“He was a horrible guitar player.” So said Rocco Prestia’s closest friend and bandmate, Emilio Castillo. After a music teacher persuaded Prestia to switch to bass, he and Castillo would go on to form the jazz-funk juggernaut known as Tower of Power, and the rest is music history.
Gary Peacock was an American jazz bassist. He recorded a dozen albums under his own name, and also performed and recorded with a number of major jazz figures. For over 30 years, he was a part of Keith Jarrett’s “Standards Trio” with drummer Jack DeJohnette. They recorded over 20 albums together. Gary Peacock passed away on September 4, 2020.
Mario DeSantis was a pianist and big bandleader in Syracuse, NY for over 50 years. The DeSantis Orchestra began as a nine-piece in 1947 and continues to perform under the direction of his daughter Maria to this day. Over the years, the group has grown to include a rotating roster of about 50 union musicians who perform in various types of groups – duos, trios, nine-piece, 12-piece, 18-piece – depending on the function they’re playing. Over the years, they have managed to attract some of the most talented musicians in the region who have kept the lineup at a consistently impressive caliber. Mario DeSantis will forever be remembered as a true music legend in Central New York.
When people say Miles Davis marched to the beat of a different drummer, they were talking about Jimmy Cobb. As the backbone of Miles’s rhythm section on the epic “Kind of Blue” record, Jimmy could have put down his sticks in 1960 with a secure seat in Jazz Heaven. But he’d go on to play for another four decades behind the likes of Bill Evans, Stan Getz, John Coltrane and Nancy Wilson, laying down beats that will inspire drummers for centuries to come. Jimmy Cobb left us in May 2020.
Some would say Richie Cole was born with a silver saxophone in his mouth. Growing up in his father’s jazz club, he earned a Downbeat Scholarship to the Berklee School of Music before enrolling in grad school under the tutelage of such esteemed professors as Buddy Rich, Lionel Hampton and Doc Severinsen. Legendary for his lyrical sound, he was an unsung songwriting hero, leaving behind jazz standards like “Jeannine” which was covered by Donald Byrd and Cannonball Adderly, among others. Richie left us on May 2, 2020, but his tone will resonate forever.
Whoever said size doesn’t matter never saw or heard Neil Peart’s epic drum kit in action. With more than thirty sound generating devices arrayed before him, Peart was the locomotive that drove the mighty freight train of a power trio called Rush. Less well known but just as remarkable were the fantastical lyrics he wrote for the band’s songs over a career that spanned five decades. A proud Canadian as well as the author of six books, Neil Peart, like his drum kit, will forever be larger than life.
There may have been such a thing as air guitar before Eddie Van Halen shredded his way into the public ear in 1978, but, armed with a hand-built axe he called his “Frankenstrat,” Van Halen’s were the chops that launched a million imitators. Among other innovations, Eddie is credited with pioneering string tapping, a two-handed technique that delivers breathtaking speed and precision. But his virtuosity never overshadowed his musicianship, and the epic songs he co-wrote with his bandmates will be blowing speakers and shattering windows for generations to come.
Brian Howe stepped into some of the biggest shoes in rock when he assumed the front man role from Paul Rodgers in the 70s supergroup Bad Company. Having cut his teeth in the studio and onstage as the singer for notorious bad boy Ted Nugent, Howe was a fearless and feisty stage presence. As a songwriter, he led Bad Company to a remarkable second act, releasing two more gold and one platinum record over the next nine years. Brian Howe left us in May 2020.
He was by far the most celebrated soundtrack composer of all time, but for Ennio Morricone, that was just the tip of the musical iceberg. A serious orchestral composer by training, he moonlighted as a jazz trumpeter, classical arranger, experimental bandleader and songwriter, penning hits for the leading Euro Pop artists of the 60s and 70s and collaborating with the likes of Joan Baez, Paul Anka, Pet Shop Boys, KD Lang and Sting. But his greatest legacy will always be the movies whose haunting scores he etched into our collective memory. From his groundbreaking tracks for Sergio Leone to collaborations with the likes of John Huston, William Friedkin, Roman Polanski, Brian DePalma, Barry Levinson, Terrence Malick and, famously, Quentin Tarantino, Ennio Morricone might just have been the greatest film star you’ve never seen.
When Elvis Presley sang about “a little less conversation,” he was quoting his friend Mac Davis. Davis would go on score a host of hits in his own voice in addition to penning songs for Kenny Rogers, Nancy Sinatra and The King. He was even better known by many for his face, acting on stage and screen, hosting his own musical variety show from 1974 to ’76. …and was still scoring hits in his 70s. Mac Davis. He wore many hats in his time, so today, we lift ours in his memory.