Rolling Obituary Thread 2024

SaNborn

In this 2017 interview he talks about his ties to BAG in his native St. Louis and his friendship with drummer Phillip Wilson:

Through Phillip I met Lester Bowie, Oliver Lake, Julius Hemphill, and Hamiet Bluiett. Lester was the comedian king: like the wise philosopher of St. Louis but funny and fearless.

Phillip and Lester did not discriminate about styles of music. Lester played in a circus band, society gigs, straight ahead gigs. He played with Jimmy Forrest. He met his wife Fontella “Rescue Me” Bass on a gig with the Clara Ward Gospel Singers.

Everyone had a day job except for Lester. Julius Hemphill sold furniture, Oliver Lake worked in the post office, Phillip worked as an arc welder at McDonnell Aircraft. Phillip worked at McDonnell all day, like from six in the morning to three or four in the afternoon, and he might of gone home and slept a bit before playing and hanging all night. Sometimes we would be hanging at like four in the morning and he’d say, “I’ve got to go home, change my clothes, and go to work.”

Hemphill was a physically imposing figure, a towering guy with a commanding presence. No one had to say it, but he was obviously the guy in control, the Einstein of everything. He was a powerful player, he had great time. And such a great composer. Eventually he was the glue in the World Saxophone Quartet, and gave avant-gardisms that were verging on tenuous more nuance. Tim Berne and I bonded over Dogon A.D.: that album was a life-changing experience for Tim.

The whole thing is worth reading.

That's great, thanks! Yeah, he and Wilson played on Butterfield's The Resurrection of Pigboy Crabshaw, one of my 60s favorites. The horns didn't get a lot of solo room, but it worked.

Having seen photos of Julius Hemphill I can only imagine he must have been an extremely successful furniture salesman. Who would dare say no to the guy?

Alice Munro, 92

Kinda didn’t realise she was that old! RIP she’s great

The greatest, really! RIP

I'm in awe of the way she'd begin with a premise, spiral outwards to the furthest reaches of this world's galaxy, and somehow return to the premise but having been enlightened by what she showed.

Gudrun Ure, Supergran herself, at 98.

RIP Supergran! One of my earliest heroes.

I think I only posted her on 'people you didn't know were still alive' about a month ago.

greatrun

Oh man, Alice Munro. Love her work.

Dabney Coleman, 92
https://www.local12.com/news/entertainment/report-actor-dabney-coleman-passes-away-dead-death-age-92-melvin-howard-on-golden-pond-tootsie-movies-film-television-emmy-award

John Hawken, keyboardist, 84
Member of the Nashville Teens, Renaissance and the Strawbs

XP Cause of death was not disclosed.

uhh, maybe his age was a factor?

That's the joke around my house — "He died of being 92."

Overtoun House windows (aldo) at 1:40 14 May 24

I think I only posted her on 'people you didn't know were still alive' about a month ago.

That's me and Dabney Coleman. Just posted him to that thread on April 12.

John Hawken! I actually love that first Renassiance album. and a lot of the Strawbs stuff he was on. what a cool band they were. not really folk, not really prog, just kinda liable to go anywhere in between. Hawken I believe was the main reason for that. I wanna quote some Strawbs tune about wishing your dead friends well but there are just so damn many of them

Pedal steel guitarist, large-scale instrument builder and LAFMS affiliate Chas Smith. (all of his albums are great)

Minneapolis West Bank folk legend Spider John Koerner https://www.startribune.com/spider-john-koerner-obituary-minneapolis-minnesota-bob-dylan-ray-glover-bonnie-raitt-palmers-cancer/600366946/"> https://www.startribune.com/spider-john-koerner-obituary-minneapolis-minnesota-bob-dylan-ray-glover-bonnie-raitt-palmers-cancer/600366946/

xpost Yeah, Chas Smith plays on that forthcoming Lee Underwood reissue that I posted Drag City press sheet about (w video link) on the post-Fahey thread, followed by sleeves post of the Bandcamp link to a Chas album.

Roger Corman

A wait sorry. I am a week late to the party.

I see he was mentioned right before John Barbata.

Discussed briefly here as well: Roger Corman movies S/D

https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/18/politics/alice-stewart-cnn-commentator-dies/index.html

CNN contributor, former Santorum/Bachmann/Huckabee/Cruz communications director Alice Stewart.

Communications directing for those people could be fatal to your health.

I was shocked by Alice Stewart's death in that she was still on air a week or two ago. Obviously she worked for some terrible people, but she was okay on the air.

I don't know if the reaper is taking requests, but iranian president Ebrahim Raisi next please thank u

You might as well root for Archduke Ferdinand to pass...

You mean he's already dead?

not looking good is it? how sad

he looks dead to me but theyre waiting on a VAR review, theyre struggling to draw a clear line across the balkans

The referee has pointed to the spot.

helicopter crashes very much the van Basten penalty of world leader deaths

Anyway, another to add: Australian yodelling pop-country star Frank Ifield, whose easy listening hits clogged up the UK charts in the pre-Beatles 60s. I thought he had died years ago, apparently not.

oh dear, a part of my childhood I recall was playing the She Taught Me How to Yodel 45 on my parents record player. It was bad, not good.

God, yes, I had no idea he was still alive.

Every few years I'd rediscover he was still alive

I really love "I Remember You"

He was only 25 when the Beatles had their first hit!

They also shared an LP iirc

Yeah, what was that again? It's been awhile

Palle Danielsson, 77, Jazz bassist

Member of the Keith Jarrett Quartet 1974-79 (Belong, Nude Ants, etc.) Also played on Jan Garbarek's Witchi-Tae-To and many other alubms.

"Spider" John Koerner, 84, singer/guitarist

"An important mentor to the young Bob Dylan."

“I Remember You-ooooooooh”

Ivan Boesky

I don't know if the reaper is taking requests, but iranian president Ebrahim Raisi next please thank u

You wish has been granted, apparently

(xpost)

I know him, so pretty infamous:

https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/20/investing/ivan-boesky-dies-wall-street/index.html

I Remember You - that's the one Bjork covered, right? it's lovely.