A little more than a month ago, I wrote about the deaths of several major jazzers felled by the coronovarius, a short list that included Ellis Marsalis. Wallace Roney and Bucky Pizzarelli.
At the time, longtime jazz photographer and critic Ken Franckling had started keeping a tally of the jazz dead, on his Jazz Notes blog.
Since then, the numbers have mounted, and Ken’s lists (parts 1 and 2) offer brief obits of 30 jazzers taken by COVID-19, including the likes of alto saxophonist Lee Konitz and bassist Henry Grimes.
It’s a sobering accounting, but important: We need to honor their memories, and “naming the dead” helps us to do so.
Please take a few minutes to read the obits.
Jazzlands 