Died On This Date (May 23, 1994) Joe Pass / Jazz Guitar Virtuoso
themusicsover Joe Pass
January 13, 1929 – May 23, 1994
Joe Pass was an exceptional jazz guitarist known for an improvisational style that would influence future generations of players. Pass began playing guitar on his 9th birthday and by the time he turned 14, he was gigging around town. But within a few years, he began to struggle with drug abuse and fell off the radar as a musician. After spending over two years in a drug rehab program, he resurfaced to reclaim his spot at the top of the jazz world. Throughout the ’60s, Pass recorded several albums for the Pacific Jazz label while lending his talents to the likes of Frank Sinatra, Sarah Vaughan, Johnny Mathis and Della Reese. The ’70s saw the release of Pass’ signature album, Virtuoso and the Grammy winning album, The Trio by Pass, Oscar Peterson, and Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen. Pass died of cancer on May 23, 1994.
What You Should Own
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 
Henry “Butch” Stone is best remembered as a singer and saxophonist with Les Brown & His Band of Renown. Stone learned to play the sax as a child and went on to play, as well as sing, in his high school band. By the ’40s, he was playing in Brown’s band with whom he stayed for many years. Stone’s “A Good Man Is Hard To Find” was very popular at the time. Throughout his career, Stone entertained American soldiers as part of Bob Hope’s shows well over a dozen times. He passed away at the age of 96.
Susannah McCorkle was an American jazz vocalist who made a name for herself during the late ’70s to early ’90s thanks to her quietly intensive voice. She signed to respected jazz label, Concord Records in the early ’90s and released two critically acclaimed and commercially successful albums. Around that time, she also made recordings for the Smithsonian Institution, being the youngest artist to do so at the time. McCorkle was also a published author, having penned short stories for Cosmopoliton and Madamoiselle as well as essays in the New York Times Magazine. McCorkle was a breast cancer survivor, but suffered from depression for many years. She took her own life at the age of 55 by leaping from the balcony of her Manhattan apartment.
Along with his brothers, Ricardo Abreu formed Los Papines, a popular Cubun band over 45 years ago. The band was somewhat unique in that it was just vocals and percussion. The band has been very influential to countless Afro-Cuban musicians that have come since. They have been named a National Cultural Heritage of Cuba. Abreu died of a stroke at the age of 75.