Died On This Date (September 19, 2008) Richard Sudhalter / Respected Jazz Trumpeter and Author
themusicsover Richard Sudhalter
December 28, 1938 – September 19, 2008
Richard Sudhalter was a jazz trumpeter who actually earned his biggest acclaim as a jazz historian and biographer. As a musician, he has been compared to Louis Armatrong, Bix Beiderbecke and Bunny Berigan. Over the years, Sudhalter wrote critically acclaimed biographies on Beiderbecke and Hoagy Carmichael. In 1999, he published the controversial, Lost Chords: White Musicians and Their Contribution to Jazz, 1915-1945 causing a bit of a stir, primarily since he argued that white jazz musicians never received their true acclaim. Richard Sudhalter died of a degenerative condition similar to Lou Gehrig’s Disease at the age of 69.