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.
Lee Konitz was cool before cool was a concept. Chicago born in 1927, he was twenty when he broke into Stan Kenton’s band. He made his name in the forties and fifties, helping to pioneer the cool jazz school of bebop along with the likes of Miles Davis, Chet Baker and Gerry Mulligan. Known as a sax player’s sax player, he was as acclaimed by his peers for the notes he didn’t play as for the ones he did. When he passed at age 92, the song for which he might be best remembered is prophetically titled, “There Will Never Be Another You.”
It’s not surprising to hear that a Los Angeles teenager in the 1960s would pick up a guitar. But where other kids were drawn to surf rock, Tony Rice had bluegrass in his veins. At 19, he moved east to join J. D. Crowe in a band that would push the boundaries of the genre, guided by Rice’s sure-handed acoustic fretwork and clear baritone. Rice would go on to partner with mandolin genius David Grisman on some of the most influential bluegrass records of our time. In later years, he collaborated with the likes of Ricky Skaggs, Bela Fleck and Emmy Lou Harris. Tony Rice. He saw it as his calling to keep a tradition alive. But in his hands, it was always new.
John Prine was an iconic American country folk singer-songwriter who continues to influence musicians all over the world. So much has been made of his legend. Boyhood summers in Paradise – Kentucky, that is. A route as a postman in Chicago and a stint in the military. All that informed the clear-eyed vision and heartbreaking comedy he brought to songwriting, but it still doesn’t begin to explain the gentle genius of John Prine. As a writer, his material often had elements of protest and social commentary. He once described the place he hoped to occupy as somewhere between Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash, and it’s enough to say he stands shoulder to shoulder with both in the pantheon of American song. He was active as a composer, recording artist and live performer from the early 1970s until his death in April 2020.