Apr 29, 2025 11:53 AM
Vocalist Andy Bey Dies at 85
Singer Andy Bey, who illuminated the jazz scene for five decades with a four-octave range that encompassed a bellowing…
William Russo’s Chicago Jazz Ensemble and friends will pay tribute to their late founder/composer/conductor in a special concert at Chicago’s Jazz Showcase on Monday, February 3. Russo died January 11 in Chicago following a two-year bout with cancer. Alto saxophonist Lee Konitz, who was featured on many charts by Russo during his tenure with the Stan Kenton
Orchestra in the ‘50s, will join well-known Chicago jazz composer/pianist Eddie Baker and the Chicago Jazz Ensemble in a program honoring Russo’s life and work. Both artists remained friends of Russo’s during his more than 50 years as a jazz composer and band leader.
The evening’s program will include works by Bix Beiderbecke; King Oliver; Jelly Roll Morton; Louis Armstrong, and, of course, William Russo.
The Chicago Jazz Ensemble will also honor Russo in its program, “The Birth of Jazz” (which comprises the final leg of its “American Heritage Jazz Series,” to be performed February 5–March 7 at seven Chicago-area locations). The CJE will reprise several of his works, including Russo’s 1959 arrangement of Bix Biederbecke’s “Davenport Blues.”
“It kind of slows down, but it’s still kind of productive in a way, because you have something that you can be inspired by,” Andy Bey said on a 2019 episode of NPR Jazz Night in America, when he was 80. “The music is always inspiring.”
Apr 29, 2025 11:53 AM
Singer Andy Bey, who illuminated the jazz scene for five decades with a four-octave range that encompassed a bellowing…
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