Died On This Date (October 19, 1995) Don Cherry / Avant Garde Jazz Legend
themusicsover Don Cherry
November 18, 1936 – October 19, 1995
Don Cherry was a highly regarded avant garde jazz trumpeter who is came to prominence during in the late ’50s while playing with Ornette Coleman. His resume, both in the studio and on record, includes a who’s who of the greatest jazz musicians of the ’60s and ’70s. It included John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, Herbie Hancock, Gato Barbieri, Sun Ra, and Ed Blackwell. Cherry released several albums leading his own band on such labels as Blue Note and ECM. He also appeared on a handful of rock albums, most notably those by Lou Reed and Ian Dury. Don Cherry died of liver failure due to hepatitis at the age of 58. His children include popular musicians, Neneh Cherry and Eagle-Eye Cherry.
What You Should Own
Vic Mizzy is best remembered for the scores he wrote for television and film during the ’50s and ’60s. His credits include Green Acres and The Addams Family on TV, and the Don Knotts films, The Reluctant Astronaut and The Ghost and Mr. Chicken. Vic Mizzy, 93, passed away on October 17, 2009.
Kazuhiko Kato was a singer, songwriter and producer whose career began in the mid ’60s as the member of the Folk Crusaders, a Japanese psychedelic folk rock band. The band’s 1967 debut single, “Kaettekita Yopparai (I Only Live Twice)” which was written by Kato, sold over a million copies and is considered one of Japan’s most successful records of the era. Following the break up of the Folk Crusaders, Kato began working as a producer, contributing to hit albums by several Japanese rock artists, his most significant being Sadistic Mika Band, a ’70s rock band formed by he and his wife. The band found moderate success outside of Japan, even appearing on BBC’s popular Old Grey Whistle Test television program in 1975. Kato spent his later life writing and composing for other artists, video games and film soundtracks. His body was found hanging in a Japan hotel room on October 17, 2009, dead at 62. Police discovered a suicide note nearby.