Neal Hefti was a jazz musician and composer who is best remembered for writing the theme music for the Batman series and the Odd Couple movie and series. Prior to his career as a composer, he played the trumpet in Woody Herman’s band. He also arranged for Frank Sinatra, Buddy Rich and Count Basie. Neil Hefti passed away in his home at the age of 85.
Thanks to Craig Rosen at Number1Albums for the assist.
William Claxton
October 12, 1927 – October 11, 2008
William Claxton was a respected photographer who documented the American jazz scene of the ’50s and ’60s. He captured some of the era’s most iconic images. His list of subjects included Art Pepper, Gerry Mulligan, and most famously, Chet Baker. His images of Baker casually dressed in a t-shirt were instrumental in developing the overall hip image of the musician. Claxton is also responsible for many famous pictures of the likes of Sting, Barbra Streisand, Steve McQueen, Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, Isaac Hayes, and many more. William Claxton died of congestive heart failure just one day before his 81st birthday.
Edith Piaf (Born Edith Gassion)
December 19, 1915 – October 10, 1963
Edith Piaf was a French singer who rose from poverty to become one of her country’s most popular performers of the ’30s, ’40s, and ’50s. Because of her petite frame, she was called “The Little Sparrow” around the world, and has since become a cultural icon thanks to numerous recordings, biographies and at least one major motion picture about her life. After conquering France, Piaf began touring the rest of Europe and the United States in the years following World War Two. While in the U.S., she graced the stage of Carnegie Hall twice and The Ed SullivanShow eight times. Piaf was seriously injured in a car accident in 1951, the pain from which lead to her addiction to morphine and alcohol. She died of liver cancer on October 10, 1963 at the age of 47.
Known as the “Godfather Of Rocksteady,” Alton Ellis was a Jamaican musician who took the elements of ska and slowed them down to a more relaxed beat. It in turn, paved the way for what we now know as reggae. A prolific singer, Ellis began his career with Eddy Perkins in the late ’50s as part of a duo, Alton & Eddy, who scored a big Jamaican hit with their “Muriel.” In the early ’60s, he formed his group, the Flames just as ska was taking hold throughout Jamaica. He slowed the beat down and recorded a hit song called “Rock Steady” which became the new genre’s name. In 1967, he recorded a song called “Mad Men” that included a three-note descending horn line which became became a constant in more than 100 reggae songs to follow. Reinterpretations of it can be heard in hip-hop songs by the likes of Tupac Shakur, KRS-One, and the Notorious B.I.G.. Ellis continued to stay active until his health began to give out in the mid 2000’s. Diagnosed with cancer in late 2007, Alton Ellis died from it on October 10, 2008. He was 70 years old.
Thanks to Craig Rosen at Number1Albums for the assist.
Sonny Bradshaw was a beloved Jamaican musician whose career spanned a remarkable six decades. He was as multi-faceted as he was renowned. Besides playing the trumpet, piano, trombone, saxophone, and clarinet, Bradshaw was a composer, arranger, producer, journalist and promoter. During the ’50s, he formed the Sonny Bradshaw 7, which turned out to be the first significant musical home of many great Jamaican musicians to come. In the early ’60s, Bradshaw began working in radio, with his Teenage Dance Party, becoming the first place many Jamaicans heard the early songs of future legends. On October 10, 2009, Sonny Bradshaw died after having been ill following a stroke a few months earlier. He was 83 years old.