Ralph Peterson Jr.
(Photo: Photo: Courtesy the Peterson family)Mar 1, 2021 1:45 PM
Drummer Ralph Peterson Jr. passed away at 1:45 a.m. EST on March 1 following a six-year battle with cancer, according to his publicist, Lydia Liebman. He was surrounded by family…
Dexter Gordon (1923–1990)
(Photo: Rob Bogaerts/National Archives of the Netherlands)Jan 27, 2021 10:20 AM
When Dexter Gordon won the Tenor Saxophone category in the 1971 DownBeat Critics Poll, the honor could hardly be considered premature. Gordon, who celebrated his 49th birthday last Feb. 17, is one of the great voices in modern jazz and has been a professional musician since the age of 17, when he joined Lionel Hampton’s band. After a stint with Louis Armstrong, he became a charter member of Billy Eckstine’s famed big band, with which he made his mark.
For nearly a decade, the tall, debonair tenorman has made his home in Copenhagen, Denmark, where…