Another Voice Goes Silent.

In a year that has seen many musicians pass yet another one is gone.  Greg Lake has died at age 69 after a long battle with cancer.  Lake came out of the Bournemouth, England music scene that produced numerous musicians.  In 1969 his friend Robert Fripp recruited Lake as vocalist for his new band, King Crimson, and asked Lake to be the band's bassist as well, although Lake had been a guitarist.  The group's debut album, In the Court of the Crimson King was a critical success, but tensions in the band led Lake to decide to leave in 1970.  He soon teamed up with keyboardist Keith Emerson and drummer Carl Palmer to form Emerson, Lake, and Palmer.  With their complicated music and often bombastic image ELP, along with Yes, was the band that came to represent what most people though of '70s progressive rock, and against which the punk movement claimed to rebel. 

Although ELP originally broke up in 1979 Lake and Emerson would work together again in the mid '80s with the late drummer Cozy Powell as Emerson, Lake, and Powell, and reunite with Palmer as ELP in the '90s.  Lake also did solo albums, and a duo tour with Emerson in 2012.  His best known solo work was the 1975 single "I Believe in Father Christmas."

Mick Karn, Financial Support Needed.

I found out via this post from his friend David Torn that former Japan/Rain Tree Crow bassist Mick Karn has been diagnosed with cancer, which is in an advanced state.  Given his current poor financial status donations are being sought both to cover medical treatment and to support his family.  So if you're a fan in a position to help check out the link posted by Mr. Torn.

From better days here's Karn and Japan performing "The Art of Parties."

Jeff Healey, RIP.

Toronto musician Jeff Healey passed away today at 41 after a losing battle with cancer. Healey had been affected by cancer for much of his life, losing his eyesight to retinoblastoma as a baby. Healey began playing guitar at three, holding the instrument across his lap, a style he would use throughout his life. Healey would later take up trumpet and clarinet, a reflection of his love of early jazz. Although it was as a blues rock guitarist, singer, and bandleader that he found fame Healey's devotion to jazz was obvious given his collection of more than 25 thousand jazz 78s, and he recorded several jazz albums after his fame cooled in the mid '90s. For several years he hosted the program My Kind of Jazz on CBC Radio that showcased material from his collection. He also ran a club in Toronto at which he often played with his group the Jazz Wizards. Healey found himself battling cancer once more when tumours appeared on his legs in 2005, followed by surgery to remove lung tumours in 2007.

Bobby You're A Rich Man?

Driving around a bit ago I had the radio going, and one of the local stations played "Heartache Tonight" by the Eagles. The DJ mentioned that Bob Seeger co-wrote the tune, and it got me thinking about how well off Seeger might be. Seeger hasn't had a hit in a long time, but his back catalogue must generate a good bit of income. A number one hit like "Heartache" alone must generate a nice income even if he was a co-writer and not sole composer. Seeger's Greatest Hits album alone has sold 8 million copies to date. Chevy using "Like A Rock" in their ads for years must be worth some major coin as well. But of course as anyone who knows much about the music business is well aware even being a hit songwriter won't make you rich if your contracts are bad or you have deficient management. I've never heard of Seeger having such problems, so I'd bet he's not hurting even if he isn't a chart topper anymore.

Bad News From The World Of Music.

Unfortunately I've got a big batch of bad news related to music to report.

Jazz keyboardist Alice Coltrane died Friday, apparently due respiratory problems. She was 69. It was as a member of John Coltrane's last groups that she came to widespread recognition, marrying the jazz saxophone titan in 1966. After his death she continued to perform, developing an original style of music influenced by her interest in Eastern religion, and was one of the few jazz musicians to play the harp.

Jazz lost another voice Saturday with the death of tenor saxophonist Michael Brecker at 58. Brecker had been suffering with myelodysplastic syndrome, a type of leukemia. Brecker played in numerous contexts in a career that lasted nearly 40 years, including the group The Brecker Brothers with his older brother Randy, and the fusion group Steps Ahead. Brecker was a major proponent of the Electronic Wind Instrument, a synthesizer controller designed to be played like a saxophone.

Electronic music equipment designer Doug Curtis also died this week. The CEM integrated circuits he helped design were used by a wide range of synthesizers sold in the late '70s and '80s, such as the Rev 3 version of the Sequential Circuits Prophet 5 analog synthesizer.

And I just found out that Wally Ingram, a frequent collaborator in recent years with string wizard David Lindley, is currently fighting throat and neck cancer. Hopefully he'll beat his illness.

Dutch Mason, RIP.

The deserved press coverage of the death of James Brown may have caused some people to miss another musician death in the past few days. Norman "Dutch" Mason, a veteran of the Canadian blues scene, has died at 68. Sometimes refered to as Prime Minister of the Blues Mason came from Kentville, Nova Scotia, and worked in a number of bands as a youth, including his own rockabilly band in the late '50s, before discovering B.B. King lead him in a blues direction. He spent much of his early blues career working the circuit in the Maritimes, but in the 1970s became a nationally known artist and toured across the country after becoming a recording artist. Unfortunately arthritis ended his ability to play guitar some 15 years ago, and growing health problems with diabetes eventually curtailed his ability to take the rigours of performance.

The Quine Collection

Here's something of interest to fans of the late Robert Quine. Carmine Street Guitars in New York is offering his guitar collection for sale. The link is a pdf file so you'll need something that handles pdfs to view it. The man had a lot of guitars! He also wasn't a made in America only snob, as can be seen in the number of Japanese, Korean, and other Asian guitars he had.