Tag Archives: died aged 79

Howard Johnson

On January 11, 2021, Howard Lewis Johnson died aged 79. He was musician (tuba, baritone saxophone, bass clarinet, trumpet), member and leader of the tuba ensembles Tuba Libre, Substructure, and Gravity. He recorded and performed with some of the world best known musicians and bands, including George Gruntz, Hank Crawford, Gil Evans, Charles Mingus, Hank Crawford, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Archie Shepp, Hank Mobley, Levon Helm, Tomasz Stanko, Gary Burton, Gábor Szabó, Bob Thiele, Charlie Haden, Jazz Composers, Andrew Hill, Leon Thomas, Johnny Coles, Taj Mahal, Charles Tolliver, The Band, Carla Bley, John Lennon, Sam Rivers, Gato Barbieri, Jaco Pastorius, Muddy Waters, Dexter Gordon, Clifford Jordan, David “Fathead” Newman,  James Taylor, Jack De Johnette, Jimmy Heath, Franco Ambrosetti, George Gruntz, Miles Davis, Quincy Jones, NDR Big Band, Ray Anderson, Barbara Dennerlein, John Scofield, T. S. Monk, Mario Pavone, and Chet Baker. As leader he released four albums.

Stanley Cowell

On December 17, 2020, Stanley Cowell died aged 79. He was musician (piano), co-founder of the “Strata-East Records” label, and professor at the “Music Department of the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers”, the “State University of New Jersey”. He recorded with many famous jazz musicians including Gary Bartz, Larry Coryell, Richard Davis, Sonny Fortune, Roy Haynes, Jimmy Heath, The Heath Brothers, Stan Getz, Johnny Griffin, Bobby Hutcherson, J. J. Johnson, Clifford Jordan, Oliver Nelson, Jimmy Owens, Art Pepper, Buddy Terry, Charles Sullivan, Charles Toliver, Roland Kirk, Marion Brown, Harold Land, and Max Roach. As leader Cowell released 34 albums.

Big Joe Williams

On December 17, 1982, Joseph Lee “Big Joe” Williams died aged 79. He was musician (guitar), singer, and songwriter, best known for his distinctive sound of his nine-string guitar. His songs “Baby Please Don’t Go”, “Crawlin’ King Snake” and “Peach Orchard Mama”, were covered by many artists. In October 1992, Williams was inducted into the “Blues Hall of Fame”. As a leader he released sixteen studio and one live album.

Buddy Harman Jr.

On August 21, 2008, Murrey Mizell “Buddy” Harman, Jr. died aged 79. He was a musician (drums), as the first house drummer for “The Grand Ole Opry” can be heard on over 18,000 recordings. He recorded for artists such as Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Martha Carson, Dolly Parton, Brenda Lee, Tammy Wynette, Kenny Rogers, Barbara Mandrell, Loretta Lynn, Roy Orbison, Connie Francis, Chet Atkins, Marty Robbins, Ray Price, Roger Miller, Waylon Jennings, George Jones, Eddy Arnold, Perry Como, Merle Haggard, Reba McEntire, and Gillian Welch.

Tony Glover

On May 29, 2019, David Curtis Glover aka Tony “Little Sun” Glover died aged 79. He was singer, musician (harmonica) and music critic. In 1963, together with John Koerner and Dave Ray he formed the blues trio Koerner, Ray & Glover. In the late sixties, Glover was disc jockey on “KDWB-AM” radio in Minneapolis where he formed the band Nine Below Zero. He was a music critic, writing articles for “Rolling Stone”, “Sign Out”, “Hit Parader”, “Creem”, and other music magazines. Glover wrote liner notes for albums by John Lee Hooker, John Hammond, Sonny Terry, Michael Lessac, Sonny & Brownie, Willie & the Bees and the Jayhawks, and for “The Bootleg Series Vol. 4: Bob Dylan Live 1966”, “The Royal Albert Hall Concert”. Glover was the author of several blues harp songbooks and along with Ward Gaines and Scott Dirks, a co-author, of Little Walter biography “Blues with a Feeling: The Little Walter Story”. He taught harmonica playing Mick Jagger and David Johansen.

Armando Peraza

On April 14, 2014, Armando Peraza died aged 79. He was musician (percussion, congas, bongos, timbales), recorded and performed with Machito’s Big Band, Charlie Parker, Slim Gaillard, Perez Prado, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Mingus, Dexter Gordon, Tony Martinez, Gato Barbieri, Cal Tjader, George Shearing, Randy Weston, Peggy Lee, Mongo Santamaria, Shelly Manne, Judy Garland, Victor Feldman, Stan Kenton Band, Harvey Mandel and Santana. As leader, Peraza recorded one album.

Holger Czukay

On September 5, 2017, Holger Czukay died aged 79. He was musician, music producer, recording engineer, best known as co-founder and member of Can, one of the most influential and important music groups in the music history. Studied under Karlheinz Stockhausen, Czukay is regarded as one of the pioneers of ambient music, early pioneer of sampling and one of the first explorers of “world music”, long before the term was coined. He has released eleven solo albums, and has collaborated with the likes of Conny Plank, The Edge, Jah Wobble, David Sylvian, Ben Mandelson, Dr. Walker, U-She, Ursa Major and Bob Humid.