Which deceased musicians you miss the most and wish were still alive?

[High End Refugee]

All artists I would pick have already been mentioned. But I'll be redundant anyway.
Jim Croce
Warren Zevon
And most certainly, Harry Chapin. The best storyteller of them all.
Terry Kath. The best rock guitarist of them all.

 

[Rednaxela]

I have to share another one, but will do it later.

One day before I must die

(Timestamp included.)

One day before I must die
I want to wander barefoot
Across the world
To meet people
Who, just like me, didn't know
Who, just like me, weren't able
Who missed so many chances
And wounded so many hearts
Until today

I will tell people
How much it hurt to fail
To dredge for golden happiness
And bring up nothing
But ever new evidence
Of one's own incapacity
Of always reaching too low
And always trying too weakly
Until today

I will discuss with them
How good it was to hope
To love and to hate
And just wander around
And just search
For all the lovely things
Of which the flowers scent
Of which the birds sing
Until today

One day before I must die
I want to wander with open ears
Across the world
To hear one more time
The voices of the water
The animals and the people
To wish them, for now and later
All the best
From today on

Edit: minor fixes in the translation.

 

[prerich]

George Duke

 

[JCM800]

I'm of a certain age, so Chris Cornell and Layne Staley.

 

[andersw]

Corby Yates

 

[CapMan]

Roland Kirk, Eric Dolphy, Clifford Brown, Jaki Byard, Art Tatum, Sun Ra, Dizzy Gillespie... damn, just about everyone I saw in concert when I was young.

Clifford Brown was a tragic loss so young.

I wish Jaco Pastorius hadn’t left us at 36. What would he have achieved if he’d lived longer.

And Art Pepper who was only in his 50s. Far too many talented people go too soon.

On the bright side - the Rolling Stones will still be recording for at least another 20 years !

 

[andersw]

Dave Brubeck

 

[CapMan]

Charlie Parker needs to be on the list

 

[CapMan]

Tubby Hayes

Man this is a sad thread.

I’d like to add - will you miss any current performers when they are deceased? In the interests of balance!

 

[SIY]

Clifford Brown was a tragic loss so young.

Yes, I never got a chance to see him. So much regret.

I also never got to see Clarence White, but at least I got to hear his old guitar in the hands of another genius...

 

[CapMan]

Yes, I never got a chance to see him. So much regret.

I also never got to see Clarence White, but at least I got to hear his old guitar in the hands of another genius...

I was chatting to a musician friend who is a few years older than me. He was recalling that back in the early 80s Elvin Jones would do a a few days at Ronnie Scott’s in London - you could pay a modest entry fee and the club wasn’t that busy. The gig went on until the early hours. Just imagine …

Biggest regret is having the chance to see Buddy Rich when he was touring the UK - just one date near my home. I couldn’t go and he passed soon after .

 

[andersw]

Michael Brecker

 

[Rick63]

 

[CapMan]

View attachment 365686

Good call. Genius.

 

[Timcognito]

Everybody on
Contemporary Records
The Contemporary catalog is filled with important efforts by Sonny Rollins, Ornette Coleman, Cecil Taylor, Benny Golson, Art Farmer, Phineas Newborn, Benny Carter, Helen Humes, the Curtis Counce Group, Victor Feldman, Harold Land, Teddy Edwards, Howard McGhee, Ben Webster, Woody Shaw along with West-Coasters Hampton Hawes, Barney Kessel and Andre Previn.
After founder Les Koenig’s death, during his seven-year tenure at the helm of Contemporary, John Koenig, who had produced records with his father for several years including several with Art Pepper (with Elvin Jones and also with Charlie Haden), Art Farmer (with Art Pepper, Hampton Hawes, Shelly Manne and Ray Brown), Woody Shaw, Sonny Simmons and others), produced albums by Joe Henderson (with Chick Corea), Joe Farrell (with Freddie Hubbard), Bobby Hutcherson (with McCoy Tyner), Chico Freeman (with Wynton Marsalis and Bobby Hutcherson), George Cables (with Bobby Hutcherson and Freddie Hubbard), Peter Erskine (with Michael Brecker, Kenny Kirkland and Eddie Gomez) and others, adding new dimension to Contemporary’s catalog.

 

[CapMan]

Nobody has mentioned Nick Drake (I think).

 

[Rick63]

I’d like to add - will you miss any current performers when they are deceased? In the interests of balance!

That's easy for me!

 

[Gorgonzola]

Andrés Segovia​

 

[Barrelhouse Solly]

Bach, Purcell, Bobby Bland, Sarah Vaughan, Big Maybelle, Ma Rainey, Louis Armstrong, Charlie Parker, Webb Pierce, Handel, Robert Johnson, Howling Wolf, Billie Holiday, Walter Horton, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Fats Waller, Willie McTelll, and a host of others.

 

[jkasch]

Probably poor taste, but any “musicians” who you wouldn’t mind if they weren’t with us any longer?