Lost in '10

One cannot acknowledge the year’s creative contributions without noting its losses. This year seemed unusually disproportionate in the number of creative voices that moved onto another plane. Here, I note only those whose artistry has had particular impact on my life. I certainly recognize that many, many others have departed the Earth this year. But I hope this feeble remembrance repays a small portion of the enrichment these creative voices have provided to me.

December

28: Billy Taylor, 89, American jazz pianist and composer, heart attack.
26: Teena Marie, 54, American singer and composer.
24: John Warhola, 85, American museum founder (The Andy Warhol Museum) and brother of Andy Warhol, pneumonia.
21: Jack Tracy, 83, American editor (Down Beat) and music producer (Chess, Mercury).
19: Harold Blanchard, 80, American jazz pianist, arranger and composer.
19: Trudy Pitts, 78, American jazz organist, pianist and vocalist, pancreatic cancer.
15: Blake Edwards, 88, American film director, producer and screenwriter (The Pink Panther, Breakfast at Tiffany's), pneumonia.
9: James Moody, 85, American jazz saxophonist and flautist, pancreatic cancer.

November

27: Irvin Kershner, 87, American film director (Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back), lung cancer.
12: Henryk Górecki, 76, Polish composer, after long illness.
3: Hotep Idris Galeta, 69, South African jazz pianist, composer and lecturer, asthma attack.

October

28: Walter Payton, 68, American jazz bassist and sousaphonist, complications from a stroke (father of Nicholas Payton).
20: Harvey Phillips, 80, American tuba player, Parkinson's disease (Sauter-Finegan Orchestra, Gunther Schuller, John Lewis, Quincy Jones, Gil Evans, Orchestra USA, Pat Williams, Gary McFarland).
18: Marion Brown, 79, American jazz saxophonist.
7: T Lavitz, 54, American musician (Dixie Dregs).

September

28: Arthur Penn, 88, American film director and producer (Bonnie and Clyde, The Missouri Breaks), heart failure.
27: Buddy Morrow, 91, American jazz musician and bandleader.
27: Ed Wiley, Jr., 80, American jazz and R&B saxophonist and singer, injury from a fall.
19: Buddy Collette, 89, American jazz saxophonist.
12: Claude Chabrol, 80, French film director (Madame Bovary, Story of Women).
8: Hadley Caliman, 78, American jazz saxophonist, liver cancer.

August

23: George David Weiss, 89, American composer ("What a Wonderful World", "Can't Help Falling in Love", "The Lion Sleeps Tonight"), natural causes.
14: Herman Leonard, 87, American jazz photographer.
14: Abbey Lincoln, 80, American jazz singer and actress (For Love of Ivy, Nothing But a Man).
10: David L. Wolper, 82, American film and television producer (North and South, Roots, The Thorn Birds), heart failure and Parkinson's disease.
8: Jack Parnell, 87, British musician and bandleader (The Muppet Show), cancer.
1: Robert F. Boyle, 100, American art director and production designer (North By Northwest, The Birds), natural causes.

July

29: Martin Drew, 66, British jazz drummer (Oscar Peterson), heart attack.
14: Gene Ludwig, 72, Pittsburgh-based jazz organist.
12: Paulo Moura, 77, Brazilian saxophonist (Herbie Mann, Cannonball Adderley) and clarinetist, lymphoma.
6: Harvey Fuqua, 80, American rhythm and blues singer (The Moonglows), and record producer (Marvin Gaye), heart attack.

June

26: Benny Powell, 80, American jazz trombonist (April in Paris), heart attack following spinal surgery.
24: Francis Dreyfus, 70, French record producer (Disques Dreyfus).
16: Garry Shider, 56, American musician (Parliament-Funkadelic), complications from brain and lung cancer.
15: Busi Mhlongo, 62, South African singer.
9: Harold Ivory Williams, 60, American jazz musician (with Miles Davis on On the Corner, Big Fun).
5: Danny Bank, 87, American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, and flautist.

May

16: Hank Jones, 91, American jazz pianist.
9: Lena Horne, 92, American singer and actress (Stormy Weather, The Wiz).
7: Francisco Aguabella, 84, Cuban-born American jazz percussionist, cancer.
1: Rob McConnell, 75, Canadian jazz musician, cancer.

April

22: Gene Lees, 82, Canadian jazz historian, critic, editor, lyricist, singer and author, heart disease.
13: Steve Reid, 66, American jazz drummer (James Brown, Arthur Blythe, Miles Davis’ Tutu), throat cancer.
8: Malcolm McLaren, 64, British musician and band manager (Sex Pistols, New York Dolls, Bow Wow Wow), mesothelioma.
2: Mike Zwerin, 79, American jazz musician and jazz critic, after long illness.

March

27: Peter Herbolzheimer, 74, German jazz musician.
20: Erwin Lehn, 90, German composerand conductor.

February

15: Art Van Damme, 89, American jazz musician and accordionist, pneumonia.
15: Gloria Coleman, American jazz organist, married to tenor great George Coleman.
13: Jamil Nasser, 77, American jazz musician, cardiac arrest.
6: Sir John Dankworth, 82, British composer, conductor, jazz musician.

January

27: J. D. Salinger, 91, American author (The Catcher in the Rye), natural causes.
13: Ed Thigpen, 79, American jazz drummer, after long illness.