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INTRODUCTION
This is the Rest in Playlist for Friday, June 7th, 2024, featuring recording artists from around the world who passed away recently.
The Grim Reaper is taking us all over the planet this week—especially Sweden—for an hour featuring our headliner, one of Frank Zappa’s incredible percussionists, Ed Mann. We’ve got pop-rock from Holland, Serbia, and Britain. We’ve got a rap pioneer from Miami along with a young rapper from Sweden. We’ll bring you Festival music from Uruguay and Brazil. We’ll go fully International with artists from Indonesia and Malaysia. We’ll head to the Amphitheater for a pair of pianists from Poland and Japan by way of Sweden, then wind things up in the Jazz Cellar once again in Sweden and then New Zealand.
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:
[01 Jun 2024] Harry van Hoof, 81, Dutch conductor (“Ding-a-dong“, “I See a Star“), composer (“How Do You Do“) and music arranger.
Dutch composer Harry van Hoof was born in 1943 while the Nazis occupied The Netherlands and died on June 1st under Dutch democracy. He was the conductor for the Dutch entry in the Eurovision Song Contest fifteen times between 1972 and 1994. But Harry van Hoof made his indelible mark on pop music history in 1971 as the composer of this #1 smash in Holland, Belgium, Denmark, Switzerland, and New Zealand that also went to #2 in Canada and #8 in the U.S., “How Do You Do” by Holland’s Mouth and MacNeal.
Mouth & MacNeal – How Do You Do
Headliner:
[31 May 2024] Ed Mann, 69, American drummer and keyboardist (Frank Zappa).
One of the greatest mallet percussionists in all of rock music has died on May 31st. Ed Mann was summoned by the late great Frank Zappa to join his ensemble in 1977, and remained with the group through 1988, appearing on 30 live and studio albums, including Sheikh Yerbouti, Joe’s Garage, and Jazz from Hell. Mann also had an extensive solo career and worked with other groups. Here is Ed Mann, rockin’ the glockenspiel on Frank Zappa’s “Dancin’ Fool.”
Frank Zappa – Dancin’ Fool
Main Stage:
[22 May 2024] Toni Montano, 62, Serbian rock musician.
Serbian rock musician Tonny Montano, who died on May 22nd, began his career under his real name, Velibor Miljković, with the punk rock band Radost Evrope. In 1986, he assumed his Scarface-inspired stage name and merged punk with the emerging rockabilly sound popularized by bands like The Stray Cats. He continued recording through the 80s and 90s. Here is Tonny Montano with “10 Godina.”
Tonny Montano – 10 Godina
[02 Jun 2024] Colin Gibb, 70, British musician (Black Lace).
We lost British musician Colin Gibb on June 2nd. Gibb joined the band Black Lace in 1976, which went on to represent the UK in the 1979 Eurovision Song Contest, finishing 7th with a song called “Mary Ann.” It was in 1984 when Gibb and the band achieved their greatest success with this novelty song that shot all the way to #2 on the UK charts then but has now reached the top of many critics’ lists of most annoying songs. Judge for yourself, this is “Agadoo.”
Black Lace – Agadoo
Streets:
[03 Jun 2024] Brother Marquis, 58, American rapper (2 Live Crew), heart attack.
This week we pour one out for Brother Marquis, who along with Mr. Mixx, Fresh Kid Ice, and Luke Skyywalker comprised the groundbreaking Miami booty bass rap group, 2 Live Crew. Marquis was an LA battle-rap legend when Mixx brought him into the group just prior to their explosion onto the rap scene and into the courthouse when their nasty-as-they-wanna-be lyrics brought First Amendment controversy. Here’s the cleanest track I give you from Brother Marquis, who departed on June 3rd, this is “Me So Horny.”
2 Live Crew – Me So Horny (clean)
[04 Jun 2024] C.Gambino, 26, Swedish rapper, shot.
America has actor Donald Glover, who also raps under the name Childish Gambino. Sweden had a rapper who went by C.Gambino, who was unfortunately shot to death on June 4th at just 26 years old, our youngest performer this week. Gambino had only been recording since 2019 and already landed a #1 and #2 Swedish album, a #1 Swedish EP, and numerous Swedish top 40 singles, including this #2 hit, “G63.”
C.Gambino – G63
Festival Stage:
[21 May 2024] Carlos Paravís, 56, Uruguayan physician and folk singer, esophageal cancer.
Carlos Ernesto Paravís Martínez was a physician in Uruguay who had also dedicated his life to the preservation of Uruguayan folk music, a devotion he inherited from his father. He passed away from esophageal cancer on May 21st. Here is Carlos Paravís performing “Al Tubiano Ni Tocarlo.”
Carlos Paravís – Al Tubiano Ni Tocarlo
[09 May 2024] Andrés Vega Delfín [es], 93, Mexican folk guitarist.
Now we move north to Mexico, where traditional folk musician Andrés Vega Delfín has departed on May 9th. He is considered one of the most influential musicians of his genre, such that his home Mexican state of Veracruz has created the annual Andrés Vega Delfín Award to recognize excellence in traditional music of the region. Here is some of that music, entitled “El Zapateado.”
Andrés Vega Delfín – El Zapateado
International Stage:
[10 May 2024] Jhonny Iskandar [id], 64, Indonesian singer.
Jhonny Iskandar was a popular singer in Indonesia in the 1980s and 90s, both as a solo artist and as the leader of a popular novelty act whose name translates as “the Moral Orchestra for the Introduction to Drinking Poison.” Here is one of his biggest hits, “Bukan Pengemis Cinta,” or “Not a Beggar of Love.”
Jhonny Iskandar – Bukan Pengemis Cinta
[03 Apr 2024] Jaafar Onn [ms], 72, Malaysian actor, singer and television presenter.
Now to Malaysia, where we meet Jafaar Onn in the hereafter on April 3rd. Onn began his career as a television chef in 1972. In the 80s, he branched out into acting and by the 1990s, he was recording as a singer. He continued his career, singing and acting in movies and TV until his sudden heart attack this Spring. Here is Jaafar Onn singing “Pungguk Rindukan Bulan,” or “Missing the Moon.”
Jafaar Onn – Pungguk Rindukan Bulan
Amphitheater:
[27 May 2024] Stefan Wojtas [pl], 80, Polish pianist.
In the Amphitheater of the Afterlife on May 27th we welcomed Poland’s Stefan Wojtas, a classical pianist who overcame crippling anxiety to win numerous competitions, teach and judge piano prodigies, and win several national medals in the arts. Here he is performing “Chopin’s Mazurka No. 31 in A-Flat Major, Op. 50, No. 2.”
Stefan Wojtas – Chopin’s Mazurka No. 31 in A-Flat Major, Op. 50, No. 2
[21 Apr 2024] Ingrid Fuzjko Hemming, 92, Swedish classical pianist.
On April 21st the Amphitheater welcomed Ingrid Fuzjko Hemming, born in Berlin as the daughter of a Japanese mother and a Swedish father. She was raised in Japan as a piano prodigy, performing her first concert at seventeen. International tours, recordings, and accolades came her way. Then, at the height of her career, a fever claimed her hearing. She was totally deaf for two years and only regained 40% of her hearing in one ear after lengthy medical procedures. I’d tell you the name of this piece, but I cannot read Japanese characters.
Robert Schumann, Fujiko Hemming
Jazz Cellar:
[18 May 2024] Palle Danielsson, 77, Swedish jazz double bassist.
Off to Sweden again, where double bassist Palle Danielsson joins us in the Jazz Cellar. A prolific artist, Danielsson shared the stage with many notable jazz acts, including five years in the mid-70s as a member of the Keith Jarrett Quartet. Here he is from his work in the 90s with Peter Erskine and John Taylor, performing “Touch Her Soft Lips and Part.”
Peter Erskine, Palle Danielsson, John Taylor – Touch Her Soft Lips and Part
[27 May 2024] Rodger Fox, 71, New Zealand jazz trombonist, educator (Massey University) and bandleader.
Rodger Fox was the son of big band musicians and a huge fan of Woody Herman’s music who went on to become one of the greatest proponents and educators of New Zealand’s jazz scene. He formed the Rodger Fox Big Band that became the first kiwi act to perform at the Montreux Jazz Festival and imported numerous American jazz musicians to perform with his band in New Zealand. Here he is leading the New Zealand School of Music Band in “Deed I Do.”
The New Zealand School of Music Band – Deed I Do
Closing:
And that’s the Rest in Playlist for Friday, June 7th, 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.
