For remembrances grouped by month as they ran in the print edition, including all entries prior to April 2018, look in the Final Chorus Archive, individual past issues, or use the search feature.
Dame Vera Lynn, “Forces’ Sweetheart” of WWII Britain died at home on June 18th, she was 103. Forces’ Sweetheart is an honorific given to women
Gene R. Maurice passed away on April 8, 2020 in Alameda California, he was 93. After service in the Pacific during World War II on
Bob Pilsbury passed away on May 12th in Bedford Massachusetts, he was 93. Bob was the pianist for the New Black Eagle Jazz Band from
Robert Tuttle Morris Frost died on March 25th of pneumonia complications in California, he was 89. Born in 1930 in Washington DC he was raised
Michael Cogswell, founding Executive Director of the Louis Armstrong House Museum died on April 20th at 66 years old. The cause was complications from bladder
Ian Whitcomb, a consummate entertainer and storyteller who shared his gift in song, on the screen, on the page, and on the radio died on
The passing of trombone player and bandleader Bob Mielke at age 93 on April 17th was the result of age and fragility, not the pandemic.
Influential saxophonist Lee Konitz died on April 15th in Greenwich Village. His son confirmed the cause was pneumonia after a recent diagnosis of Covid-19, he
Cornetist Peter Ecklund died on April 8th after a long battle with Parkinson’s. In the mid 1960s while still at Yale he began jamming with
New York jazz cornetist John Bucher died on Sunday April 5th from heart complications, he was 89 years old. After graduating from Amherst in 1952
Beloved traditional jazz banjoist and “Manhattan Minstrel” Eddy Davis died of Covid-19 on April 7th. He contracted the virus while visiting an ER after a
Ellis Marsalis, Jr., New Orleans, pianist, educator, NEA Jazz Master and the patriarch of a musical family, succumbed to the Covid-19 coronavirus on April 1st.
A true legend of jazz guitar, John “Bucky” Pizzarelli died of Coronavirus on April 1st, he was 94. He came from a musical family in
One of the earliest second-generation ragtime performers, Gale “Gaslight” Foehner died on February 9th this year. He was 91. His career as a ragtime pianist
“The Man on the Street”, Mal Sharpe, died on March 10th, he was 83. As he told it he moved to San Francisco after seeing
Sterling Nelson, founder of what one national columnist hailed as “the best jazz festival anywhere!”, died February 22, just two days short of his ninety-first
Guitarist Charlie Baty died on March 6th at 66. In 1976 he founded Little Charlie and The Nightcats with harmonica player and vocalist Rick Estrin.
William Pillucere, Jr., known as “Billy”, was a professional bassist who specialized in classic jazz and could be heard at many festivals, particularly around Florida.
British Trad banjoist Louis Lince died February 3rd after a brief battle with cancer, he was 77. His career in music began in Skiffle groups
Bob Adams, a banjo player and the founder of Ohio’s Buffalo Ridge Jazz Band passed away on January 17th, he was 82. His last public
Lucien Barbarin, a hardworking trombonist and native son of New Orleans succumbed to prostate cancer on Thursday, he was 63. He was diagnosed last March
From Larry Melton: When I read that Buck Henry died on January 8th, I remembered fondly the night we first met in Sedalia at a
When the notifications icon bell at the top of my Ragtimers Club Facebook page has a red number in double digits on a Sunday afternoon
Jack Sheldon, a top West Coast Jazz trumpet player who went on to a television career died on December 27th, he was 88. Several generations
