The Artists We Lost in 2019

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From jazz pianists and r&b firebrands to avant-garde stalwarts, DownBeat offers a look back at some of the musicians, artists and writers we lost during 2019.

Ginger Baker (1939–2019)

Clora Bryant (1927–2019)

Frank Caruso (1948–2019)

Dr. John (1941–2019)

João Gilberto (1931–2019)

Ira Gitler (1928–2019)

Joseph Jarman (1937–2019)

Michel Legrand (1932–2019)

Harold Mabern (1936–2019)

Ken Nordine (1948–2019)

Larry Willis (1942–2019)



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    “Bill Stewart has nothing to prove,” Baron says. “I aspire to that ethic.”

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    “At this point in my life I’m still looking for the note,” Lloyd says. “But I’m a little nearer.”

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    ​Christian McBride and writer Ashley Kahn meet for a DownBeat Blindfold Test hosted by New York University’s Jazz Studies program.

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    Samara Joy brought fans to their feet in the middle of her Newport set!

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    ’You can’t simply book a festival with things that you like,” Christian McBride says of the Newport Jazz Festival. “You have a responsibility to present up-and-coming artists who people don’t know yet. And you have to get people in the seats.”