Bizarre deaths of Jazz Greats

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Serg
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Bizarre deaths of Jazz Greats

#1 Post by Serg » Tue Dec 28, 2004 4:48 pm

Well, the name of thread the says it all. I am looking for unusual deaths of important Jazzman/Jazzwoman. Cancer, old age, stroke, etc don't coun't. I go first:

Jimmie Lunceford:

Died in 1947 after eating lunch, poisoned by a racist restaurant owner who was very reluctant about feeding his band.

Shirley Scott:

Died in 2002. Her heart was damaged by the diet drug combination, fen-phen. Was awarded 8 million dollars from manufacturers of the drug as settlement of a lawsuit.


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#2 Post by Utah_Nate » Tue Dec 28, 2004 7:23 pm

This is kind of a morbid thread Serg! :D

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#3 Post by trev » Tue Dec 28, 2004 7:28 pm

Not sure if this qualifies, but Joe Williams died after getting out of his hospital bed, walking out thru the hospital doors and walking more than two miles to his home. He was only a few blocks from his home when he collapsed and died.

“He indicated to the staff he was leaving and that he would be back in a moment, that he’d be right back,”

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#4 Post by Yakov » Wed Dec 29, 2004 1:11 am

If he qualifies: Glen Miller disappeared during WW2 in a plane over the English Channel. I don't think the details of what happened to the plane have ever been specifically discovered.

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#5 Post by Serg » Wed Dec 29, 2004 7:25 am

trev wrote:Not sure if this qualifies, but Joe Williams died after getting out of his hospital bed, walking out thru the hospital doors and walking more than two miles to his home. He was only a few blocks from his home when he collapsed and died.

“He indicated to the staff he was leaving and that he would be back in a moment, that he’d be right back,”
Nice one. I didn't know that.

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#6 Post by mousethief » Wed Dec 29, 2004 7:40 am

trev wrote:Not sure if this qualifies, but Joe Williams died after getting out of his hospital bed, walking out thru the hospital doors and walking more than two miles to his home. He was only a few blocks from his home when he collapsed and died.

“He indicated to the staff he was leaving and that he would be back in a moment, that he’d be right back,”
I think that was in Vegas. He used to play small concerts there. When I saw him, he had mad drunk eyes - which is probably what killed him.

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#7 Post by Yakov » Wed Dec 29, 2004 9:52 am

you saw Joe Williams?!?!?!
what year was this?
was he awesome?

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#8 Post by mousethief » Wed Dec 29, 2004 11:21 am

Hell... 1997? He was in Dallas shortly after I moved here too but I missed it. He was phenomenal but very sick. His version of "Georgia Rose" still stands out in my mind - best ever.

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#9 Post by Lawrence » Fri Dec 31, 2004 9:52 am

Yakov wrote:If he qualifies: Glen Miller disappeared during WW2 in a plane over the English Channel. I don't think the details of what happened to the plane have ever been specifically discovered.
Rumor has it that this official story was a War Department cover-up for finding him drunk-dead in a brothel in France. Rumor, that is... but it qualifies for the thread.
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#10 Post by mousethief » Fri Dec 31, 2004 10:10 am

Or worse, that he may have been the unwanted recipient of American bombers jettisoning ordinance over the Channel. The concussive force alone would have been enough to drop a small one-engine into the water.

Kalman
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#11 Post by Shorty Dave » Sat Jan 01, 2005 4:54 pm

Bennie Moten died in a fluke accident at the dentist's when he was getting his tonsils taken out. Oye vey.

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#12 Post by Campus Five » Sat Jan 01, 2005 6:51 pm

Eddie Lang died having his tonsils out has well.
Charlie Christian died from TB after what was essentially a three-year career..
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#13 Post by Yakov » Sun Jan 02, 2005 10:31 am

i know it's not death, but it's related:
Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson lost all his hair from a bad hair-growth tonic.

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#14 Post by Yakov » Mon Jan 03, 2005 5:02 pm

another one:
Someone posts a thread about deaths of jazz musicians. The next day, Artie Shaw dies.

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#15 Post by caab » Wed Jan 05, 2005 12:44 pm

I shared this thread with my boyfriend and he had this one to add:

"Jaco Pastorius got beaten to death in an alley after one of his shows because he owed cats money."

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