Died On This Date (December 12, 2012) Willie Ackerman / Legendary Nashville Session Drummer

Willie Ackerman
May 1, 1939 – December 13, 2012

Willie Ackerman was a Nashville based drummer who, over a career that stretched from 1957 through the ’80s, recorded or performed live with the likes of Willie Nelson, Louis Armstrong, Loretta Lynn, Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash, and the Monkees, to name just a few.  Ackerman was just 17 when he launched his music career, and what followed were stints for the Grand Ole Opry, Hee Haw, and RCA Studios where he played on countless recordings. He was one of the few drummers who made the a successful transition from the traditional country of his early years, to the Nashville Sound of the ’60s, through the Outlaw movement of the ’70s.  Legendary records he can be heard on include Marty Robbins’ “El Paso,” George Jones’ “The Last Tour,” and Jerry Reed’s “Amos Moses.”  Willie Ackerman was 73 when he died in his sleep on December 13, 2012.

Thanks to Henk de Bruin for the assist



Died On This Date (July 13, 2012) Bucky Adams / Canadian Jazz Legend

Charles “Bucky” Adams
1937 – July 13, 2012

Born into a musical family in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Bucky Adams was just a child when he at first picked up the trumpet.  And when he was just 11, he played for the Queen of England during a visit to Canada.  In those early years, Adams played the trumpet alongside his father, but when the trumpet could no longer keep him, he switched to the sax.  By the 1950s, Adams began fronting his own bands, and over the next three decades entertained audiences far and wide with the Rockin’ Rebels, Club Unusual, Generations, and Basin St. Trio, with whom he made his first recordings.  Throughout his long career, Adams played with or for such luminaries as Louis Armstrong, Oscar Peterson, Count Basie,  and Lionel Hampton.  Adams remained a vital part of the eastern Canadian jazz scene up until the time of his passing.  In later years, he was a headliner at prominent jazz festivals. He also found time to entertain children at numerous elementary schools throughout Nova Scotia.  Bucky Adams was 75 when he died of cancer on July 13, 2012.



Died On This Date (January 5, 1979) Charles Mingus / Jazz Icon

Charles Mingus
April 22, 1922 – January 5, 1979

Charles Mingus was a universally respected composer, bandleader and pioneering jazz bassists.  Though hard to categorize, Mingus’ music drew heavily from hard bop and free jazz.  As a composer, Mingus knew few equals, with many compositions considered too difficult to play by even the best of players.  Throughout his career, Mingus played with the likes of Louis Armstrong, Lionel Hampton, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie and Bud Powell.   Mingus was extraordinarily prolific, with one decade beginning during the ’60s seeing over 30 new albums alone.  During his later years, Mingus suffered from Lou Gehrig’s disease, forcing him to give up playing the bass.  On January 5, 1979, Charles Mingus died of Lou Gehrig’s disease at the age of 56.

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Mingus Ah Um - 50th Anniversary - Charles Mingus

Died On This Date (October 12, 1998) Raymond Myles / New Orleans Gospel Legend

Raymond Myles
July 14, 1958 – October 12, 1998

Raymond Myles was acknowledged by his New Orleans’ musical peers as perhaps the greatest gospel talent of his generation. The testimonials to his greatness as a singer, pianist and choir director came from no less than Harry Connick, Jr., Aaron Neville, Dr. John and Allen Toussaint. Myles devoted his life to addressing vital social issues that impacted his community and affected him personally. From his impoverished beginnings in the everyday violence of New Orleans’ housing projects, he became a dedicated public school music teacher whose commitment to young people steered many of them away from ruin during a murderous crack epidemic in New Orleans during the nineties. “But as hard as he tried, Raymond never felt that his community embraced him with what he considered to be God’s unconditional love,” said Leo Sacks, who produced his only full-length studio album, A Taste of Heaven, and is directing a documentary called A Taste Of Heaven: The Heartbreak Life of Raymond Myles, Gospel Genius of New Orleans, now in production (raymondmylesmovie.com). “These feelings of isolation and disconnection reflected a lifetime of struggle with his elders in the black church, a struggle that boiled down to their refusal to fully accept gay worshipers.”  In his short, turbulent life, Myles performed as such prestigious music events as the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, the Telluride Bluegrass Festival and the Newport Folk Festival. Tragically, his dramatic journey from a childhood of abject poverty to the brink of international music stardom was cut short when he was murdered during a carjacking outside the French Quarter on the night of October 11, 1998.  A career criminal from New Orleans was sentenced to 20 years in Louisiana’s Angola state penitentiary for being an accomplice to the killing.  So beloved was Raymond Myles that when he was laid to rest, only Mahalia Jackson and Louis Armstrong drew more mourners to their Crescent City funerals.



Died On This Date (September 3, 2010) Noah Howard / Jazz Saxophonist

Noah Howard
April 6, 1943 – September 3, 2010

Noah Howard was a New Orleans-born saxophonist who is best remembered for his contributions to free jazz.  Howard played with Louis Armstrong in his early years and by the time he was in his early 20s, he was leading the Noah Howard Quartet.  Howard moved to Europe in the early ’70s and proceeded to release nearly 30 albums, the most recent being in early 2010.  He also owned and operated a jazz club and record label while living in Belgium during the ’80s.  Noah Howard, age 67, died unexpectedly on September 3, 2010.  Cause of death was not immediately released.

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Noah Howard