Remembering three diverse musical greats

Once again, I find myself writing about musical greats we have lost far too soon, it seems. Being in the music business with my website, A Web of Fine Music (www.finemusic.ca), I always keep an eye out for information on musical artists who have made a mark in some way in the past or not-too-distant past.

In the last couple of weeks, I've read of the passing of Canadian icon Kate McGarrigle, jazz drummer Ed Thigpen and British bandleader John Dankworth. All have influenced countless music lovers over the years, as they will continue to do long after they are gone. Here are my humble thoughts on the passing of these three.

I can't say I ever really go into the music of Kate and sister Anna McGarrigle; however, there is no denying the indelible mark the sisters left on Canadian music in particular and folk music in general. I remember a good friend of mine, who was a huge fan of the sisters, anxiously awaiting a concert they were scheduled to give at Convocation Hall at the University of Toronto years ago, and despite her best efforts to convince me to go, I decided against it. I wish now I had, as both the performers and the venue are now steeped in Canadian culture, but in my younger days, I just didn't think it all that important.

Kate could be rather testy, I'm told, but was quick with a joke and simply loved making her unique brand of music. Their 1998 release The McGarrigle Hour, was clearly a favourite of many, followed a few years later by The McGarrigle Christmas Hour, a perfectly quirky take on holiday music from a pair of artists who never seemed to follow the tried and true path of music, even at Christmastime.

Kate died last month of clear cell sarcoma just a little short of her 64th birthday. Too young for such a gifted artist, to be sure, but her legacy will live on with her many recordings, both solo and with her sister Anna.

Also in January, we lost jazz drummer Ed Thigpen, known to many simply as "Mr. Taste", which says something of the high esteem in which he was held. Ed wasn't Canadian; he was born in Chicago in 1930, but he lived in Toronto for a time in the early 60s when he was the drummer in the famed Oscar Peterson Trio that defined classic and classy small-ensemble jazz over forty years ago. Thigpen joined Peterson's group in 1959 when guitarist Herb Ellis left. The addition of a drummer to replace a guitarist might have seemed rather odd at the time, but Thigpen, along with bassist Ray Brown, joined as one with Peterson to create some of the most memorable jazz albums of the era.

Some of the recordings best remembered from that period include Porgy and Bess (1959); The Trio (1961) and Night Train (1962). I have been listening to the latter disc several times over the past week, and each time I marvel at the sheer artistry at play here, still sounding so fresh and relevant almost 50 years after it was first recorded. It is still in the catalogue, too, lovingly reproduced and remastered by engineers at Verve Records. If you don't have either The Trio or Night Train in your personal collection yet, they are both readily available through my website, at www.finemusic.ca.

The final musical genius I want to touch on today is one I had the pleasure of meeting several times over the years in the 70s and early 80s. Sir John Dankworth died earlier this month at the age of 82. I had no idea he was that old, frankly, as he always appeared to me to be ageless. Along with his long-time wife, jazz singer Cleo Laine, they dominated the traditional British jazz and even pop scene for many years. I idolized Cleo back in those days, yet it was John who quietly guided the ageless singer to many successes both in North America and in Europe. Their Carnegie Hall and Return to Carnegie Hall albums on RCA Records still sound spectacular today. The live concerts they gave during that time, which I caught in Toronto and Hamilton in the late 70s and early 80s, utilized so many of their popular recordings from the two Carnegie Hall concerts, including Streets of London and Turkish Delight, Sir John's clever take on Mozart's Turkish Rondo, concocted with what he always referred to as "typically devilish British ingenuity". His sense of humour was considerable; his musical talent undeniable.

My favourite recording by the pair is a long out-of-print Philips album titled Shakespeare...and all that jazz" recorded in 1964. Dankworth did the arrangements, perfectly suiting Cleo's amazing voice on musical settings of Shakespeare's words with It Was a Lover and his Lass and Witches, Fair and Foul. It still sounds great today, and I'll always consider this one of their best efforts.

Kate McGarrigle, Ed Thigpen and Sir John Dankworth: all three contributed so much to music over the years; we'll be all the poorer without them. Hail and farewell, dear friends.

February 18, 2010.