The Final Chorus

Canadian guitarist and banjo player Warren Stirtzinger died Dec. 4, 2016, in St. Catharines, Ontario. He was 65 years old. Stirtzinger was a member of

LARRY KARP, 76, on Oct. 11 in Seattle, WA. Growing up in Paterson, NJ, Larry Karp self-published a serialized detective story, Richard Richard, Private Dick

DAWN HAMPTON, 88, on Sept. 25 in New York City. A cabaret and jazz singer, alto and tenor saxophonist, dancer and songwriter, Dawn Hampton came

OSCAR BRAND, 96, of pneumonia on Sept. 30 in Great Neck, NY. A Canadian-born, naturalized U.S. citizen, folk singer, songwriter and author, his career spanned

STANLEY “Buckwheat” DURAL, Jr., 68, from lung cancer on Sept. 24 in Lafayette, Louisiana. One of the few zydeco artists to achieve mainstream success, he

RANDOLPH SIPLE, 83, on Sept. 20 in Ventura, CA. Randy Siple was very much his own man as evidenced by the fact he wrote his

BOBBY BREEN, 88, on Sept. 19 of natural causes in Pompano Beach, FL. A popular actor and singer who was compared with other child stars

RICHARD JOHNSON, 96, on Sept. 17 in Sacramento. A professional musician since 1938, he played trumpet, clarinet, and tuba and was a member of a

Horace Meunier Harris, who for many years wrote the “Jazz in Britain” column for The American Rag, passed away on October 15, 2016 at the

FRED HELLERMAN, 89, on Sept. 1 at his home in Weston, Conn., following a lengthy illness. The last surviving member of the original Weavers formed

DEREK SMITH, 85, on Aug. 21 in New York City. Born in London, his first professional gig was at age 14 when someone rolled a

IRVING FIELDS, 101, on Aug. 20 in New York City. Considered the last of the legendary cocktail pianists who tickled the ivories in swank nightspots

Belgian musician Jean-Baptiste “Toots” Thielemans, who turned the lowly harmonica into a virtuoso jazz instrument, died Aug. 22 in Brussels. He was 94. Thielemans, a

The world of Jazz has lost a legend. Heart failure on August 6 at the age of 86 ended the colorful career of the great

SIR CHARLES THOMPSON, 98, on June 16 in Japan. A swing and bebop pianist, organist, composer and arranger, he was playing private parties with the

JOHN CHILTON, 83, on Feb. 23 in London, UK following a brief illness. A Grammy-winning jazz writer who also played the trumpet, he was George

DAVID REESE, 63, on Feb. 3 in New York City. Curator of the Louis Armstrong House Museum since 2012, he had an impressive resume of historic preservation

ERNESTINE ANDERSON, 87, on March 10 in Seattle, Washington. A jazz and blues singer whose career spanned six decades, her voice was once described by

ERNIE SANTOSUOSSO, 93, on Oct.19 in Norwell, Mass. Considered the dean of Boston jazz critics, he penned some 3,550 reviews and interviews for The Boston Globe over

Standout drummer Joe Ascione has lost his 18-year battle with Multiple Sclerosis. He passed away in Queens, New York on March 11, three days before

For nearly 50 years, Arkansas-born Dan Hicks picked guitar and sang songs that cleverly blended the best of American music styles. Hicks died Feb. 6,

RICHARD “Mush” MUSHLITZ, 86, on Jan. 20 in Newburgh, Indiana. The banjo-playing co-founder of The Salty Dogs when he was an undergraduate at Purdue University.

GLENN JENKS, 69, on Jan. 21 in Camden, Maine. As a teen studied at the New England Conservatory of Music and went on to graduate

WILLIAM DUNHAM, 88, on Jan. 11 in New York City. Organized one of the early traditional jazz bands, the Grove Street Stompers, that performed Monday