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respect 2024...

 

 

@soulwalking

 

 

'What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others'. Pericles (495 - 429 b.c.)

 

 

 

2024

 

 

march 2024

 

ernest 'bilbo' berger

 

Ernest Berger

 

b. Ernest ‘Bilbo’ Berger, 1951, Czechoslovakia.

 

d. 1st March 2024, London.


The drummer, percussionist and founding member of the group Heatwave, Ernest ‘Bilbo’ Berger, has died. He was 73.

‘Bilbo’ passed away in a London hospital at 2 a.m. according to his wife, Grace. They had been married for 45 years.

Along with group members Johnnie Wilder Jr, Rod Temperton, Eric Johns & Roy Carter, Heatwave created some of the finest Disco music from the Seventies and early Eighties.

These included ‘Boogie Nights’, ‘Always and Forever’, ‘Mind Blowing Decisions’, ‘The Groove Line’, ‘Too Hot To Handle’, ‘Gangsters of the Groove’ and ‘Ain't No Half Steppin’.

 

 

 

heatwave page at soulwalking

 

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Henry Fambrough

 

b. Henry Fambrough, 10th May 1935, Detroit, Michigan, U.S.A.

 

d. 7th February 2024, Sterling, Virginia, U.S.A.

 

Henry Fambrough, the last surviving original member of the (Detroit) The Spinners, has died Henry was 85.

He died peacefully of natural causes in his northern Virginia home, said Tanisha Jackson in a statement.

The Detroit Spinners was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in November 2023.

 

Detroit Spinners

 

Along with: Henry (left), Bobbie Smith, Philippé Wynne, Pervis Jackson, Billy Henderson and John Edwards, the Detroit Spinners were listed as inductees.

 

 

 

detroit spinners page at soulwalking

 

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hinton battle

b. Hinton Battle, 29th November 1956, Neubrücke, Rhineland-Palatinate, West Germany

 

d. 30th January 2024, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.


The American actor, singer, dancer, and dance instructor, Hinton Battle, had died. Hinton was 67.

He won three Tony Awards, and featured in several stage productions during his acting career.

Musically, he released a solo album called ‘Untapped’, which featured the popular song ’Super Cautious Girl’.

His song ‘Think We're Gonna Make It’ was also featured on the soundtrack to the 1986 movie ‘Playing for Keeps’.

Hinton had been working on an autobiography at the time of his death.

He died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on the 30th of January 2024.

 

hinton battle page at soulwalking

 

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marlena shaw

 

Marlena Shaw

 

b. Marlina Burgess, 22nd September 1942, New Rochelle, New York, U.S.A.

 

d. 19th January 2024, California, U.S.A.

 

The Soul, Blues and Jazz songstress, Marlena Shaw, has died. Marlena was 81.

Her daughter, Marla Bradshaw, said on Facebook, she died at home, peacefully, listening to some of her favourite music. Marla wrote:

 

“It’s with a very heavy heart that for myself and my family I announce that our beloved mother, your beloved icon and artist Marlena Shaw has passed away today at 12:03,” Marla said. “She was peaceful. We were at peace. … She went listening to some of her favorite songs.”
She added, “I just want to thank you all for being on her page. Thank you for being a part of her life. Especially these last three years, which made her very happy.”


More will be posted here as the details emerge.

Marlena’s career started during the Sixties and she continued to perform up until her death.

Her music has often been sampled in hip hop music, and used in television commercials globally.

 

marlena shaw page at soulwalking

 

 

 

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les mccann

 

Les McCann

 

b. Leslie Coleman McCann, 23rd September 1935, Lexington, Kentucky, U.S.A.

 

d. 29th December 2023, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

 

The jazz piano player and vocalist, Les McCann, has died. Les was 88.

He was suffering from pneumonia, and died in a Los Angeles hospital from the illness.

Since the Nineties nearly 300 artists have sampled his music.

These include A Tribe Called Quest, Cypress Hill, De La Soul, the Notorious B.I.G., Sean Combs, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Nas, Mary J. Blige, the Pharcyde, Eric B. and Rakim, Mobb Deep, Gang Starr, and Raekwon.

Prior to this era, Les McCann’s music has touched many genres including Jazz to Acid Jazz.

His early career saw success with the Les McCann Trio (featuring Les alongside Herbie Lewis & Ron Jefferson) in the Sixties.

Born in Lexington, Les grew up in a musical family of four, a brother and three sisters (with most of his family singing in church choirs).
As a young musician, Les played the tuba and drums and performed in his school's marching band.

He taught himself the piano, only having a couple of ‘proper’ lessons from a teacher prior to the teachers passing.

Les served in the navy and went on to win a song contest before appearing on the famous Ed Sullivan Show.

On leaving the service, Les relocated to California where he created his aforementioned own jazz trio.

He was invited to join Cannonball Adderley's band but declined at the time.

His trio performed at the Purple Onion club in 1959 accompanying Gene McDaniels.

In the Sixties he recorded with his trio for the Pacific Jazz imprint.

By the end of the decade, Atlantic Records released ‘Swiss Movement’ also featuring saxophonist Eddie Harris and trumpeter Benny Bailey.

The album contained the song ‘Compared to What’, an anti war song written by Eugene McDaniels.

Roberta Flack's own version appeared as the opening track on her debut album ‘First Take’ in 1969.

The success of the album saw Les becoming a pioneer in soul jazz merging jazz with funk, soul, and world rhythms.

In the early Seventies, Les and Eddie Harris were part of a group featuring Soul, R&B, and Rock performers (also including Wilson Pickett, the Staple Singers, Santana, and Ike & Tina Turner) who travelled to Ghana, to perform a 14-hour concert for over 100,000 Ghanaians.

The concert was recorded for the documentary film ‘Soul to Soul’ (a film that was released on DVD in later years).

Les suffered a stroke in the Nineties, returning to music in 2002.

Artistically Les had exhibited his work as a painter and photographer in recent years.

 

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...those who left us in 2023...

 

 

 

 

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