of Gentle Giant. As producer he worked with The Sundays, Trash Can Sinatras, Ian McCulloch and the Defects, and The Sugarcubes.
Ryuichi Sakamoto
On March 28, 2023, Ryuichi Sakamoto died aged 71. He was musician (piano, keyboards, synthesizers), singer, composer, record producer and artist, who first came to prominence as member of Yellow Magic Orchestra, but was best known for his eclectic solo career, straddled experimentalism, electronic, pop and movie music. His work influenced a number of various electronic music genres. He collaborated with big number of musicians, including David Sylvian, David Byrne, Iggy Pop, Thomas Dolby, Adrian Belew, Robin Scott, Kiyoshiro Imawano, Arto Lindsay, Youssou N’Dor, Jill Jones, Robert Wyatt, Brian Wilson and Robbie Robertson. Sakamoto was an “Oscar” winner for “Best Original Score”, for the soundtrack of Bernardo Bertolucci’s movie “The Last Emperor”. As leader, he released 23 albums.
Gary Rossington
On March 5, 2023, Gary Robert Rossington died aged 71. He was musician (guitar) and songwriter, founding member of the bands Rossington Band (The) and Rossington Collins Band (The), but was best known as original member (lead and rhythm guitar) of Lynyrd Skynyrd.
Wayne Shorter
On March 2, 2023, Wayne Shorter died aged 89. He was musician (saxophone) and composer. He was member of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers and Miles Davis’s Second Great Quintet, and then co-founded the band Weather Report. Many of the Shorter’s compositions have become jazz standards and his work earned critical praise worldwide. In 1970, he won “Down Beat’s” annual poll-winner, winning the critics’ poll for 10 consecutive years and the readers’ poll for 18 consecutive years. Shorter recorded and performed with Donald Byrd, Billy Childs, Pino Daniele, Lou Donaldson, Benny Golson, Gil Evans, Toninho Horta, Norah Jones, J. J. Johnson, Don Henley, Wynton Kelly, Michael Landau, Lionel Loueke, Grachan Moncur III, Milton Nascimento, Michel Petrucciani, The Rolling Stones, Masahiko Satoh, John Scofield, Esperanza Spalding, Steely Dan, Bobby Timmons, Kazumi Watanabe, Buster Williams, Herbie Hacock, Tony Williams, Joe Zawinul, Freddie Hubbard, Joni Mitchell, Lee Morgan, Jaco Pastorius, Carlos Santana and McCoy Tyner. In 2008, “The New York Times” described Shorter as “probably jazz’s greatest living small-group composer and a contender for greatest living improviser”. In 2017, he was awarded the “Polar Music Prize”. As leader, Shorter released 28 albums.
Steve Mackey
On March 2, 2023, Stephen Patrick Mackey died aged 56. He was musician (bass) and music producer, member of the band Trolley Dog Shag, but was best known as the bass guitarist of Pulp. As producer he worked with Arcade Fire, The Long Blondes, M.I.A. and Florence + the Machine.
Barrett Strong
On January 29, 2023, Barrett Strong died aged 81. He was singer and songwriter, the performer who had the first hit for Berry Gordy’s label “Tamla Records”, “Money (That’s What I Want)”. Strong was best known for his work as a songwriter, especially in association with the producer Norman Whitfield. In mid 1960s he became “Motown Records” writer lyricist, and together with Whitfield, they wrote some of the best known soul and funk classics of all times, including “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” by Marvin Gaye and Gladys Knight & the Pips; “War” by Edwin Starr; “Wherever I Lay My Hat (That’s My Home)” by Marvin Gaye; “Smiling Faces Sometimes” by The Undisputed Truth; “Cloud Nine”, “I Can’t Get Next to You”, “Psychedelic Shack”, “Ball of Confusion (That’s What the World Is Today)”, and “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone”, by The Temptations. In 1973, Strong received “Grammy Award for Best R&B Song” for “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone”. As leader, Strong released four albums.
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