Category Archives: Tribute

Alan White

Alan White was an English drummer, best known for his tenure in the progressive rock band Yes. He joined Yes in 1972 as a replacement for original drummer Bill Bruford. He appeared on 43 albums with the band, 17 of which were original studio albums. In 1969, White joined John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s Plastic Ono Band. He notably played drums on the singles “Instant Karma” and “Imagine”, as well as most of Lennon’s 1971 Imagine album. In addition to his work with Yes and John Lennon, White performed on over 50 albums by other musicians, notably George Harrison, Ginger Baker’s Air Force, Joe Cocker and The Ventures.

Mario DeSantis

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.

Charlie Watts

To the eye, he was the least likely member of the Rolling Stones, yet to the ear, Charles Robert Watts was the living heartbeat of the world’s greatest rock ‘n roll band. A consummate drummer, he found his calling when he turned a banjo on its head. Originally a graphic artist, Watts began gigging as a student, seeking to emulate the jazz artists he idolized. When Mick, Keith and Brian Jones first recruited him, they had to pay Charlie extra as he was the band’s only working musician. Throughout the next five decades of constant touring, Watts maintained his dignified demeanor, and his reputation as a fastidious dresser, passing up the sex and drugs but never losing sight of the rock ‘n roll. He also never gave up his first love, jazz.

Gary Brooker

If they gave out an award for the least famous person responsible for the most famous song, Gary Brooker would have another claim to fame. As the writer and singer of “A Whiter Shade of Pale,” Brooker was the voice behind one of the most listened-to records of all time. But behind the scenes, he was a veritable Forrest Gump of British rock, collaborating with the likes of Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Bill Wyman, Jeff Beck and Andrew Lloyd Weber. Though he was a multi-instrumentalist who was as comfortable with a coronet or a trombone as behind a keyboard, it’s that silken voice that will have us be tripping the light fandango for all time.

Vangelis

Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou, known professionally as Vangelis, was a Greek musician, composer, songwriter and producer of electronic, progressive, ambient and classical orchestral music. He was best known for his Academy Award-winning score to Chariots of Fire, as well as for composing scores to the films Blade Runner, Missing, Antarctica, The Bounty and Alexander. Having had a career in music spanning over 50 years and having composed and performed more than 50 albums, Vangelis is considered to be one of the most important figures in the history of electronic music, and modern film music.

B.B. Dickerson

Rarely if ever has a band been defined by the bass lines of its best songs to the extent that the band WAR is defined by B.B. Dickerson. Cisco Kid, Slippin’ Into Darkness, Spill the Wine, Low Rider and The World is a Ghetto, to name a few, are songs that reverberate from the bottom up. In the 70s, and ever since, Dickerson’s syncopated grooves have been the foundation on which great parties are built and great memories are made. Sadly, in recent years, a legal conflict has meant that Dickerson and all but one of his bandmates toured under a pseudonym, the Original Lowriders. But by any name, when B.B. Dickerson left us at age 71, he took the party with him.

Bunny Wailer

Bunny Wailer, was an inspirational singer-songwriter and percussionist. He was an original member of the Jamaican reggae group The Wailers along with Bob Marley and Peter Tosh. He was a 3-time Grammy Award winner, and is considered one of the longtime standard-bearers of reggae music.

Pat Martino

The life of guitar virtuoso Pat Martino can be told in two chapters. Before 1980, he was a prodigy, who quit school at age 15, moved from Philadelphia to Harlem and became a prodigious session player. At 22, he recorded a landmark debut album. Then, at age 35, after suffering seizures, he experienced a brain aneurism and couldn’t remember his own name. This was chapter two. Over the next two decades, Martino would work to recover his speech and memory and remaster his instrument, reaching new levels of musical artistry and acclaim before finally succumbing to respiratory disease in November 2021. Pat Martino. No one ever worked harder to make music sound so effortless.

Rusty Young

You might not have known his name, but his tone will always strike a chord. As a founding member of the L.A. band Poco, Rusty Young was responsible for putting the pedal steel guitar on the rock ‘n roll map and pioneering the Laurel Canyon sound that brought country and pop into harmony. When original songwriters Jim Messina and Richie Furay left the band in the early 70s, Young would step up to author several of the band’s biggest hits. He continued to perform with various versions of Poco until shortly before his death in April of 2021. Rusty Young has left us, but his sound will sustain.

Paul Cotton

Paul Cotton was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter who was a key member of the band Poco. Cotton’s best known song with the band is “Heart of the Night,” which was a major hit from the group’s Legend album. He also penned the song “Barbados.” Paul Cotton passed away in July 2021.