Thanks for the music, John.
Jazz pianist John Hicks died Wednesday. He was 64. I was lucky enough to catch Hicks in a variety of settings, most memorably in a duet concert with Jay McShann. While he worked with the Jazz Messengers, Betty Carter and Woody Herman early in his career, Hicks came into his own while collaborating with left-of-center artists like Pharoah Sanders and David Murray. This gentle solo take on John Coltrane's "After the Rain" encapsulates Hicks' intelligent, gorgeous style, and is a great example of his unique ability to work both inside and outside the jazz tradition.
3 comments:
Damn. More and more of the truly greats are passing. This is the first I heard about this but then I haven't checked the 'entertainment news' for a couple of days. I will toast him tonight when I get home from work.
m&s
Sign of the times- I only stumbled across this sad news on another music blog this morning when I thought to crosscheck who else had recently written about Charlie Parker. I wouldn't hold my breathe waiting to see a John Hicks retrospective on "Entertainment Tonight."
And what a fine gentleman we lost in Floyd Patterson. Probably the classiest boxer ever.
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