Music and Poetry
Joe Henderson: Another jazz great dies
By Philip Sprake, August 9, 2001
Jazz saxophonist Joe Henderson, who died on June 30 after a long battle with emphysema, has been described by one music writer as the “supreme melodist”. A fellow musician referred to him ...
The passing of a blues legend: John Lee Hooker
By Philip Sprake, June 29, 2001
John Lee Hooker, the gifted, charismatic blues guitar player and singer, died in his sleep at his home in Los Altos, California, aged 80, on June 21.
Jazz drummer Billy Higgins dies
By John Andrews, May 5, 2001
The ebullient Billy Higgins, the most recorded jazz drummer of the last 50 years, died Thursday in the Los Angeles suburb of Inglewood after a protracted battle with liver disease. He was 64.
In praise of classical guitarists Alexandre Lagoya and Ida Presti
By Tony Cornwell, February 17, 2001
Alexandre Lagoya (1929-1999) and Ida Presti (1924-1967) formed the greatest classical guitar duet in the world to date. This was not simply due to their technical excellence, but their subtlety and fo...
Kirsty MacColl: a life in song
By Liz Smith, January 11, 2001
British singer-songwriter Kirsty MacColl was tragically killed by a speedboat on December 18, 2000, while on holiday in Mexico with her two sons. She leaves a musical legacy stretching over 23 years. ...
One critic's picks for top jazz and blues albums of 2000
By Michael G. Nastos, December 29, 2000
Michael G. Nastos hosts “Evening Jazz & Blues” weeknights on WEMU-FM, 89.1, in Ypsilanti, Michigan, as he has for 22 of his 30 years in radio. He has written for the Alchemist , the All Mu...
Music review
McCoy Tyner with Stanley Clarke and Al Foster —piano trio in the spirit of Coltrane
By Philip Sprake, November 1, 2000
John Coltrane, the masterful jazz saxophonist, gathered around him some wonderfully talented musicians between 1960 and 1965, his most creative period. Elvin Jones on drums, Jimmy Garrison on bass and...
Listening to Brian Wilson
By David Walsh, September 1, 2000
Brian Wilson, once the leading figure of the Beach Boys, the American popular music group, is on tour this summer in the US. The center-piece of each concert is a performance by Wilson, his ten-piece ...
Australian poet Judith Wright (1915-2000): an appreciation
By Tony Cornwell, August 31, 2000
Judith Wright, a respected Australian poet and writer on poetry and latterly better known as a conservationist and campaigner for aboriginal rights, died in hospital in Canberra on June 26 at the age ...
Extraordinary solo cello performance of Bach's Suites in Australia
By Adrian Falk, June 22, 2000
Pieter Wispelwey, the 37-year-old Dutch cellist, performed all six Suites for solo cello by J.S. Bach at the new City Recital Hall in Sydney on June 10. While the Bach Suites are not technically diffi...
Tito Puente dead at 77
The soul of Latin music dies
By Helen Halyard, June 10, 2000
Tito Puente, best known for popularizing Latin dance music and jazz in the United States for the past half-century, passed away on May 30 in New York City. He was 77 years old and died following heart...
Ian Dury (1942-2000): a poet of the spoken word
By Chris Marsden, April 11, 2000
Last week, family and friends said farewell to singer-songwriter Ian Dury during a humanist service held at Golders Green in North London. Dury died from colon cancer on March 27 at his home in Hampst...
