“Amazing Grace”
Written by John Newton
MICHAEL WOLFF: Piano
An “In Memoriam” tribute to honor both Gerry Lenfest & Paul Pines.
Gerry Lenfest was a man with a passion for supporting education and the arts. Over the years, he personally invested to help many different efforts in and around the City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Gerry Lenfest gave away more than $1.3 billion to over 1,100 organizations – providing student scholarships, helping finance various music performance venues, helping fund non-profit arts groups, providing free advertising to local arts groups, and so much more.
His generosity remade the educational, cultural, and media sectors of Philadelphia, making him one of the city’s most dynamic civic leaders of the last century. It’s only fitting that we recognize his spirit and honor him as one who gave so much to push the power of music forward.
Paul Pines was a passionately creative man for most of his life. He was a published poet…a novelist…a distinguished literature professor and a major league jazz entrepreneur.
After graduating from college in 1961, Paul moved to New York where he found his artistic home among the poets, writers, artists, and musicians that were flourishing there at that time. In 1973, he opened his legendary jazz club – The Tin Palace – which became a Mecca for cutting edge music and poetry for many, many years. In 1984, Paul met John Strong of the Lake George Arts Project in Lake George, New York. That summer, the two of them began planning the first ever Lake George Jazz Weekend.
For 35 years, together they built this annual event into one of the finest and purest jazz festivals in the country. Thanks in large part to Paul Pines, Jazz at the Lake remains an important and serious showcase for jazz musicians around the world.
So we can remember them fondly, here is a compiled list of some of the many musicians and industry veterans who passed away in 2018. May they all Rest In Eternal Peace.
IN MEMORIAM
Rick Hall (Producer – Muscle Shoals), Ray Thomas (Flautist – The Moody Blues), Geoff Thurman (Singer), George Vassilev (Jazz Guitarist), Dolores O’Riordan (Singer – The Cranberries), Edwin Hawkins (Gospel Singer), Ravi Shankar (Sitar Master), Jim Rodford (Bassist), Hugh Masekela (Trumpeter), Lari White (Country Singer), Mark E. Smith (Singer – The Fall), Tommy Banks (Jazz Pianist), Dennis Edwards (Singer – The Temptations), Ndugu Chancler (Drummer), Rick DePofi (Saxophonist), Pat Torpey (Drummer – Mr. Big), Craig MacGregor (Bassist – Foghat), Johann Johannssen (Icelandic Composer), Vic Damone (Singer), Daryl Singletary (Country Singer), Didier Lockwood (French Jazz Violinist), Sid Hudson (Guitarist), Harvey Schmidt (Composer), Russ Solomon (Founder – Tower Records), Alexander Sevastion (Master Accordionist), Ron Huff (Arranger, Producer), Peter “Mars” Cowling (Bassist – The Pat Travers Band), Ken Bran (Key Technician – Marshall Amplifiers), Bernard Soto (Percussionist), Cecil Taylor (Jazz Pianist), Randy Scruggs (Country Singer, Producer), Avicii (Swedish DJ), Bob Dorough (Jazz Singer, “Schoolhouse Rock”), Charles Neville (Saxophonist – The Neville Brothers), John “Jabo” Starks (Drummer), Roy Burns (Founder – Aquarian Drumheads), Reggie Lucas (Guitarist, Producer), Glenn Snoddy (Inventor – The “Fuzz Box”), Dave Schober (Engineer), Phil Emmanuel (Guitarist), Russ Regan (Record Executive), Eddie “The Chief” Clearwater (Blues Guitarist), Clarence Fountain (Founder – The Blind Boys of Alabama), Jimmy B. Biggins (Saxophonist), Danny Kirwan (Guitarist – Fleetwood Mac), Lorraine Gordon (The Village Vanguard Club), Robert “Butch” Pielka (Co-Owner, – The Stone Pony Club), DJ Fontana (Drummer), Matt “Guitar” Murphy (Guitarist – The Blues Brothers), Rebecca Parris (Jazz singer), Dave Corcoran (Drummer), Vinnie Paul (Drummer), Paul Pines (Promoter – Lake George Jazz Festival), Alan Longmuir (Bassist – The Bay City Rollers), Richard Swift (Producer – The Black Keys), Bill Watrous (Trombonist), Jeff Sturges, Sr. (Arranger), Andy McMahon (Keyboardist), Oliver Knussen (Composer), Jerry Wallace (Guitarist), Dave Bianco (Recording Engineer), Patrick Williams (Composer, Arranger), Ray Cooper (Record Executive), Tomasz Stanko (Jazz Trumpeter), Mark Novak (Bassist – The Todd Hobin Band), Blue Miller (Guitarist), Aretha Franklin (Singer), Eddie Willis (Guitarist), Ed King (Guitarist – Lynyrd Skynyrd), Mike Kennedy (Drummer), Conway Savage (Keyboards), Beth Krakower (Music Publicist), Mac Miller (Rapper), Ira Sabin (Founder – JazzTimes Magazine), Max Bennett (Bassist), Marty Balin (Singer – Jefferson Airplane), Otis Rush (Blues Guitarist), Kim Larsen (Danish Singer), Big Jim Wright (Producer), Jerry Gonzalez (Trumpeter), Charles Aznavour (French Singer), Tom Richards (Bassist), Geoff Emerick (Engineer – The Beatles), Montserrat Caballe (Spanish Soprano), John Wicks (Singer, Guitarist), Danny Blaze (Drummer), Andy Goessling (Founder – Railroad Earth), Melvin “Wah Wah” Watson (Guitarist), Tony Joe White (Songwriter), Sonny Fortune (Saxophonist), George Hawkins, Jr. (Bassist), Richard Gill (Conductor), Roy Hargrove (Jazz Trumpeter), Glenn Schwartz (Guitarist), Bobby Hatfield (Singer – The Righteous Brothers), Idris Muhammad (Drummer), Teddy Lloyd (Steel Guitarist), Roy Clark (Guitarist), Ustad Imrat Khan (Sitar), Michael Holloway (Guitarist), Pete Shelley (Singer – The Buzzcocks), Nancy Wilson (Jazz Singer), Joe Osborn (Bassist – “The Wrecking Crew”), Norman Gimbel (Lyricist), Ray Sawyer (Singer – Dr. Hook)
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