Tag: Trombone

Remembering Ralph MacDonald

Grammy award-winning percussionist and song-writer Ralph MacDonald passed away yesterday at the age of 67.  This man was impressive,  the list of people he recorded with is astounding.  Bill Withers, George Benson, David Bowie, Aretha Franklin and on and on.  His song-writing skills are just as notable.  His major contributions to music history are the Bill Withers hit “Just The Two Of Us” and  Roberta Flack’s (with Donny Hathaway)  “Where Is The Love“.  A terrible loss to music, he will be missed.

Just Two Of Us – Live with Toph-E and the Pussycats

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Remembering Bob Brookmeyer

English: Bob Brookmeyer (1978), an American ja...

 

Since discovering Trombone Shorty, I have keyed on trombone players.  I recently discovered Bob Brookmeyer and was saddened to find that he passed away on December 16 at the age of 81.  He was a pure jazz trombonist who has recorded since 1954.  There are 24 albums released with him as leader and he has played on multiple other albums as a sideman.  I have come to appreciate the versatility of the instrument as well as the difficulty in becoming this proficient at it.  The attached, in tribute, is a live recording from 1981 of a song called “Bernie’s Tune”.  Along with Bob, the featured musicians are Gerry Mulligan, Ray Brown and Art Brakey.

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