Bob Belden - Tenorist/Arranger Dead at 58

[charles t]

From the U.K. mag Jazzwise learn of the passing of Bob Belden just two days ago - Wednesday.

http://www.jazzwisemagazine.com/breaking-news/13594-bob-belden-grammy-winning-producer-saxophonist-and-renaissance-man-dies-age-58

A personal note: Mention is made of Bob Belden's treatment of Puccini's Turandot (on Japanese Blue Note) which was never released. I was told because the Puccini estate would not sanction. I had been able to parlay an e-bay sale with purchasing an (apparent) publicity pre-release...Buying same from some place in The Netherlands. $75.00 bucks...most ever I have paid for a single CD.

(Box set of Albert Ayler 's Holy Ghost diminished me by $100.00).

[IMG][/IMG]

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

From the U.K. mag Jazzwise learn of the passing of Bob Belden just two days ago - Wednesday.

http://www.jazzwisemagazine.com/breaking-news/13594-bob-belden-grammy-winning-producer-saxophonist-and-renaissance-man-dies-age-58

A personal note: Mention is made of Bob Belden's treatment of Puccini's Turandot (on Japanese Blue Note) which was never released. I was told because the Puccini estate would not sanction. I had been able to parlay an e-bay sale with purchasing an (apparent) publicity pre-release...Buying same from some place in The Netherlands. $75.00 bucks...most ever I have paid for a single CD.

(Box set of Albert Ayler 's Holy Ghost diminished me by $100.00).

[IMG][/IMG]

"He quit the (Bluenote) job after less than
year, citing conflicts between the life
of an artist and the life of a record
executive. (Mr. Belden died a day
after Bruce Lundvall , who had run
Blue Note for 25 years.)" - NY Times obit.

Don't really know much of his playing but his liner notes for the RVG reissues were always very good and balanced. With no hype. AND a Kenny Dorham fan.

BN.

[Alyn_Shipton]

BN if you have the Jazz file series I did called Hard Bop Soft Focus on C60s somewhere, you'll hear a lot of Bob talking about Blue Note reissues that he was producing, and also revealing the (slightly nerdy) extent of his fandom. He gave me some text pressings for the audiophile LP re-releases he co-ordinated (which I still have) and a pre-release copy of the Turandot (which I seem to have mislaid). He was great company, and a fine arranger, and he will be much missed. Bruce Lundvall, too, was a really excellent person - I spent an afternoon of his no doubt highly paid CEO time in his office listening to unreleased music by Max Roach that he was negotiating (unsuccessfully) to release. He was particularly nice about my Bud Powell book (having released the Club Kavakos sessions while he was at Elektra). We had a hoot judging the 2003 Montreux Saxophone competition, with fellow judges Jean Toussaint and Charles Lloyd. Great company...

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

Thanks Alyn! I do indeed have those C90s in a lead encased box. Alway from speaker radiation, acid rain and salt sea air blowing in from the Atlanic cliffs.


And UKIP.


BN.

[Tenor Freak]

A bad day in Bluenoteville - I always enjoyed Bob's liner notes, and Bruce was a big mover behind the label relaunch. It's always a sad day when folk whose work you admire die too soon.

<thanks>
Bruce

[Old Grumpy]

I first read this thread title as Terrorist/Arranger!

Sign of the times I guess...



... should have gone to Specsavers!

OG