Died On This Date (July 10, 2011) Travis Bean / Innovative Guitar Maker
themusicsover Clifford Travis Bean
August 21, 1947 – July 10, 2011
Travis Bean was a Los Angeles, California area electric guitar maker who helped revolutionize the instrument during the 1970s. In 1974, he launched Travis Bean Guitars to mass produce high-end electric guitars that had solid aluminum necks instead of the customary wood ones. Besides giving the instruments a unique tone and durability, the metal added heft and cost to the guitars, upwards of $1000 each, which was a fairly large sum at that time. Loyal fans of Bean’s guitars included Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead, Joe Perry of Aerosmith, Keith Richards and Ron Wood of the Rolling Stones, and jazz great, Stanley Jordan. Bean also constructed a similar bass guitar that was used by the likes of Bill Wyman. Bean halted production of the guitars in 1979 rather than compromise on the quality to meet lower cost demands. Over 3600 guitars and basses came off the line during the five years of production. Bean returned with another round of similar guitars and basses during the late ’90s. Travis Bean was 63 when he died on July 10, 2011 following a long battle with cancer.
Kenny Kirkland was one of the most influential jazz pianist of recent years. Kirkland was just six years old when he began learning to play the piano. and by the time he reached his early 20s, Kirkland was touring Europe professionally. Although Kirkland’s career was cut short after just 25 years, he performed or recorded with many of the top names of contemporary jazz. That list includes Tom Scott, Ernie Watts, Stanley Jordan, Arturo Sandoval, Kevin Eubanks, Wynton Marsalis, Branford Marsalis, and Stanley Clarke. He even spent a short period playing piano in the Tonight Show band. Kenny Kirkland died of congestive heart failure at the age of 43.