In Memoriam 2017: The Musicians We Lost
Bright voices from every corner of the music world left us this year — from virtuoso players to visionary composers, from charismatic bandleaders to golden-eared producers, from influential inventors to critics and commentators who interrogated and elevated the art they covered. Explore their legacies here.
Nat Hentoff
June 10, 1925 – Jan. 7, 2017
Hentoff was a writer for The Village Voice for 50 years. ... He also was a lover and frequent writer on jazz music. From age 11, he was hooked on the genre after hearing the song "Nightmare" by Artie Shaw coming through an open door at a record store. (Read the full obituary)
William Onyeabor
March 26, 1946 – Jan. 16, 2017
Onyeabor was something like Nigeria's answer to Parliament-Funkadelic, churning out space-age disco-funk in the 1970s and '80s with synths and drum machines. (Read the full obituary)
Junie Morrison
Date Unknown – Jan. 21, 2017
When it comes to the funk gods who swung low and sprinkled pixie dust on hip-hop's '90s G-Funk redux, Junie Morrison is of the highest order. His musical contributions to early Ohio Players hits ("Funky Worm") and co-writing and playing on P-Funk's biggest hit ("One Nation Under A Groove") became the sonic blueprint for hits by artists ranging from De La Soul to Dr. Dre.
Maggie Roche
Oct. 26, 1951 – Jan. 21, 2017
As Ann Powers noted earlier this year, Roche and her sisters wrote songs "about pregnancy, work, family tensions, complex love and the feminine mystique [that] gained clarity from the utterly clear, deliberately imperfect harmonies" Maggie delivered along with her sisters Terre and Suzzy.
David Axelrod
April 17, 1931 – Feb. 5, 2017
"He is one of the most intriguing arrangers and composers that I've ever heard doing psychedelic rock and funk music together. To me his music is singular," foundational hip-hop producer Pete Rock says. "I'm a digger and there are records that are similar but something about his music stands out on his own. That)
