Jazz trumpeter Marcus Belgrave died this past Sunday. He was 78 years old. Belgrave was one of the heavyweights. He lived and played through the ascension of jazz, from New Orleans traditional through the avant garde. He began playing the trumpet as a tween and really came into his own after bebop trumpeter Clifford Brown became his mentor. By the time he was 22, he was playing with Ray Charles. Although, occasionally, he'd find time to play with Yusef Lateef, Max Roach, and the mighty Mingus. In 1963, he settled in Detroit where he'd later teach jazz at the Metropolitan Arts Complex, become part of the Tribe collective with sax man Wendell Harrison and pianist Harold McKinney, and record his highly regarded album, Gemini. During the course of his career he also worked with biggies like Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughn, Aretha Franklin, McCoy Tyner, and, um, everyone who was a jazz SOMEBODY.
He had heart issues and a few bouts with pneumonia, but was still preparing to perform at the Concert of Colors this July at the time of his death.
English pop singer Twinkle died last Thursday, May 21. She was 66. Twinkle's music career began while she was dating Dec Cluskey, one of the Bachelors, after he passed her demo on to his manager. She was 16 when she recorded her first side "Terry." The song made Top 5 in the UK and was reminiscent of the Shangri-Las' song "Leader of the Pack." You know the one. Where the singer's teenaged boyfriend dies in a motorcycle crash? Well, "Terry" tells almost the exact same story, but it was NOT a re-write. The Shangri-Las' track hadn't even been released at the time "Terry" was written or recorded. So, Twinkle's song, which she also wrote, pre-dates the well known "girl group" tenner.
Oh, AND. Because of its dark subject matter, "Terry" was banned from the BBC. For the follow up singles, she continued to write songs, but her producers were trying to maintain hits. Most of her original work was passed over for "Terry" copycats. The copycats all failed to chart and in 1966, she "retired." She was only 18. Then in '69 she recorded "Micky", a one-off on Immediate. The single was a good punt at blue-eyed soul, but the record went nowhere. She made a few more records as Twinkle Ripley, but with no hits, she faded away.
