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INTRODUCTION

This is the Rest in Playlist for Friday, February 2^nd, 2024, featuring recording artists from around the world who passed away recently. [Sonny & Cher clip] What the heck? Oh, that’s right. It’s Groundhog’s Day here at the Rest in Playlist. This week, our headliner is one of the great ladies of Broadway, Ms. Chita Rivera. Also in the set we’ve got a great voice from American dance; classical music from Poland; jazz from South Africa, France, and Switzerland; and traditional music from Norway, India, and Italy. Get ready to expand your musical horizons on this global jam session from the great beyond. Let’s kick things off with our Opening Act.

Opening Act:

[24 Jan 2024] Anders Lampe [da], 59, Danish guitarist (Bamses Venner).

You’re going to at least recognize the melody from our opening act, Bamses Venner, a Danish group whose name translates as Teddy Bear’s Friends. Anders Lampe played guitar and sang for the group from 2008–2011 and passed away on January 24^th. Here they are performing “Vimmersvej.”

Bamses Venner – Vimmersvej

Headliner:

[30 Jan 2024] Chita Rivera, 91, American actress (West Side Story, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Chicago), Tony winner (1984, 1993).

Dolores Conchita Figueroa del Rivero Anderson, stage name Chita Rivera, was a two-time Tony Award winner and the first Latin American to receive the Kennedy Center Honor. Born in 1933, she died one week after her 91^st birthday on January 30^th. In addition to legendary roles in West Side Story, Bye Bye Birdie, and Chicago, she appeared in films and television. Here she is singing her title role for which she won one of her Tony’s, this is “Kiss of the Spider Woman.”

Chita Rivera – Kiss of the Spider Woman

Main Stage:

[26 Jan 2024] Michael Watford, 80, American dance music singer.

Michael Watford was an American dance music singer, who was born in Virginia and raised in New Jersey, and died on January 26^th. Four of his singles charted on the United States Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart in the mid-1990s. This is one those singles, entitled “Holdin’ On.”

Michael Watford – Holdin’ On (Original Shelter Mix)

[29 Jan 2024] Yuri Ilchenko [ru], 72, Russian vocalist and guitarist (Mify, Zemlyane).

Yuri Ilchenko was a singer and musician known as one of the best blues guitarists in the USSR. During the Soviet era, he fronted a popular band called Myths. But in 1979, he left Myths and replaced a musician in the band Zemlayne, a rock band formed in 1968 that’s still performing today, steadfastly supporting the illegal Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 such that Vladimir Putin has approved them for state-sponsored performances. This is Zemlayne’s biggest hit, “Trava u doma.”

Zemlayne – Trava u doma

[26 Jan 2024] Dean Brown, 68, American jazz guitarist, cancer.

Dean Brown, the great American jazz-fusion guitarist, has joined the eternal session on January 26^th. Brown performed and/or toured with such artists as Marcus Miller, David Sanborn, Eric Clapton, Billy Cobham, Roberta Flack, and George Duke. His guitar can be heard on over 100 albums, and he taught guitar at the Musicians Institute in Hollywood. Here he is performing “Whole Tone Blues.”

Dean Brown – Whole Tone Blues

The Amphitheater:

[19 Jan 2024] Ewa Podleś, 71, Polish coloratura contralto singer.

Ewa Maria Podleś was a Polish contralto opera singer who appeared on leading stages of the world and made many recordings. She was born in Warsaw in 1952 and made her stage debut in 1975. Her voice had a wide range, spanning more than three octaves. Ewa Podleś passed away on January 19^th.

Ewa Podleś – Gianni Schicchi: “Povero Buoso!”

[13 Jan 2024] Romuald Twardowski, 93, Polish composer, organist and academic teacher (Warsaw State Academy of Music).

We bring you another Pole, an organist, composer, and teacher named Romuald Twardowski who passed on January 13^th. He composed operas, ballets, instrumental music and vocal works, especially sacred music for both Catholic use and the Orthodox Church. From 1972 to 2008 Twardowski was a professor at the State Academy of Music in Warsaw, teaching composition and instrumentation.

Romuald Twardowski – A w niedziele raniusieńko

[08 Jan 2024] Tuomas Haapanen [fi], 99, Finnish violinist, conductor and music teacher.

Our oldest performer at age 99 comes to us from Finland. Tuomas Haapanen first played first violin in the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra from 1953 to 1958 and as second concertmaster from 1958 to 1962. Haapanen was awarded the Aksentti award of the Finnish Music Education Association in 1997, and in 2006 his life was featured in an hour-long documentary.

Helvi Leiviskä, Irma Ruuskanen, Tuomas Haapanen, Martti Pajanne, Vili Pullinen – Piano Quartet in A Major, Op. 1 I.Allegro

The Jazz Cellar:

[29 Jan 2024] Tony Cedras, 71, South African musician.

Born in America, jazz is now a worldwide phenomenon. We begin in South Africa, where accordion, harmonium, keyboard, and guitar player Tony Cedras met his maker on January 29^th. He performed or recorded with various well-known artists, including Paul Simon, Harry Belafonte, Miriam Makeba, Cassandra Wilson, and Hugh Masekela. He was in every lineup of Paul Simon’s band from 1987 to 2012. Here he is performing with the group Pacific Express on “7^th Avenue.”

Pacific Express – 7^th Avenue

[25 Jan 2024] Bruno Amstad, 59–60, Swiss jazz singer, cancer.

Now to Europe, where we meet Swiss jazz singer Bruno Amstad, who passed his celestial audition on January 25^th. Born in 1964, he was originally a soul, funk and rock singer who switched to jazz in the 2000s. For a dozen years he collaborated with Christy Doran in a project called New Bag. Here’s a sample from that project, an odd-time banger called “Five-Four Afro.”

Christy Doran’s New Bag – Five-Four Afro

[26 Jan 2024] Michel Hausser, 96, French jazz vibraphonist.

We close the cellar with 96-year-old French jazz vibraphonist Michel Hausser, who died on January 26^th. He played accordion as a child and taught the instrument in his early twenties before switching to vibraphone in 1948. Later in life, Hausser moved to Germany and taught music at university. Here he is with the Martin Hugelshofer Quartet and “Darn That Dream.”

Martin Hugelshofer Quartet – Darn That Dream

International Stage:

[27 Jan 2024] Lillebjørn Nilsen, 73, Norwegian singer-songwriter and folk musician.

Off to Scandinavia we go where “the Voice of Oslo” has died on January 27^th. Lillebjørn Nilsen began his career as half of the folk duo The Young Norwegians. Nilsen collaborated with his friend and idol Pete Seeger on numerous occasions. He adapted Pete Seeger’s song “My Rainbow Race” into Norwegian as “Barn av regnbuen” (“Children of the Rainbow”). Here it is.

Lillebjørn Nilsen – Barn Av Regnbuen

[25 Jan 2024] Bhavatharini, 47, Indian singer, composer (Bharathi, Azhagai Irukkirai Bayamai Irukkirathu) and music director (Mitr, My Friend), liver cancer.

Bhavatharini Raja was an Indian actress and singer who ascended on January 25^th. She was awarded the National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer in 2000. She began her career in 1984 and recorded quite regularly until her battle with liver cancer forced her retirement in 2022. Here she is performing “Aathadi Aathadi.”

Bhavatharini – Aathadi Aathadi

Encore:

[30 Jan 2024] Chita Rivera, 91, American actress (West Side Story, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Chicago), Tony winner (1984, 1993).

We bring back Broadway’s Chita Rivera, who was also in movies, including Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and TV variety shows, including The Carol Burnett Show, and sitcoms, including Will & Grace. Her Broadway debut in 1950 was as a dancer in Guys and Dolls, but she really made her splash originating the role of Anita in the 1957 production of West Side Story.

Chita Rivera – America (from “West Side Story”)

Closing:

And that’s the Rest in Playlist for Friday, February 2^nd, 2024. Join us here next week as we chronicle the latest musicians, singers, and songwriters to join the Great Gig in the Sky. Catch up on every year of Rest in Playlist back to 2016 on Spotify and RadicalRuss.com. For Rest in Playlist, I’m “Radical” Russ Belville reminding you to seize the day, it may be your last.