Robben Ford Discussion

[AlChuck]

Greg Ladanyi
Los Angeles, CA (September 29, 2009) -- It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Maple Jam Music Group President, Greg Ladanyi, today, at the age of 57.

Ladanyi sustained severe head trauma following an on-stage accident last Friday in the Greek Republic of Cyprus. Ladanyi was immediately rushed to a local hospital where he remained in critical condition over the weekend. He was in Cyprus touring with Maple Jam Music artist, Anna Vissi.

Ladanyi, a Grammy Award-winning producer, has spent his entire professional career engineering, mixing and producing for the greatest artists in the entertainment industry. Ladanyi was widely known for his production and engineering work with musical greats Jackson Browne (six albums, including “Running on Empty”, “Holding Out”, and “Lawyers in Love”), Toto (four albums, including “Toto IV”), Don Henley (three albums, including “Building the Perfect Beast”), Fleetwood Mac (“Fleetwood Mac Greatest Hits” and “Behind the Mask”), The Church (“Starfish”), Jeff Healey (“See the Light”), and Jaguares (“Bajo el Azul de Tu Misterio”). His most recent work was with Anna Vissi and her Greek album, “Apagorevmeno”.

With 40 years in the entertainment industry, Ladanyi has contributed to various high-end projects, with his work leading to 16 Grammy nominations, being directly nominated three times. He won a Grammy Award in 1982 for Best Engineered Recording – Non-Classical with Toto’s, “Toto IV” and nominated for Producer of The Year for Don Henley’s “The Boys Of Summer” and Jaguares, Best Rock Album, “Bajo El Azul de Tu Misterio” at the 1st Annual Latin Grammy Awards.

[AlChuck]

Rashied Ali

Free-jazz fans who attended the Newport jazz fest in early August would've noted a last-minute replacement in By Any Means, the out-jazz supergroup consisting of saxophonist Charles Gayle, bassist William Parker and drummer Rashied Ali. When the gig rolled around it was announced that Ali had suffered a heart attack and would be replaced by his brother Muhammad, a historic avant-garde drummer in his own right. Rashied Ali died recently of a blocked artery at Bellevue Hospital in New York, N.Y. He was 74.

Ali is probably best remembered as the second drummer added to John Coltrane's mid-1960s band, a move that, in addition to the increasingly abstract nature of the saxophonist's music, provoked the exits of pianist McCoy Tyner and drummer Elvin Jones. Ali's arrival into Coltrane's fold, along with that of saxophonist Pharoah Sanders, was a catalyst for one of jazz's great aesthetic divides, ushering in Coltrane's controversial late period.

[AlChuck]

Norton Buffalo

Bay Area harmonica legend Norton Buffalo dies at age 58

By Jim Harrington
Oakland Tribune
Posted: 11/04/2009 11:41:36 AM PST
Updated: 11/04/2009 12:25:22 PM PST

Harmonica legend Norton Buffalo, a longtime fixture of the Northern California music scene, died Friday at a hospital near his home in Paradise. Buffalo, best known for his work with the Steve Miller Band, had been battling lung and brain cancer. He was 58.

Born in Oakland and raised in Richmond, Buffalo had been a member of Miller's platinum-selling band for 34 years, appearing on such hit records as 1977's "Book of Dreams," which produced such Steve Miller Band staples as "Jet Airliner" and "Jungle Love."

"There are some people who pass through this world who are so unique and special they defy description and Norton Buffalo was one of those people," Miller said in a post on his Web site.

Besides his work with Miller, Buffalo added his distinctive harmonica riffs to many other high-profile albums, including the Doobie Brothers' 1978 Grammy winner "Minute By Minute." He also formed his own band, the Stampede, in the late '70s and recorded a pair of well-received albums for Capitol Records. In 1992, he received a Best Country Instrumental Performance Grammy nominee for "Song for Jessica," a track from his 1991 duet CD with his longtime friend and collaborator, guitarist Roy Rogers, released on San Francisco's Blind Pig Records. Buffalo also formed and performed with such bands as Norton Buffalo and the Knockouts and Norton Buffalo and Friends.

In a post on Rogers' Web site, the slide guitarist expressed his sadness about the loss of his "dear friend.' "Norton fought the brave fight against cancer with amazing grace, never losing his great sense of humor — this in spite of his grave health condition," Rogers said. "He was not only a friend, but a true brother in music and life. He cannot be replaced. He and I traveled and performed around the world for many years and I am grateful that I knew him.

"I believe that his musical legacy will increase in the future years, but more importantly, people will realize how great a human being he was, as well as a great musician."

Buffalo is survived by his wife of eight years, Lisa Flores, a guitarist with whom he also performed.

Fans and musicians will gather to honor the Buffalo during a concert in early 2010. "A Celebration of Life: A Tribute to Norton Buffalo" will feature the Steve Miller Band, the Doobie Brothers, Bonnie Raitt, Huey Lewis and others that worked with the harmonica over the years. The concert will take place Jan. 23 at the Fox Theater in Oakland. For more information, visit www.apeconcerts.com.

[JohnnyZ]

BERLIN (AP) — An agent says Eric Woolfson, co-founder of the 1970s British progressive rock group Alan Parsons Project, known for the hits "Eye in the Sky" and "Don't Answer Me," has died of cancer. He was 64.

Gallissas Theaterverlag, a company that represented Woolfson in Germany, said Thursday the musician died this week in London. Woolfson's Web site said he died early Wednesday.

Woolfson was born March 18, 1945, in Glasgow, Scotland. Together with Alan Parsons he founded the group, whose music was popular in the U.S. and Germany.

After the group disbanded in the 1990s Woolfson continued to work as a music producer and composer of musicals. His musical "Edgar Allan Poe" is currently playing in Berlin.

Time to dust off my Tales of Mystery and Imagination cd...
_________________
Soul on Eleven

[AlChuck]

Missed this one earlier this month:

Willie Mitchell, who shaped the elegant yet gritty sound of Al Green, Ann Peebles and other stars of soul music as the house producer at Hi Records in the 1960s and ’70s, died Tuesday in Memphis, where he lived. He was 81.

The cause was cardiac arrest, his son Lawrence said.

The Willie Mitchell sound — prominent horns, delicately strummed guitars, some sweet organ and a steady, straightforward beat — is instantly recognizable on records by singers like Mr. Green, Ms. Peebles, Syl Johnson and O. V. Wright, and on the instrumentals Mr. Mitchell recorded as a bandleader. Both raw and sensuous, it became Hi’s signature sound as the label rose to prominence with Mr. Green in the 1970s.

Although its legacy has been less celebrated than those of Stax or Sun, two other pioneering record labels that got started in Memphis in the 1950s, Hi was an integral part of the development of the Memphis soul sound, and Mr. Mitchell is widely credited as one of its architects.

“We had just gone past what was called race music and blues, which was looked down upon, to this R&B, this soul,” Al Bell, a former owner of Stax who is chairman of the Memphis Music Foundation, said in an interview on Tuesday. “We worked with each other so we could grow and improve our music, and Willie provided that kind of leadership. His handprint, thumbprint, footprint, heart print is all over Memphis music.”

Mr. Mitchell’s sound owed much to the musicians he used at Royal Recording Studio, a converted movie theater that served as Hi’s headquarters. They included the Hodges brothers — Teenie on guitar, Charles on organ and Leroy on bass — as well Al Jackson and Howard Grimes on drums, whose light touch and rhythmic flexibility were central to Hi’s appeal.

“It’s the laziness of the rhythm,” Mr. Mitchell said in Peter Guralnick’s 1986 book “Sweet Soul Music: Rhythm and Blues and the Southern Dream of Freedom.” “You hear those old lazy horns half a beat behind the music, and you think they’re gonna miss it, and all of a sudden, just so lazy, they come in and start to sway with it. It’s like kind of shucking you, putting you on.”

Born in Ashland, Miss., in 1928, Mr. Mitchell began his career as a trumpeter, leading a 10-piece touring band while still in his teens. After serving two years in the Army, he returned to Memphis in the mid-1950s and became a regular in the city’s clubs, distinguishing himself as a jazzy, sophisticated player.

In 1961 Hi Records, then four years old, signed Mr. Mitchell as a recording artist, and from 1964 to 1969 he scored a number of minor R&B hits, including “Soul Serenade” and “30-60-90.” But he began to make a greater mark as the label’s combination producer and talent scout, bringing in Ms. Peebles and others. (He also produced Bobby Bland’s 1964 album “Ain’t Nothing You Can Do” for another Memphis label, Duke.)

In 1968 Mr. Mitchell was booked to perform at a club in Midland, Tex., with a fledgling singer from Michigan named Al Green as his opening act. On hearing him rehearse, Mr. Mitchell invited Mr. Green to Memphis and promised to make him a star.

Coached by Mr. Mitchell, Mr. Green found his voice, and by 1971 he had reached No. 1 on the pop charts with “Let’s Stay Together.”

Mr. Mitchell’s style proved a perfect canvas for Mr. Green’s finely finessed vocals, and together they made 13 Top 40 hits between 1971 and 1976, when Mr. Green left secular music for gospel and a career as a minister. Mr. Mitchell acquired an ownership stake in Hi in 1970 and remained with the company until it was sold in the late 1970s.

With the sale of Hi, Mr. Mitchell bought Royal studio and continued to record there, preserving much of the equipment just as it had been in 1969. Among the artists he recorded were the blues guitarist Buddy Guy as well as John Mayer and Rod Stewart.

Mr. Mitchell’s two grandsons, Lawrence and Archie, whom he adopted as sons, continue to operate the studio. Mr. Mitchell is also survived by a stepson, Archie Turner; two daughters, Yvonne and Lorrain Mitchell; and a granddaughter.

When Mr. Mitchell and Mr. Green reunited in the 2000s to make two albums (“I Can’t Stop” and “Everything’s OK” ), Mr. Green recorded at Royal with the same microphone he had used in the 1970s.

Mr. Green has said that he owes much of his success to Mr. Mitchell, especially his coaching, beginning with their first recording sessions together. “I was trying to sing like Jackie Wilson and Sam Cooke and Wilson Pickett,” Mr. Green said in a 2003 interview, recalling Mr. Mitchell. “He said, ‘Sing like Al Green.’ ”

[pinner]

Just heard this on TGP. RIP Taku

ROHNERT PARK: UPDATE: MAN FOUND SLAIN OUTSIDE GUITAR BUSINESS


ROHNERT PARK (BCN)
Police said a Rohnert Park man was found slain outside a guitar business in an industrial park area of the city early this morning.
Lt. Jeff Taylor said the man's name is not being released until the family positively identifies his body.
The body was found outside Sakashta Guitars at 643 Martine Ave. Calls to the business were not returned this afternoon.
Taylor said the wife of the business owner told police her husband did not return home Thursday night. She found the business "in a suspicious state" when she went there and called police around 3:50 a.m., he said.
Police arrived within two minutes and confirmed a crime had occurred at the business, but Taylor would not disclose the nature of the crime.
Police then searched the area and found the homicide victim's body outside the shop.
"The dead man is most likely the owner of the business,'' Taylor said.
Sakashta Guitars' Web site says Taku Sakashta is the designer and maker of the hand-crafted guitars.

http://cbs5.com/localwire/22.0.html?type=bcn&item=MAN-SLAIN-%28UPDATE-ON-BCN26%29-16-34

[Daved]

I've been in contact with Robben about this. He's told me that Toru Nintuno (our luthier of choice in L.A. and Taku's apprentice) told Robben about this the other day.
He is deeply saddened and wishes all to pass their blessings on to Taku and his spirit as they begin their new journey.
_________________
B C-ing U!
( }:-Daved
"This boy's diseased with rhythm!" -Bing Crosby (Road To Rio, '49)

[JohnnyZ]

[frank0936]

How horrible! Such an amazing artist. His beautiful spirit showed in the instruments he crafted.

[BlueRunner]

Suspect arrested: http://cbs5.com/local/rohnert.park.sakashta.2.1496862.html

Difficult to understand why things like this happen, and to continue to meditate on the good in a world so riven with bad. Pray for peace for Tuku's family.
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- BlueRunner

[frank0936]

Tom "T-bone" Wolk 58, of an apparent heart attack yesterday. Wolf had been the bass player for Hall & Oates since 1981.
RIP

[bluespapst]

Ive received the message following from a friend of the Jones family:

Hello everyone, this is the message I hoped I'd never have to write.

It is with great sadness that I bring the news that my wonderful father Micky Jones passed away peacefully today at 12 noon.

I would like to thank you all for your support through the years, letting dad, his talent and music into your lives.

I would also like to thank you all for your support during his illness.

Let us celebrate this wonderful life and the fantastic memories he has brought us, I was so proud of him as a father and as a performer. To share a stage with him and be part of that legacy is one of the proudest moments.

I will miss him, as im sure we all will

God Bless,

George Jones


Legendary Welsh rock band Man, has died aged 63 after suffering the effects of a brain tumour for a number of years.

Formed in 1968 Man became known for their progressive rock and “West Coast” psychedelia .

Merthyr born Micky Jones, who died at a care home in Swansea last week, was described by friend and Live Music Forum founder Phil Little today as “one of the 10 best guitarists in the world”.

He said :“When people talk about Man they often mention the group’s other lead guitarist Deke Leonard, but Micky Jones was the only member of Man who was in every line up.”

Man had four Top 40 UK albums from the late 1960s and toured Europe and America where they once met Richard Burton.

Man admirers included the late Frank Zappa and veteran Radio 2 DJ Bob Harris who described them as “brilliant”.

Jones had formerly been in Merthyr band The Bystanders whose early line up included singer, entertainer and Radio Wales presenter Owen Money, then known as Gerry Braden.

Money (real name Lynn Mittell) yesterday described Micky Jones as a family friend as well as an artistic collaborator.

He said: "We came up together, we shared our life together. I know it was an inevitability but words can't express what I'm feeling at the moment.

"He taught me to play the guitar. His first job was as a hairdresser. He cut my hair.

"He was a fantastic musician. He had a "Frankie Valli" voice. “We were set apart from any band in Wales at the time - we could do songs others could not do - because of his high falsetto voice.”

Fansite the Manband Archive announced today :”Micky Jones passed away peacefully on March 10 following a series of brain tumours which robbed Man of his presence since 2005.

“Our heartfelt condolences to his son George, wife Jenny and the rest of the Jones family.”

Phil Little added yesterday : “Jones had a command of melody and was the most humble guy.

His son George Jones, 27, also a musician who has played with Man, said : "I was so proud of him as a father and as a performer. To share a stage with him and be part of that legacy is one of the proudest moments."

In 2002 Micky Jones was diagnosed with a brain tumour and temporarily left Man to receive treatment for his illness.

He returned briefly in 2004, but after 2005 required more and more treatment.

Man had hits with albums such as Winos, Rhinos and Lunatics and Be Good To Yourself At Least Once a Day.

As well as performing in Europe and the US the group held a series of sell out performances in Swansea Patti Pavilion.

Man, still performing today, have had numerous line ups with some of the more regular performers being Deke Leonard, John McKenzie, John Weathers, Martin Ace and Phil Ryan.

[ltkojak]

Renowned jazz guitarist Herb Ellis, 88, died at his home in Los Angeles on March 28. He had Alzheimer's disease.

Requiem In Pace.
_________________
Pepe aka Lt. Kojak
Milano, Italy

[Daved]

This one is a personal loss which I would like to acknowledge.
Tho relatively unknown, Kent Henry (April 5, 1948 - March 18, 2009), was a talented friend who got lost in the shuffle.

I first met Kent in the early 80's when he was playing in a local, Portland, OR, bar band with a drummer friend of mine and, having been a fan of his work with Blues Image, was tickled to make his acquaintance. We became very good friends for the next seven or eight years till he fell off the radar.

Kent was a soft spoken, very kind gentleman, who played a wickedly exciting guitar.
In his earlier years he had recorded and played most notably with the Blues Image ("Ride Captain Ride") and Steppenwolf during their "For Ladies Only" period, tho Kent and organist Goldy McJohn remained close friends till his death.

"Henry remained on good terms with McJohn, and played with McJohn in 1977, 1978 and 1980 versions of Steppenwolf led by McJohn, but without lead singer John Kay. At the time of Henry's passing, he was planning to rejoin McJohn as part of "Goldy McJohn and Friendz", a band that McJohn had formed to play Steppenwolf songs, following the announcement that John Kay and Steppenwolf planned to substantially cease touring." - Wikipedia

The last time I saw Kent, he was working as a guitar repairman at the Apple Music store in Portland during the late 80's. In the early 90's, he "fell off the map" and disappeared. I, and many of our mutual friends, could not locate him for the next 2 decades.

"Kent had settled in Portland, as of the early 1980s, and would remain there for the balance of his life. He played in local bands (principally the Paul deLay Blues Band) and worked primarily as a local guitar technician." - Wikipedia

Only very recently did I hear thru my drummer friend, who finally tracked Kent down thru mutual friends (the ones who had cared for Kent in his final days), that Kent had fallen on very hard times, had no family, and fell ill, to be taken in and cared for in their home in Oregon by loving friends, till his death in March of 2009.

"During his later years, Henry encountered increasing difficulties with seizures, which had originally appeared following a fall off the stage of the Whiskey A Go Go. He also developed the early stages of Alzheimers Disease shortly before his death. As a consequence of these challenges and given that care by family members was unavailable to him, Henry was under the constant care of friends, from 2005 until his death. His death apparently followed a particularly intense seizure. Henry was rushed by his caregiver to hospital, but died before emergency surgery could commence." - Wikipedia

A gentle human being and an exceptional guitarist, I wish my friend peace and am saddened that I could not relocate him before his all too early passing.
He has long been missed by those of us who knew him well.

Studio albums:
Charity Now, 1969
Uni Records

Lord Sutch and Heavy Friends, 1970
Atlantic Records

Open (uncredited), Blues Image, 1970
Atco Records

Red White & Blues Image, Blues Image, 1970
Atco Records

For Ladies Only, Stepenwolf, 1971
Dunhill Records

Forgotten Songs and Unsung Heroes, John Kay, 1972
Dunhill Records

My Sportin' Life (Sing with the Children only), John Kay, 1973
Dunhill Records
_________________
B C-ing U!
( }:-Daved
"This boy's diseased with rhythm!" -Bing Crosby (Road To Rio, '49)

[Daved]

Ronnie James Dio (born Ronald James Padavona; July 10, 1942 – May 16, 2010) was an American heavy metal vocalist and songwriter.
He performed with Testament of Apollo, Elf, Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Heaven & Hell, and his own band Dio.

On the morning of May 16, 2010, he died of stomach cancer. He was 67 years old.

I met and got to know him during a European tour with Black Sabbath/Testament in the mid 90's and would run into him every so often thru the years.
The last time I saw him was about 5 years ago when he was rehearsing a DIO tour at the same place where Robben was storing his gear. He still remembered me from that Sabbath tour and we had a great chat. He was always very friendly and easily accessable.

He was widely hailed as one of the most powerful singers in heavy metal, renowned for his consistently powerful voice and for popularizing the "devil's horns" hand gesture in metal culture.

He was collaborating on a project with former Black Sabbath bandmates Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Vinny Appice, under the moniker Heaven & Hell, whose first and only studio album, The Devil You Know, was released on April 28, 2009.
_________________
B C-ing U!
( }:-Daved
"This boy's diseased with rhythm!" -Bing Crosby (Road To Rio, '49)