Tag Archives: composer

Ahmad Jamal

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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 

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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.

Ryuichi Sakamoto

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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.  

Angelo Daniel Badalamenti

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On December 11, 2022, Angelo Daniel Badalamenti died aged 85. He was composer and arranger, recorded songs with David Bowie, Nina Simone, Tim Booth, Shirley Bassey, Dusty Springfield, Julee Cruise, Marianne Faithfull, Siouxsie Sioux and Dolores O’Riordan, but was best known for composing film music. He collaborated with director David Lynch, notably “Blue Velvet”, the “Twin Peaks” saga, “The Straight Story” and “Mulholland Drive”. In 1990, Badalamenti received “Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance” for his “Twin Peaks Theme”. In 2008, Badalamenti received a “Lifetime Achievement Award” from the “World Soundtrack Awards’s Academy”, and in 2011, the “Henry Mancini Award” from the “American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers”. 

Nik Turner

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On November 10, 2022, Nicholas Robert Turner died aged 82. He was musician (saxophone, flute), vocalist and composer, member of the bands Sphynx, Inner City Unit and Space Ritual, recorded with Robert Calvert, Michael Moorcock, Mother Gong, Sham 69, Catherine Andrews, Underground Zero, Psychic TV, Helios Creed, The Stranglers, Sting, Blue Horses, Muzak, Space Mirrors, Dodson and Fogg, Paradise 9, Sendelica and Flame Tree, but was best known as member of Hawkwind.

Vangelis

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On May 17, 2021, Evángelos Odysséas Papathanassíou aka Vangelis died aged 79. He was musician (piano, keyboards, drums, percussion), composer and producer, member of the bands The Forminx and Aphrodite’s Child, but was best known for his work as solo artist. In 1981, Vangelis won the “Academy Award” for the soundtrack to “Chariots of Fire”, and composed music for the movies “Blade Runner (1982), Missing (1982), Antarctica (1983), The Bounty (1984), 1492: Conquest of Paradise (1992), and Alexander (2004). As solo artist he released 23 albums.

Pee Wee Ellis

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On September 24, 2021, Alfred James Ellis aka Pee Wee Ellis died aged 80. He was musician (soprano, alto, tenor and baritone saxophone, flute, keyboards), arranger and composer, worked as musical director and arranger with George Benson, Hank Crawford and Esther Phillips. Ellis recorded and performed with David Liebman, Jack McDuff, Rebirth Brass Band, Shirley Scott, Sonny Stitt, Leon Thomas, Van Morrison, Ginger Baker’s jazz Confusion, The JB Horns, Maceo Parker, Brass Fever, Ali Farka Touré and The Dapps, but was best known as longtime collaborator of James Brown. He co-wrote and recorded some of Brown’s best-known songs like “Say It Loud – I’m Black and I’m Proud” and “Cold Sweat”. As leader Ellis released 13 albums.

Harold Lane David

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On September 1, 2012, Harold Lane David died aged 91. He was lyricist best known for his collaborations with composer Burt Bacharach. Together they wrote and composed for Marty Robbins, Dionne Warwick, The Carpenters, Dusty Springfield, B. J. Thomas, Gene Pitney, Tom Jones and Jackie DeShannon. Some of their best known compositions are “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head”, “We Have All the Time in the World”, “This Guy’s in Love with You”, “I’ll Never Fall in Love Again”, “Do You Know the Way to San Jose”, “Walk On By”, “What the World Needs Now Is Love”, “I Say a Little Prayer”, “(There’s) Always Something There to Remind Me”, “One Less Bell to Answer”, “Alfie” and “Anyone Who Had a Heart”. David and Bacharach worked on soundtracks for movies “What’s New Pussycat?”, “Alfie”, “Casino Royale” and “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid”. Their compositions “Don’t Make Me Over”, “(They Long to Be) Close to You” and “Walk On By” have been inducted into the “Grammy Hall of Fame”. David contributed lyrics for three James Bond movies, and wrote lyrics for other composers including Morty Nevins, Albert Hammond, Sherman Edwards and Paul Hampton.

Jon Hassell

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On June 26, 2021, Jon Hassell died aged 84. He was musician (trumpet) and composer, best known as creator of the “Fourth World” music concept. He recorded and performed with artists such as Brian Eno, Terry Riley, the Theatre of Eternal Music, Talking Heads, Farafina, Peter Gabriel, Tears for Fears, Ani DiFranco, Techno Animal, Ry Cooder, Moritz von Oswald, Carl Craig, Francesco Guccini, La Monte Young, David Sylvian, Lloyd Cole, Alice, Marc Beacco, Les Nouvelles Polyphonies Corses, Hector Zazou, Stina Nordenstam, David Toop, Jackson Browne, K. D. Lang, Holly Cole, Mandalay, Hal Wilner, Nick Wood, Rick Cox, Frou Frou, Ibrahim Ferrer and John Balke. As leader, co-leader, Hassell released 18 albums.

Cedar Walton: Composer

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On June 25, 1996, “Astor Place” label” released “Composer”, the 34th Cedar Walton album. It was recorded in January 1996, at “Clinton Recording Studios” in New York City, and was produced by Don Sickler.

Personnel:

  • Cedar Walton – piano
  • Roy Hargrove – trumpet
  • Ralph Moore – soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone
  • Vincent Herring – alto saxophone
  • Christian McBride – bass
  • Victor Lewis – drums
  • Jim Anderson – engineer

Track listing:

All tracks by Cedar Walton

  1. Martha’s Prize
  2. The Vision
  3. Happiness
  4. Minor Controversy
  5. Hindsight
  6. Underground Memoirs
  7. Theme for Jobim
  8. Groove Passage
  9. Ground Work