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.
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
Thomas Lee Duncan, the eponymous Dr. Dubious, died on November 29th, he was 81. A clarinet player, he was born in Cleveland, OH but relocated
Dr. John V. Phelan, Jr. passed away on November 28th in Massachusetts, he was 95. He served in the Navy during WWII and reenlisted into
Trombonist Roy Martin Brewer, Jr. passed away on September 28, 2019, he was 89. His father was a major figure in the Hollywood union movement
Cornetist Allan Kennedy Colter, of Guelph, Ontario passed away on July 20th, he was 91. He played with the Cameo Dixieland Jazz Band and other
Trombonist, vibraphonist, composer, and bandleader George Masso died Tuesday, October 22, 2019, he was 92. The son of a trumpet-playing bandleader, George Masso’s musical education
Nick Tosches, a music journalist who wrote several important biographies as well seven novels died on Sunday, October 20th, he was 69. He began selling
Nathaniel Holmes Morison, III, of Welbourne, Middleburg, Virginia, died October 10th, he was 83. After completing his schooling he returned to Welbourne to run the
Joe Lentino joined the heavenly band on September 20, 2019, two weeks and a day shy of his 81st birthday. He was a trombone player
We belatedly note the passing of the excellent trombonist Jimmy Haislip, of St. Louis, who died on December 31, 2017 at 81. He started his
Bill Evans, passed away on September 10th after a battle with cancer, he was 83. In the 1950s he was a founding member of the
Tom Pletcher, the leading interpretter of Bix Beiderbecke of his generation died in August at 83. Tom Pletcher’s ties to jazz went back two generations.
There have been few more important, or more successful advocates of Dixieland jazz in the last half-century than cornetist Jim Cullum, Jr. who died on
For several decades, now, Ted Shafer has been something of an institution in traditional jazz in the San Francisco Bay Area. The message on his
Jazz revival clarinet and saxophonist Bob Wilber, who explored the sound of Sidney Bechet, and at times stood beside him died August 4th, he was
Art Neville, a star of New Orleans music through several dramatic evolutions died July 22, he was 81. Known as Poppa Funk he grew up
