Final Curtain
The Greats
This is a tribute to dead modern Jazz artists and those influenced by Jazz but has passed on.
Dave Brubeck
Dave Brubeck lived a simple but impressive life. He was too different and rather too casual. He never drank nor smoked, nor did drugs. He developed a sense of discipline and responsibility with his father on their family cattle ranch. At a very young age, he was being taught piano lessons by his mother who was well crafted in music and on weekends, he played at different dance shows.
Dropping out of veterinary school for music, he worked his way to fame with his brilliant piece and performance. His collaboration with alto saxophonist, Paul Desmond, Eugene and Joe Morello (drummer) has received best ratings from far and near. A major feature of his acts was consistency.
He set the bars high in the Jazz music world with his fusion of various elements and introducing new elements. Before establishing the quartet, he had tried out with an octet immediately after being discharged from military service. He served the music industry as a composer and piano expert for 60 years and died from heart disease at 91 (a day before he clocked 92).
Teddy Charles
Teddy Charles, no doubt, made his mark in the music sector before retiring to the sea. He was not only a pianist or composer but also a producer. He was the youngest child in his family, and his original name was Teddy Cohen, but he replaced his last name with his middle name.
Teddy Charles launched his career with connections with other music artists. He was associated with Charlie Parker, Charles Mingus, Miles Davis, Terry Gibbs and Ed Shaughnessy among other talented performers. As a record producer, he participated in the release of New Directions Albums that featured notable artists.
He is a composer concerned about Jazz music’s future and particularly how people can improve the art of improvisation. In his late 60s, Charles retired to the sea as a boat skipper and a diver which allowed speculations that his early retirement killed his potentials in the Jazz world.
Mike Melvin
Mike Melvin is popular as the kid who started playing the piano at the age of three. Hence, he started his musical career early; in fact, he began making a difference from his teenage years. Although studied English in College, he launched fully into his music career and finally settled in LA in 1961.
In the recording academy, he became a pioneer member as the first active musician-president. He created songs for films as well as wrote songs from scratch. His art has been described as a rare talent that wasn’t fully explored.
Mike was most of his life as a studio musician and performed at clubs and tour sites with his group. He died at the age of 74 from Cancer.
George Shearing
Best known for his work, “Lullaby of Birdland”, George is an excellent writer and pianist who widened Jazz’s scope by adding symphonic sensations. Interestingly, he was born blind and knew nothing about music until he moved into a school for the blind. He learned about playing the piano, a few theories and learned about Jazz from listening to recordings.
Because of his brilliant potentials, he received numerous scholarships just to see him finished college. With help from a few individuals who were impressed with his art, he launched a full-blown musical career, and his contributions would always be appreciated.