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Sal Mosca, a jazz pianist who played with Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Billie Holiday and Sarah Vaughan, passed away of complications from emphysema on July 28 in White Plains, N.Y. He was 80.
His recording career included cool jazz dates such as “Ezz-thetic,” with Miles Davis, and “Subconscious-Lee,” with saxophonist Lee Konitz. Since the ‘80s, Mosca has rarely performed or recorded, focusing instead on disciplined practicing and teaching.
“Perhaps more so than his music, Sal’s values for living affected everyone who knew him,” reads a requiem posted on his web site, salmosca.com. “Those who knew Sal only from appreciation of his music surely were able to glean the depth of his commitment to purity and the integrity he brought to everything he produced.”
Mosca is survived by three children and seven grandchildren.
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