all i can report is that our local jazz station reported that Jimmy died this morning. i have been hearing about his poor health for quite some years now. what a wonderful player he was!
all i can report is that our local jazz station reported that Jimmy died this morning. i have been hearing about his poor health for quite some years now. what a wonderful player he was!
Being J.J. Johnson's favorite trombone player is the highest recommendation I think I've ever come accross.
There's a memorial service for Jimmy in L.A. on Saturday.
Jimmy Cleveland was a great player. He had to be one of the first call pump players in NY or LA. His playing was a great addition to any band he played in.
Being a big band nut, I loved his work with Thad Jones/Mel Lewis, Gerald Wilson and Gil Evans.
Thank you Jimmy, for all that great music.
__________________
Stand clear of the doors and dig Carl Fontana
Last edited by clinthopson; August-27th-2008 at 05:56 PM.
You probably won't read about in major media because
his wife, Janet, is a jehovahs witness and they don't particularly like being bothered with worldly folks, so she probably didn't bother making it public. She was a singer back in the 40's under name Janet Thurlow, Quincy Jones mentions her in his book, wonder how well they know each other..?
She was my piano teacher in the 60's here in NYC while he was part of Merv Griffins studio band.
The one my buddy Ron means is: "“The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated”.
Still no corroboration on this.
Steven,
Your buddy Ron grooved that soft pitch a la Denny McClain's admittedly non-challenging grooved pitch to the late great Mantle. Didn't any of the other 215 quotations float your barge?
There's a memorial service for Jimmy in L.A. on Saturday.
Jimmy Cleveland was a great player. He had to be one of the first call pump players in NY or LA. His playing was a great addition to any band he played in.
Being a big band nut, I loved his work with Thad Jones/Mel Lewis, Gerald Wilson and Gil Evans.
Thank you Jimmy, for all that great music.
haven't heard a word about a Sat. service. however, there was a service yesterday in Long Beach. a friend of mine attended and said it was totally and completely congruous with who Jimmy was. it seemed like a Jehovah Witness service with NO MUSIC!!! really shocking and depressing to the few musicians present who really knew him.
i hope there will be a more appropriate tribute to him in the future!
Yes, his wife is a JW, so I'm sure the service mentioned nothing about his muscial accomplishments, which is a sad thing. They used to live in NYC and she was my piano teacher in the 60"s, he always used to come downstairs and shout "practice, practice!!" to her students, he was also a part of Merv Griffins studio band when he had his talk show in the 60"s.
haven't heard a word about a Sat. service. however, there was a service yesterday in Long Beach. a friend of mine attended and said it was totally and completely congruous with who Jimmy was. it seemed like a Jehovah Witness service with NO MUSIC!!! really shocking and depressing to the few musicians present who really knew him.
i hope there will be a more appropriate tribute to him in the future!
My ears just let me down. I would hope there would be a tribute concert at the Union hall.
__________________
Stand clear of the doors and dig Carl Fontana
Yes, his wife is a JW, so I'm sure the service mentioned nothing about his muscial accomplishments, which is a sad thing. They used to live in NYC and she was my piano teacher in the 60"s, he always used to come downstairs and shout "practice, practice!!" to her students, he was also a part of Merv Griffins studio band when he had his talk show in the 60"s.
my friend also told me that there was a proclamation in the hall that stated that a day this past May had been made Jimmy Cleveland Day and would be celebrated in the city of Lynwood every year. no mention was made at the service of this honor!
following is my friend's initial e-mail to me:
"A couple of trombone players that are close to Jimmy and his family called me on Monday to tell me that a Memorial service was to be on Wednesday (yesterday) at 11am in Long Beach, which it was. Prior to that info, I'd not heard anything except when I was listening to the radio while driving to the mortuary. It was sparsely attended by musicians, but his family members from Tennessee and Las Vegas were there in force, and others who appeared to be Jehovah's Witnesses.
Curiously enough, there wasn't one strand of music heard. Only 2 men spoke throughout the approximately 35 or 40 minute affair. There was almost total silence during the two men's presentations. Needless to say, it left a significant void, as there seemed to be minimal attention to the deceased one, Jimmy himself. The atmosphere was in stark contrast to who Jimmy was, a person of ebulliance and wit in a music setting or any other for that matter.
I'll drop a program in the mail for you."
for me, the above just compounds the sadness of his departure.
I'm very sorry to learn of Jimmy's passing and the seemingly disconnected memorial service, which according to descriptions here, totally missed the mark in honoring the man.
Here's some music for all of us to enjoy which includes the very young Doc Severinsen, Art Farmer, Jimmy Cleveland, Bill Evans and many other notables. The year was 1958.
I'm Jimmy Cleveland's daughter-in-law, he passed away on August 23, 2008 at 4:45 pm, in Lynwood, California. His memorial service was on August 27, 2008 at 11:00 am, in Long Beach, California. He was cremated and his remains will be laid to rest at the VA cemetery in Riverside, California. His obituary was read at the services, which listed some of his accomplishments. Yes, all of you are right, he should have been mentioned more, but it's the way his wife wanted it. The city of Lynwood did send a proclamation honoring him and now every May 3rd, will be Jimmy Cleveland Day. His son Jimmy Cleveland Jr. is trying to set up a tribute to honor him on May 3, 2009.
I'm Jimmy Cleveland's daughter-in-law, he passed away on August 23, 2008 at 4:45 pm, in Lynwood, California. His memorial service was on August 27, 2008 at 11:00 am, in Long Beach, California. He was cremated and his remains will be laid to rest at the VA cemetery in Riverside, California. His obituary was read at the services, which listed some of his accomplishments. Yes, all of you are right, he should have been mentioned more, but it's the way his wife wanted it. The city of Lynwood did send a proclamation honoring him and now every May 3rd, will be Jimmy Cleveland Day. His son Jimmy Cleveland Jr. is trying to set up a tribute to honor him on May 3, 2009.
thank you very much for posting here. it is very kind of you. if appropriate, please extend the Jazz Corner's condolences to Jimmy's wife and family, including yourself. we're assuming that the absence of music at the service was related to the religious beliefs of his family but i trust you understand that it was very strange to many of his friends and fans. thank you again for posting.
Jimmy Cleveland was a long standing favorite musician of mine since I heard him in records. His incredible facility to blow even on fast tempos always amazed me. Of course, his solos were always coherents and imaginatives. I still treasure his LPs for Emarcy and Mercury, especially the fantastic "Introducing Jimmy Cleveland" and "A Map of Cleveland".
I also had the pleasure to hear Mrs. Janet Thurlow singing with the Lionel Hampton big band long time ago at the Basin Street in New York.
My condolences to his widow, son, daughter-in-law and all relatives.
Truly one of the great jazz trombones of the last 50 years.
And probably as great an influence on trombone as J.J., Frank Rosolino, Carl Fontana, etc. His facility on the horn was probably as good as any of his contemporaries.
I think that, for the trombone in jazz, the bar was raised by everyone in that group; J.J. didn't do it all by himself.
RIP-Jimmy Cleveland. His music should be celebrated with his passing.
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