Category Archives: Tribute

David Muse

If there is such a thing as a hardcore soft rock superstar, David Muse would be the prototype. Over the span of five decades, multi-instrumentalist Muse would leave his mark on three gold and two platinum albums, most prominently as a member of Firefall and The Marshall Tucker Band. As a saxman, flautist and keyboard player, Muse also carried on a successful solo career, performing and recording instrumental jazz, and was featured on more than 25 recordings. Until cancer took him from us in August 2022, in his own gentle way, David Muse was a force to be reckoned with.

Mike Finnigan

If you’re known by the company you keep, Mike Finnigan was Fortune 500 all the way. Starting in the late 60s, Mike’s inimitable touch on the Hammond B3 organ catapulted him to the top tier of touring and session players in rock, blues and pop.

Duffy Jackson

Duffy Jackson was the son of jazz double-bassist and band leader Chubby Jackson. As a child, he played drums, making appearances with Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Woody Herman and Buddy Rich before he finished high school. In 1971 he moved to Los Angeles, where he worked with Monty Alexander, Ray Brown, Herb Ellis, Lena Horne, Milt Jackson and Barney Kessel.

Marilyn Bergman

Marilyn Bergman is one of the world’s most distinguished lyricists, and contributed to the Great American Songbook for more than five decades. Her songs have been nominated for sixteen Academy Awards, for which she has won three…

Charnett Moffett

What do Ellis, Wynton and Branford Marsalis, Art Blakey, Ornette Coleman, Pharoah Sanders, Dizzy Gillespie, Stanley Jordan, Arturo Sandoval, David Sanborn, Dianne Reeves, Harry Connick, Jr., Herbie Hancock, Kenny Kirkland, Kevin Eubanks, Anita Baker and Tony Williams have in common? One very uncommon bass player. In a lifetime that lasted just 54 years, Charnett Moffett laid the foundation for hundreds of the most important jazz recordings of all time. Renowned for the depth of his tone and the height of his creative imagination, Charnett Moffett might be remembered as the most heard player most people never heard of.

James Mtume

James Mtume was born into jazz royalty and grew up at the intersection of Rhythm and Blues. Philadelphia producer and percussionist James Mtume was the son of saxophonist Jimmy Heath and raised by his stepfather, pianist James Forman. After serving his apprenticeship under the likes of Miles Davis and McCoy Tyner, Mtume struck under his own name with a series of successful jazz-funk and R&B records in the 70s.

Al Schmitt

As far as we know, Al Schmitt was not born in a recording studio, but he was certainly raised in one. At 8 years old, he was riding the subway into Manhattan to visit the studio where his uncle Harry was mixing sessions for the likes of Bing Crosby, The Andrews Sisters and Les Paul. At age 19, he would end up engineering a Duke Ellington orchestra session when his boss was unavailable. Soon after in 1958, he moved to L.A. where, for the next sixty years or so, he would become the most decorated engineer in music history, earning more than 150 gold and platinum albums and winning twenty Grammy Awards.

Taylor Hawkins

Taylor Hawkins was an American musician, best known as the drummer of the rock band Foo Fighters, with whom he recorded eight studio albums. Before joining the band in 1997, he was the touring drummer for both Sass Jordan and for Alanis Morissette. Hawkins was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2021 as a member of Foo Fighters. He was voted “Best Rock Drummer” in 2005 by the British drumming magazine Rhythm. Taylor Hawkins died at the age of 50 on March 25, 2022.

Naomi Judd

Naomi Judd was an American singer and actress. In 1980, she and her daughter Wynonna formed the duo known as The Judds, which became a very successful country music act, winning five Grammy Awards and nine Country Music Association Awards. The Judds stopped performing in 1991. However, Wynonna continued to perform as a solo artist, and occasionally reunited with her mother for tours as The Judds. Naomi struggled with mental health issues throughout her life. She died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound on April 30, 2022, the day before she and Wynonna were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Gary Peacock

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.