Dennis “Machine Gun” Thompson, the founding MC5 drummer and the last surviving original member of the pioneering proto-punk group, died Wednesday, The Detroit Free Press reported. He was 75.
An exact cause of death was not given, though Thompson had reportedly suffered a series of medical issues in recent months, including a heart attack in April.
Thompson’s death comes just a few months after the February death of his MC5 bandmate, guitarist Wayne Kramer, and the April death of John Sinclair, the group’s manager. A few months after Sinclair’s death,...
An exact cause of death was not given, though Thompson had reportedly suffered a series of medical issues in recent months, including a heart attack in April.
Thompson’s death comes just a few months after the February death of his MC5 bandmate, guitarist Wayne Kramer, and the April death of John Sinclair, the group’s manager. A few months after Sinclair’s death,...
- 5/9/2024
- by Jon Blistein
- Rollingstone.com
George “Funky” Brown, the drummer, founding member and one of the main songwriters of pop-r&b group Kool & The Gang, died in Los Angeles last night following a battle with lung cancer. He was 74.
Brown, along with Robert “Kool” Bell on bass, his brother Ronald Bell on tenor and lead vocalist James “J.T.” Taylor, was one of the songwriters in a band with such hits as “Jungle Boogie,” “Hollywood Swinging,” “Celebration,” and “Get Down on It.”
His death was reported by TMZ.
According to an official biography of the drummer-songwriter posted by the Songwriters Hall of Fame, the Jersey City, N.J., native had developed an early affinity for jazz drummers Elvin Jones, Art Blakey and Jack DeJohnette when he met neighbor and future Kool & The Gang keyboardist Ricky West. West introduced Brown to the band’s future saxophonist and musical director Ronald Bell and future trumpeter Robert Mickens,...
Brown, along with Robert “Kool” Bell on bass, his brother Ronald Bell on tenor and lead vocalist James “J.T.” Taylor, was one of the songwriters in a band with such hits as “Jungle Boogie,” “Hollywood Swinging,” “Celebration,” and “Get Down on It.”
His death was reported by TMZ.
According to an official biography of the drummer-songwriter posted by the Songwriters Hall of Fame, the Jersey City, N.J., native had developed an early affinity for jazz drummers Elvin Jones, Art Blakey and Jack DeJohnette when he met neighbor and future Kool & The Gang keyboardist Ricky West. West introduced Brown to the band’s future saxophonist and musical director Ronald Bell and future trumpeter Robert Mickens,...
- 11/17/2023
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Richard Davis, the prolific bassist who adorned jazz classics by Pharoah Sanders, Eric Dolphy, and Andrew Hill and laid the musical foundation for Van Morrison’s Astral Weeks, has died at the age of 93.
Davis’ daughter Persia confirmed her father’s death Thursday on both a memorial page and to Madison 365; Davis taught at the University of Wisconsin for over 40 years, but spent the last two years in hospice care. “We appreciate all the love and support the community has shown him over the years,” Persia Davis added.
The Chicago-born...
Davis’ daughter Persia confirmed her father’s death Thursday on both a memorial page and to Madison 365; Davis taught at the University of Wisconsin for over 40 years, but spent the last two years in hospice care. “We appreciate all the love and support the community has shown him over the years,” Persia Davis added.
The Chicago-born...
- 9/7/2023
- by Daniel Kreps
- Rollingstone.com
A long-lost live recording featuring one of John Coltrane and Eric Dolphy’s 1961 sets at New York’s Village Gate has been unearthed for release this summer.
Evenings at the Village Gate, out July 14 via Impulse! Records, was recorded in the summer before Coltrane’s legendary slate of Nov. 1961 dates at the Village Vanguard, with a similar quintet lineup: The short-lived tandem of Coltrane and Dolphy alongside drummer Elvin Jones, pianist McCoy Tyner, and bassist Reggie Workman.
Ahead of the album’s release, Impulse! Records has shared the night’s...
Evenings at the Village Gate, out July 14 via Impulse! Records, was recorded in the summer before Coltrane’s legendary slate of Nov. 1961 dates at the Village Vanguard, with a similar quintet lineup: The short-lived tandem of Coltrane and Dolphy alongside drummer Elvin Jones, pianist McCoy Tyner, and bassist Reggie Workman.
Ahead of the album’s release, Impulse! Records has shared the night’s...
- 6/1/2023
- by Daniel Kreps
- Rollingstone.com
Mvd, will release John Coltrane "So Many Things: The European Tour 1961" 4-Disc Set, March 10, 2015:
"...the music Coltrane made on this trip took audiences to the very cutting edge, leaving many questions unanswered, even for the saxophonists most ardent fans. For some he had taken the fundamentals of modern jazz to a breaking point, thrusting it into 'the realms of higher mathematics'.
"To others, Coltrane was the voice of progress, bravely reasserting the exploratory nature of jazz, daring to push through a process of continual reinvention, taking himself, his fellow players and those who flocked to hear him on an impassioned journey of discovery, night after night.
"The impact of Coltrane and his regular quartet sidemen - pianist McCoy Tyner, bassist Reggie Workman and drummer Elvin Jones - was made doubly controversial by the leaders last-minute decision to add the formidable multi-instrumentalist Eric Dolphy.
"Playing over 30 concert appearances in under three weeks,...
"...the music Coltrane made on this trip took audiences to the very cutting edge, leaving many questions unanswered, even for the saxophonists most ardent fans. For some he had taken the fundamentals of modern jazz to a breaking point, thrusting it into 'the realms of higher mathematics'.
"To others, Coltrane was the voice of progress, bravely reasserting the exploratory nature of jazz, daring to push through a process of continual reinvention, taking himself, his fellow players and those who flocked to hear him on an impassioned journey of discovery, night after night.
"The impact of Coltrane and his regular quartet sidemen - pianist McCoy Tyner, bassist Reggie Workman and drummer Elvin Jones - was made doubly controversial by the leaders last-minute decision to add the formidable multi-instrumentalist Eric Dolphy.
"Playing over 30 concert appearances in under three weeks,...
- 1/22/2015
- by Michael Stevens
- SneakPeek
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