Douglas Sandom

drummer

26.02.1930 - 27.02.2019

Douglas Sandom was an English drummer who was the second drummer for the rock band the Who. During the infancy of the band's career, while they were playing as the Detours (around mid-1962), Sandom, a bricklayer, joined as drummer. In February 1964, the band discovered that there was another group called the Detours. On Valentine's Day 1964, they changed their name to the Who.

When the band secured, but failed, an audition with Fontana Records in early 1964, the label's producer, Chris Parmeinter, said he didn't like Sandom's drumming. The band's then manager, Helmut Gordon, and lead guitarist Pete Townshend agreed, and Townshend suggested to the other members of the band, Roger Daltrey and John Entwistle, that Sandom leave the band. Sandom gave a month's notice, and left in April.

Peter Halsten Thorkelson (Peter Tork)

bassist, singer, keyboarder (The Monkees)

13.02.1942 - 21.02.2019

Peter Halsten Thorkelson, better known as Peter Tork, was an American musician and actor, best known as the keyboardist and bass guitarist of the Monkees.

Ethel Llewellyn Ennis

singer

28.11.1932 - 17.02.2019

Ethel Llewellyn Ennis was an American jazz musician with a career which spanned seven decades. Ennis spent the majority of her life in her hometown of Baltimore, Maryland, where she was affectionately known as the "First Lady of Jazz".

Šaban Šaulić

singer

06.09.1951 - 17.02.2019

Šaban Šaulić was a Serbian folk singer. His career spanning over five decades and his refined baritone vocals have proclaimed him as one of the most prominent Serbian vocalists of the pop-folk genre.

Kofi Burbridge

keyboardist, flautist

22.09.1961 - 15.02.2019

Kofi Burbridge was an American keyboardist and flautist of the Grammy Award-winning blues rock group Tedeschi Trucks Band.

Burbridge was a classically-trained multi-instrumentalist, and he has provided keyboards, organ, flute, and backing vocals for various bands throughout his career. He was previously part of the Grammy Award winning Derek Trucks Band. He was also the brother of bass player Oteil Burbridge, who is known for his work in the Allman Brothers Band, Aquarium Rescue Unit, Dead & Company, and the Tedeschi Trucks Band. Oteil Burbridge cites his brother as his biggest influence and mentioned Kofi was found to have perfect pitch around the age of seven.

Burbridge joined his first band in the Atlanta region called Knee-Deep, and the lineup included his brother Oteil and Jeff Sipe on drums. The band broke up after less than a year but introduced him to other notable musicians in the area like Bruce Hampton. He eventually joined the Aquarium Rescue Unit shortly after Col Bruce Hampton left, which reunited him with Oteil Burbridge and Jeff Sipe.

Burbridge joined the Derek Trucks Band in 1999. Both Trucks and his brother Oteil had also joined the Allman Brothers Band and Kofi occasionally guested with them. The band went on hiatus in 2010.

In 2010, Kofi joined his brother Oteil Burbridge in the new group, Tedeschi Trucks Band, which merged some former members of The Derek Trucks Band and Susan Tedeschi's former backing band. The band performed at Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival 2010 and appears on the DVD release with two of their songs, "Midnight in Harlem" and "Comin' Home". The Tedeschi Trucks Band released their debut album, Revelator in 2011, which won the Grammy Award for Best Blues Album at the 54th Grammy Awards. In 2012, the band released their second album, Everybody's Talkin', a double live album compiled from their 2011 world tour. On August 2013 their third album, Made Up Mind, their second studio album, was released.

Conrad R. 'Connie' Jones III

trumpeter, cornetist

22.03.1934 - 13.02.2019

Conrad R. "Connie" Jones III was an American jazz trumpeter and cornetist from New Orleans.

He took up the trumpet at age 10 and switched to the more mellow cornet some years later. His first professional band was the Basin Street Six, a traditional New Orleans jazz group led by him and Pete Fountain. Fountain became Jones' long-time friend and collaborator. He was also a fishing buddy of trumpeter Al Hirt.

Before starting his own group, Jones played in the bands of Billy Maxted and Santo Pecora. He was also in Jack Teagarden's group when Teagarden died in 1964, and served as a pallbearer at the famed trombonist’s funeral. As a bandleader he played in the Blue Angel nightclub and later aboard the Mississippi steamboat Delta Queen. In 2008, Jones recorded the album Creole Nocturne with pianist Tom McDermott and "If Dreams Come True" in 2011 with clarinettist Tim Laughlin.

He was featured at venues worldwide, including The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, the Satchmo SummerFest, the Evergreen Jazz Festival (to name a few). Jones was a founder of the French Quarter Festival and served as chair of its entertainment committee for twenty-two years. His band (The Crescent City Jazz Band) was the opening act of the festival for nine years in a row, followed by a long run of openings by the Connie Jones All-Stars. He continued to perform at the French Quarter Festival in New Orleans until his retirement in 2016.

Connie Jones is renowned as one of the most talented musicians to emerge from New Orleans and received an honorary degree from Loyola University in May 2012.

Willy Lambregt

guitarist

1959 - 13.02.2019

Willy Lambregt, solo as Willy Willy active, was a Belgian guitarist. He became known as a founding member of the pop band Vaya Con Dios.

Harvey Scales

singer

27.09.1942 - 11.02.2019

Harvey Scales was an American R&B singer, songwriter, and producer. Scales had been active in the music industry since the 1960s, and composed songs for groups such as The Dells, The Dramatics and The O'Jays. He is particularly notable for his co-authorship of the songs "Love-Itis" and "Disco Lady". Once called Milwaukee's "Godfather of Soul" by a local reporter, Scales credited James Brown and the sound of "funk" for influencing his music career.

Bill Sims Jr.

guitarist, singer

23.06.1949 - 02.02.2019

The Blues has many distinct origins and sounds. Delta Blues, Chicago Blues, West Coast Blues, East Coast Blues, Rhythm and Blues and on and on, each with its own unique flavor. If you ask Bill Sims what type of Blues he plays, his answer is simply, "I play the Blues."

In 1946, the Rev. William Sims moved his family from the hard life of sharecropping in rural Georgia to Marion, Ohio where Bill was raised. The Reverend brought with him the rich musical tradition of his childhood; the Blues and Gospel. He passed it all onto his son who started playing piano at the age of four on the old piano in the living room. At age fourteen, Bill turned professional when he joined the Jacksonian Blues, a rhythm and blues band considered the top in Ohio. He left the band to attend Ohio State University where he majored in music. He had the privilege to play with many great Blues and R&B; legends that performed at the University. He learned his lessons well sitting in the piano chair of Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Freddie King, the Ojays, Jerry Butler and many more.

In 1971, Bill joined The Four Mints, a doo-wop rhythm and blues group. Some of their songs made it to the charts, including You're My Desire and Row My Boat. The group traveled the country, opening for the mega-bands of the 1970s such as Gladys Knight and Earth, Wind and Fire. In 1976, Bill left The Four Mints to explore other musical venues. Incorporating his vast musical expertise and love for world music, Bill founded The Lamorians, an avant-grade jazz band that relied heavily on traditional African drumming.

In 1988, Bill came full circle and returned to the Blues. He founded his own band, Bill Sims and the Cold Blooded Blues Band where he is both lead guitarist and lead vocalist. He is currently considered one of the best musicians in the New York City Blues scene. Besides regularly performing at the best Blues clues in the city, Bill tours extensively both domestic and internationally. His virtuoso musicianship can be heard in most homes across America in the advertising spots of Coca-Cola, Reebok, Folgers and ESPN. In 1992, Bill released his first CD, Blues Before Sunrise. In 1999 his much-awaited CD Bill Sims was released on Warner Brothers records to coincide with the 10 hour PBS special on Bill.

When asked why he plays the Blues, Bill simply replies "because my daddy played the Blues". Luckily for music lovers everywhere, the tradition continues.