Extraordinary musicians who died before their time

That is interesting, hadn’t heard of the 27 club.

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John Wetton died of colon cancer, which is easily treatable if caught early. Apparently, it wasn’t. :cry:

George Gershwin - 39 yrs old.

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Jacqueline du Pré - without a doubt.

James Brown (RIP)

JB is recognized as one of the most influential figures in 20th century music, with his own formula for sweaty, danceable funk and a live show that was second to none. As a young boy, JB not only influenced me musically, but also his unique funky dance style. Solo out on the dance floor to sweaty funk music. We are a small group of friends who jam together once a week and play funk that stems from JB and his fantastic horns.

Honor your memory James Brown.

A young Michael in one of his funk dance suits.

Break me loose

Why do we dance?
There is no clear explanation for why people have always danced throughout human history, but there are several good suggestions for why we can’t help it. Holidays, celebrations, etc. have always been associated with dance. A kind of outlet from everyday life, where in special cases you can express your joy and excitement.

Why do we react immediately to music? And what exactly happens in us when, for example, funk music is playing?
It can scare us. Make us burst into tears. And it can affect us so that we can hardly contain ourselves with happiness. It can also make us dance to that extent. But what is it about music that makes us do it - to dance?
So why do we dance?
While it is virtually impossible to find an animal that can dance to music, it is incredibly easy for us humans.
We can’t help but tap our feet to, for example, Prince or something else that we think is good to dance to. When we hear music - regardless of the fact that a lot can happen in the music itself; we automatically extract a pulse or a tempo. As humans, we are able to get a pulse feeling from music.
For the music to be really good to dance to, on the one hand it must have a strong sense of tempo. On the other hand, it must constantly play some things that go against the tempo.

That is, some beats that are not exactly in the tempo, so that our body wants to say: This is the pulse that is in the music.

And that is called syncope. Syncopes are the beats that come between the four familiar beats in music. They replace one of the four beats in a way; they make us think; that is the beat. Which is related to how our brains fundamentally perceive music, namely that we are constantly anticipating what is going to happen next.

Taste and pleasure
Are there also those who could not dream of dancing to one type of music, but would like something else?

Yes, but then it is about taste. There are many things that determine our taste in music. Basically, it is about how good we are at anticipating what is happening in the music and how rhythmically competent we are. It is also about what music we have grown up with - and about our personality; Are we very committed to new trends or are we more into playing it safe?

What do you dance to?

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This…" Sing Sing Sing - Bennie Goodman (Swing Dance)"

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Birds getting down with their bad selves.

@lonson I can only imagine what Clifford Brown would have produced if he had lived a full life.

Remarkable music career ended at age 25.

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I too have wondered. . . I know he would have been one of jazz’s bright stars for some time. His technique and his ideas were something else.

Apparently died of complications from a brain tumour relatively quickly. Sad.

I’ll also add Lili Boulanger, died at age 24. Already a talented and respected composer at that age. Tragic. Her sister, Nadia, also a composer and teacher, was apparaently devastated by her death, suffering from survivor’s guilt. Some of Nadia’s students included Daniel Barenboim, Aaron Copeland, Philip Glass, Quincy Jones, Astor Piazzolla and many more.

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That’s quite a cadre of notable students; all of whom reside in my listening collection.

Adam Schlesinger (COVID).

Jonny Cleeg lead singer in the South African band called Savuka.

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Jaimie Branch, American jazz trumpeter and composer (accidental overdose at 39yo in 2022).

Jim Croce

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Chris Wood (founding member of Traffic; died of liver disease at 39yo in 1983).