Died On This Date (August 25, 2009) Berle Adams / Former Label Executive & Agent

Berle Adams (Born Beryl Adasky)
June 11, 1917 – August 25, 2009

adams_berleBerle Adams was a longtime music industry executive who, through his career was Vice President of MCA and co-founded Mercury Records.  Adams began his career as an agent, representing such acts as Coleman Hawkins and Louis Jordan.  He later formed his own agency as well as a couple of publishing companies.  In 1945, he co-founded Mercury Records, quickly releasing hits by the likes of Vic Damone and Frankie Laine.  In 1950, Lew Wasserman hired Adams at MCA where he stayed for the next two decades, working mostly in television.  While with MCA, Adams formed Uni Records who signed the Who, Neil Diamond and Elton John to name a few.  In 1971, Adams left MCA to work for the William Morris Agency.  Berle Adams passed away on August 25, 2009 at the age of 92.



Died On This Date (August 16, 2007) Max Roach / Jazz Icon

Max Roach
January 10, 1924 – August 16, 2007

Many jazz fans consider Max Roach to have been one of the genre’s greatest drummers.  One of the early practitioners of bebop, Roach made his mark playing behind some of popular music’s greatest musicians.  That list includes Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus and Sonny Rollins.  Throughout a recording career that spanned nearly 60 years, Roach performed on over 100 albums, either as a sideman or leader.  Of those albums, 1962’s Money Jungle with Mingus and Ellington has been called the greatest trio album ever recorded.  Off the stage, Roach was an civil rights activist.  He passed away at the age of natural causes at the age of 83.

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We Insist! - Max Roach's Freedom Now Suite - Abbey Lincoln & Max Roach

Died On This Date (July 12, 2003) Benny Carter / Jazz Great

Benny Carter
August 8, 1907 – July 12, 2003

benny-carterBenny Carter was a premier jazz horn player for over 60 years.  He was loved for his abilities on the saxophone, clarinet, and trumpet.  Throughout his career, he’s won numerous awards including Grammys and the National Medal of Arts.  Carter made his first recordings in 1928 and never looked back.  Over the years he’s played with the biggest names in jazz including Fletcher Henderson, Django Reinhardt and Coleman Hawkins.  As an arranger, he’s worked with Benny Goodman, Count Basie, Billie Holiday, Ray Charles, Duke Ellington and many more.    Remarkably, Carter continued working until he retired at the ago of 90.  He passed away five years later.

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Further Definitions - Benny Carter, Benny Carter and His Orchestra & Quincy Jones and His Orchestra



Died On This Date (May 19, 1969) Coleman “The Hawk” Hawkins / Jazz Sax Great

Coleman Hawkins
November 21, 1904 – May 19, 1969

Coleman Hawkins was one of jazz’s first influential saxophonists. Just out of high school, Hawkins hit the road as part of Mamie Smith’s band, and just a couple of years later he teamed up with Fletcher Henderson. By 1937 he found himself in Europe touring with the likes of Django Reinhardt and Benny Carter. Hawkins’ recording of “Body And Soul” in 1939 became the definitive version of a song that has since been recorded hundreds of times, and his solo is considered one of the finest performances ever in popular music. Hawkins died of pneumonia on May 19, 1969 at the age of 64.

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Died On This Date (May 16, 1953) Django Reinhardt / Jazz Great

Django Reinhardt
January 23, 1910 – May 16, 1953

Django Reinhardt was one of Europe’s earliest jazz musician’s to gain fame on the international level. His style of choice was Gypsy Jazz on the guitar, spending much of his youth in gypsy camps near Paris. By the mid ’30s he was playing alongside the likes of Coleman Hawkins, Benny Carter and Louis Armstrong. During WWII, Reinhardt escaped the fate of many other gypsies who were sent to their deaths at the hands of the Nazis. It has been reported that Reinhardt had an influential fan in the Luftwaffe. His popularity soared in post war Europe and beyond thanks in part to his musical partnership with Stephane Grappelli. Reinhardt retired in 1951 and died in 1953 after collapsing outside his house from a brain hemorrhage.

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