Gone Too Soon

[Ron Thorne]

I've always known that far too many jazz musicians and singers died at an alarmingly young age. However, while tending to the Jazz Birthdays thread on Jazztalk, it's become even more painfully obvious that so many were gone too soon ... far too soon. For the purpose of this thread, I'm mentioning those who passed under the age of 40. The list of those who left us before reaching the age of 50 would astound you.

There were some common threads and factors leading to the demise of these artists, the most prominent being alcohol, heroin and/or tuberculosis.

Where am I going with this? I don't know exactly, except to pay homage to what incredible contributions were made by these individuals in an extraordinarily short span of time. Of course, we're also left to wonder what might have been created by these extremely talented people if their lives had not been so incredibly brief.

Here is a very short list from recent memory.

Lee Morgan - 33
Chick Webb - 34
Paul Chambers - 33
Scott LaFaro - 25
Eric Dolphy - 36
Fats Navarro - 26
Clifford Brown - 25
Jaco Pastorius - 35
Charlie Parker - 34
Albert Ayler - 33
Sonny Clark - 31
Charlie Christian - 25

[BeBop]

Wardell Gray 34
Jimmy Blanton 23(!)
Bubber Miley 29
Clifford Brown 25 - duplicate, but worth highlighting
Bunny Berigan 33
Bix Beiderbecke 28
Herschel Evans 30

[Cem]

Matthew Sperry (35), Bay Area bassist, killed by an inattentive driver while cycling on June 5, 2003.



http://matthewsperry.org

[harmony5219]

Billie Holiday 44. John Coltrane 40. Nat King Cole 45. Fats Waller 39. Wes Montgomery 43. Django Reinhardt 43. Eddie Lang 29. Albert Ayler 34.

[harmony5219]

John Francis Anthony "Jaco" Pastorius, 35.