[mrpeebee]

I was just informed that bassist Jymie Merritt died at 93 (not at Covid-19, but cancer).

See these links:
https://www.wbgo.org/post/jymie-mer...-exploratory-spirit-post-bop-dies-93#stream/0
https://downbeat.com/news/detail/jazz-messengers-bassist-jymie-merritt-dies-at-93
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jymie_Merritt

 

[Kritavi]

A very accomplished cat who rarely got mentioned. Glad he had such a long life.

2020 is burning through the music world...

 

[Benjamin Allen]

A very accomplished cat who rarely got mentioned. Glad he had such a long life.

2020 is burning through the music world...

Couldn't agree more.

 

[Mike T]

Bad news. It was liver cancer which took him out, too — not "the virus."

I love his work with Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers around 1960 and 1961, just after Wayne Shorter joined. And look at the company he kept: Chet Baker, Max Roach, Dizzy Gillespie… Right up there with the best. His excursions into composition with harmonic innovation are fascinating, too. He also introduced the electric bass into hard bop. What a great, though largely unsung musician !

Jymie Merritt had a good, long and fruitful life: now may he rest in peace.