Latest Posts

Jazz Legend Jim McNeely died September 26, 2025

Jim McNeely: A Life in Jazz Early Life and Musical Roots Jim McNeely was born on May 18, 1949, in Chicago, Illinois, into a family where music was always close at hand. His mother sang in the church choir, his father played piano by ear, and his siblings were also musically inclined. Growing up in that environment, McNeely developed a natural affinity for sound, rhythm, and melody. He began piano lessons at the age of six, and by eight he was already studying both technique and music theory in more structured settings. These early lessons provided him not only with…
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Bassist Danny Thompson died September 23, 2025

Danny Thompson was an English multi-instrumentalist best known as a double bassist. Across more than six decades he became one of the most respected and widely admired accompanists in British music. His bass sound — resonant, melodic, and always sympathetic to the musicians around him — anchored records and concerts by a dazzling variety of artists, from John Martyn and Richard Thompson to Pentangle, Nick Drake, Kate Bush, and Toumani Diabaté. Thompson’s playing was never about virtuosity for its own sake: it was about listening, responding, and bringing a song to life. Early life and beginnings Danny Thompson was born…
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Jazz Pianist Mike Wofford died September 19, 2025

Michael (Mike) Wofford — A Life at the Keyboard Michael Wofford — usually billed as Mike Wofford — carved a singular path through American jazz: a pianist whose acute musical sensitivity made him a musician’s musician, and whose work as an accompanist placed him in the rare company of singers and instrumentalists who demanded both technical command and empathetic restraint. Born February 28, 1938, in San Antonio and raised in Southern California, Wofford’s career spanned more than six decades. He died September 19, 2025, at the age of 87. Early Life and Musical Formation Mike Wofford grew up in San…
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Sonny Curtis died on September 19, 2025

Sonny Curtis: A Life in Song Early Years Sonny Curtis was born on May 9, 1937, in the small farming community of Meadow, Texas. He grew up in a large family, the son of cotton farmers who knew the value of hard work. Music, though, was his first love. Even as a small child he gravitated toward the guitar, picking up songs by ear and learning from relatives who played traditional country and bluegrass. By the time he was in grade school he could already play competently, and music quickly became both an escape from the demands of farm life…
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Grammy Winning Songwriter Brett James died September 18, 2025

Brett James: A Life in Song Brett James was one of the most prolific and respected songwriters in modern country music, as well as a singer and record producer. Over his nearly three-decade career in Nashville, he went from hopeful recording artist to one of the go-to writers behind dozens of Number One country hits. His compositions were recorded by hundreds of artists, and his impact on the sound of contemporary country music was immense. Early Life and Education Brett James was born Brett James Cornelius in Columbia, Missouri, on June 5, 1968 and grew up in Oklahoma. From an…
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Supertramp’s Rick Davies died September 6, 2025

Rick Davies: the quiet fulcrum of Supertramp Rick Davies was pianist with a bluesman’s left hand and a sardonic baritone who built a global phenomenon on odd bedfellows: Wurlitzer bark and saxophone sheen; prog-rock architecture and pop instinct; his earthier grit set against Roger Hodgson’s high, airy tenor. Across five decades he was the band’s only constant, its principal organizer and de facto musical director, and one of rock’s most distinctive keyboard stylists. Davies died on September 6, 2025, at his home in East Hampton, Long Island, from complications of multiple myeloma. He was 81. Early years in Swindon Richard…
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Mark Volman died on September 5, 2025

Mark Volman: A Life in Music, Laughter, and Legacy Mark Volman was an American vocalist, guitarist, songwriter, educator, and performer who left an indelible mark on rock history. Best known as a founding member of the 1960s rock band The Turtles, Volman also became widely recognized for his long-running partnership with Howard Kaylan in the 1970s rock duo Flo & Eddie. Under the pseudonym “Flo” (short for The Phlorescent Leech), Volman brought a mix of humor, vocal brilliance, and showmanship that kept him at the forefront of popular music. His time with Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention further…
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Mastodon’s Brent Hinds died August 20, 2025

Brent Hinds (January 16, 1974 – August 20, 2025) Early Life & Musical Roots William Brent Hinds was born on January 16, 1974, in Helena, Alabama. Growing up in the South meant he was surrounded by a unique mix of country, gospel, and rock traditions. Unlike many heavy metal musicians who first cut their teeth on hard rock records, Hinds began with the banjo. The banjo would leave a permanent imprint on his approach to guitar, as he developed a hybrid-picking style that merged fingerpicking and flatpicking techniques. This banjo-informed technique became one of his defining trademarks. As a child,…
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Cool John Ferguson died August 12, 2025

Cool John Ferguson: A Life in Blues, Soul, and Spirit Early Roots in Gullah Culture and the Genesis of a Musical Prodigy John W. Ferguson, known professionally as Cool John Ferguson, was born on December 3, 1953, in Beaufort, South Carolina, a town deeply embedded in the Sea Islands and the traditions of the Gullah Geechee people. The Gullah culture preserved strong ties to West African heritage, maintaining distinctive languages, spiritual practices, and music forms. It was into this environment of rhythm, call-and-response, and deeply felt song that Cool John was born, and these sounds would form the foundation of…
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Sheila Jordan died August 11, 2025

Sheila Jordan (1928–2025): A Life in Jazz A Voice Born from Adversity Sheila Jeanette Dawson was born on November 18, 1928, in Detroit, Michigan. Her childhood was marked by instability: her father disappeared shortly after her birth, and her mother battled alcoholism. Sheila spent much of her early life with her grandparents in Summerhill, Pennsylvania, a small coal-mining town defined by poverty and struggle. The emotional and economic hardships of her youth left a lasting imprint on her sense of resilience and on the deep emotional timbre of her music. She often recalled that singing became her means of survival….
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