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)



  • Jack_DeJohnette_by_Steve_Sussman.jpg

    ​Jack DeJohnette boasted a musical resume that was as long as it was fearsome.

  • KurtElling_6.2.25_by_ElliotMandel-REV-6.jpg

    “Think of all the creative people I’m going to meet and a whole other way of thinking about music and a challenge of singing completely different material than I would have sung otherwise to my highest level in dedication to the moment,” Elling says about his Broadway run.

  • Pat_Metheny_Side-Eye_III_Jimmy_Katz.jpg

    Pat Metheny will perform with his Side-Eye III ensemble at ​Big Ears 2026 in Knoxville, Tennessee, next March.

  • Courtesy_Bobby_Bradford_GoFundMe_page.jpg

    “[That’s] the thing of the beboppers,” Bradford said. “These guys were important for not only playing that wonderful music, but they knew a sort of social stance, you see?”

    Bobby Bradford: Phoenix Rising

    It was a calm, balmy, near-perfect evening in Westwood, California, not far from UCLA, in the expansive courtyard at…

  • Esperanza_Spalding_3825_5x7.jpeg

    ​Esperanza Spalding closed an audacious Chicago Jazz Festival set with “Endangered Species.”


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November 2025
Gary Bartz
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