The Final Chorus

GEORGE AVAKIAN, 98, died on Nov. 22 in New York City. One tribute on his passing stated, “The story of George Avakian is the story

JOHN COATES, Jr., 79, died on Nov. 22 in Scranton, PA. Phil Woods said “People don’t know how good a pianist John Coates is.” Coates

JON HENDRICKS, 96, died on Nov. 22 in New York City. A member of Lambert, Hendricks & Ross, he was one of the originators of

DELLA REESE died on Nov. 19 in Los Angeles, she was 86. Born Delloreese Patricia Early, she began singing in her hometown of Detroit when

FRANK GRECO, died of congestive heart failure on Nov. 2 in Hemet, California, he was 88. Originally from Warsaw, Indiana, he learned to play the

WENDELL EUGENE, 94, on Nov. 7 of pneumonia in New Orleans, Louisiana. Eugene was one of the most respected and longest-serving trombonists in traditional New

TIM BELL, 75, on Oct. 18 in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Bell was an in-demand reedman and professor of music at University of Wisconsin-Parkside from 1975 through

NICHOLAS DENUCCI, 94, on Sept. 9 in Keene, New Hampshire. In his 20s, Nick DeNucci was the pianist for Glen Gray and his Casa Loma

ANTOINE “FATS” DOMINO died on Oct. 24 of natural causes in Harvey, Louisiana, he was 89. Known for his rollicking piano style, he was one

MIKE FAY, 82, on Oct. 16. A bass player whose love of jazz came from listening to recordings of bands from the New Orleans jazz

GRADY TATE, 85, of complications from Alzheimer’s disease on Oct. 8 in New York City. Tate’s drumming helped define a particular hard-bop, soul-jazz and organ-trio

SEYMOUR GREENE, 97 on Sept. 26 in Washington, D.C. A trombonist who played with Jack Teagarden, Bob Zurke, and the Andrews Sisters during the 1930s

VIVIAN ABRAHAM, 83, on Sept. 20 in Sacramento, California. Trained as a bookkeeper, Vivian spent over 40 years as a volunteer and later staff member

DARLA CASTRO, 80, on Aug. 12 in Three Rivers, California. Wife of Charlie Castro, longtime drummer with the High Sierra Jazz Band. She often traveled

ARMIN “Jack” MEILAHN, 81, on September 15, Naperville, IL following a brief battle with liver cancer. A charter member of Chicago’s Bill Bailey’s Banjos in

ROBERT LYNN, 94, on August 30 in Scottsdale, AZ. Originally from Derry, PA, Bob Lynn had been involved in jazz in multiple roles throughout his

LARRY ELGART, 95, on August 29 in Sarasota, Florida. Playing the alto saxophone, he began traveling with some of the biggest-name bands of the day

JOHN ABERCROMBIE, 72, of heart failure on August 22 in Courtlandt Manor, NY. Called “a guitarist of stylistic flexibility and uncompromising musical vision,” he was

BEA WAIN, 100, of congestive heart failure on August 17 in Beverly Hills, Calif. Started singing on the radio at the age of 6, became

RICHARD FAZIO, 77, on June 12 in Boulder City, NV. A master pianist and vocalist, he performed with several U.S. Navy bands and the Sea

FRANK CAPP, 86, on September 12 in Studio City, Calif. A swinging drummer who found his initial fame playing with Stan Kenton’s Orchestra at the

PAUL OLIVER, 90, on August 15 in Oxfordshire, England. A British academician who wrote some of the first scholarly studies of the blues in the

GLEN CAMPBELL, 81, on August 8 in Nashville, TN after a lengthy and public battle with Alzheimer’s disease. Originally from Delight, Arkansas, he was a

BARBARA COOK, 89, from respiratory failure on August 8 in New York City. A singer and actress who first came to prominence in the 1950s