Musicians who passed away in 2015

SEPTEMBER

Guy Béart, Victor Démé, Lady Bo

1: BOUTELDJA BELKACEM (age 67) an Algerian raï songwriter, lyricist and composer, born in Oran. He is considered a pillar of modern raï. In the 1960s, he introduced for the first time, accordion and synthesizer instead of guellal (drums) and gasba (flute).

2: BOUDJEMAÂ EL ANKIS (age 88) was an Algerian performer and songwriter of chaâbi music, from Kabyle culture. Tortured and imprisoned during the Franco-Algerian war, he will write an ode to Algeria’s independence.

4: RICO RODRIGUEZ (age 80) also known as simply Rico, Reco or El Reco, was a Cuban-born Jamaican ska and reggae trombonist. He was known as one of the first and most distinguished ska artists, and from the early 1960s performed and recorded in Britain, with the Specials, Jools Holland, Paul Young, and others.

5: IJA BERGH (age 88) was a Danish pianist and composer who led a colorful and turbulent life.

5: JACQUES ISRAELIEVITCH (age 67) was a French violinist, and one of Canada’s foremost chamber musicians.

12: Punk band The Damned’s bassist BRYN MERRICK passed away following a battle with cancer.

13: REO Speedwagon lead guitarist and songwriter GARY RICHRATH (age 65) joined the band 3 years after it was formed and was part of most of their greatest hits, before leaving the band in 1989.

16: LADY BO (age 75) used to play rhythm guitar with Bo Diddley before launching her own solo career.

16: Frenchman GUY BÉART (age 85) started singing in the early 1950s and was noticed for his writing talents. He wrote hits for Juliette Greco and went on to record many albums, mostly in the 60s and 70s. He was the father of actress Emmanuelle Béart.

21: VICTOR DEMÉ (age 53) was a Burkinabé musician and singer-songwriter originating from a Mandinka family. He gained fame in 1988, at age 26, when he returned to Burkina Faso after living in Ivory Coast for many years.

25: Canadian organist, harpsichordist and choral conductor CHRISTOPHER JACKSON (age 67) co-founded both the Société des Concerts d’orgue de Montréal and the Studio de musique ancienne de Montréal in 1974.

25: MANUEL OLTRA (age 93) was a Spanish composer. He was known for composing music about harmony and counterpoint music.

27: WILTON FELDER (age 75) was an American saxophone and bass player, and is best known as a founding member of The Jazz Crusaders, which evolved from a straight-ahead jazz combo into a pioneering jazz-rock fusion group, with a definite soul music influence.

29: PHIL WOODS (age 83) was an American jazz bebop alto saxophonist, clarinetist, bandleader and composer. In the late 50s, he gained major exposure by playing in Dizzy Gillespie’s and Benny Goodman’s orchestras. In ’68, he moved to France and led the European Rhythm Machine, a group which tended toward avant-garde jazz. Back in the US in ’72, he formed a quintet.

He was also known for his solos on pop hits by Steely Dan, Billy Joel and Paul Simon.

29: French-Armenian virtuoso violinist and violin pedagogue JEAN TER-MERGERIAN (age 79) got the first prize for violin at the Marseille Conservatoire at the age of 11. He won many prestigious prizes in the 50s and 60s.

30: SIMON COWE played guitar, mandolin, banjo and keyboards with Lindisfarne, one of the biggest bands of the British folk-rock movement of the late ’60s and early 70’s.

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