Jim Widner (1946-2021)

Music educator Jim Widner, passed away from a heart attack on October 3rd. He was 75 years old.

Primarily a bass player he toured with the big bands of Stan Kenton, Woody Herman and Buddy DeFranco, created a jazz program at the University of Missouri at St. Louis where he taught for decades, and owned a music store with his wife (Pro Music Shop). For ten years he worked as a lecturer at the Kenton Jazz Camps and  after Stan Kenton’s death it became the Widner Jazz Camps, which he directed . He led his Jim Widner Big Band for over 30 years releasing a number of albums. He was a product endorser for Yamaha.  He was part of the team that established the Jazz Educators Network (JEN).

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Joe Bebco is the Associate Editor of The Syncopated Times and Webmaster of SyncopatedTimes.com

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