Nancy Wilson 1937-2018

The world of popular standards has lost one of the last major vocalists to come along at the tail end of the "golden age" of American vocal pop, the mid 20th century. Nancy Wilson, who often referred to herself as a "song stylist", straddled many different genres over the course of her nearly 60-year career, including R&B (she won her first Grammy in 1965 for Best R&B Recording, with "How Glad I Am"), jazz (her last two Grammys came in 2005 and 2007 for Best Jazz Vocal Album), and even more contemporary forms of pop, funk and soul during the 1970s, '80s and '90s. Coming along just as American popular music was undergoing a drastic sea change in the 1960s, Wilson was something of a throwback to the singers who inspired her as a child, including Nat "King" Cole, Ella Fitzgerald and Billy Eckstine.

Born February 20, 1937 in Chillicothe, Ohio, she was already steeped in the Great American Songbook by the time she was a teenager, and won a talent competition at the age of 15 that led to semi-regular television appearances and club tours before she had even graduated high school. Some advice from jazz legend Cannonball Adderley (with whom she would later collaborate on a titanic 1962 album), led to her relocating to New York City, then a hub of the recording world. By the age of 22, she had released her first album for Dot Records, entitled Like in Love. Soon, she would be signed to Capitol Records and releasing multiple albums per year throughout the 1960s, including The Swingin's Mutual (1961) with George Shearing; The Nancy Wilson Show (1965), a collection of recordings from her Emmy-winning variety show; and the timeless But Beautiful (1969).

With a voice that seemed a blend of Dinah Washington and Lena Horne, Wilson was a bit of an anomaly at a time when rock n' roll and Motown sounds were taking over the airwaves. She scored four top 10 albums during the 1960s, and had a huge single hit with "Tell Me the Truth", which led to an acclaimed engagement at the Coconut Grove. Nevertheless, after the 1960s, she struggled to keep the hits coming amidst the changing musical landscape. She tried her hand at some more contemporary genres, sometimes to the frustration of her older fans, including the 1978 album, Life, Love and Harmony. She remained a fixture in small clubs all over the world, and by the 1980s was recording her albums in Japan, where live in-studio recording--the preferred method for Wilson and many other jazz artists--had not yet been totally supplanted by the more compartmentalized and over-produced methods prevalent in the States during the rock era.

A fixture at jazz festivals throughout the 1990s and even into the 21st century, she was also the host of NPR's music series Jazz Profiles. She continued recording for smaller prestige jazz labels like MCG Jazz, releasing her final album, Turned to Blue, in 2006. Just five years later, she performed live for the last time, at Ohio University, not far from the place of her birth. She was hospitalized for lung complications in 2008, and had been battling a long illness when she passed away on Thursday, December 13, 2018 at the age of 81 at her home in Pioneertown, California. She leaves behind three children and five grandchildren. Her husband, the Reverend Wiley Burton, died in 2008 of renal cancer.

The inheritor of a proud tradition of interpreters of popular song which thrived throughout most of the 20th century, Nancy Wilson was an unforgettable performer and a link to a time when melody, lyrics and phrasing still mattered in mainstream American pop. She kept the torch burning well past the time that her kind of music had vanished from the charts. Her loss will be keenly felt, but we still have the music to remember her by.

Eydie Gorme 1928-2013

"Eydie has been my partner on stage and in life for more than 55 years. I fell in love with her the moment I saw her and even more the first time I heard her sing. While my personal loss is unimaginable, the world has lost one of the greatest pop vocalists of all time."

                                                                                                     - Steve Lawrence 

Whether as a solo act, or together with her husband Steve Lawrence as the unforgettable duo of "Steve and Eydie", there is little doubt that Eydie Gorme was one of the most admired and imitated female pop vocalists of the past 60 years. Fans young and old mourned her passing in Las Vegas on August 10, just shy of her 85th birthday. And although she officially retired in 2009, her haunting music and full, rich voice will always live on. During an era in which pop music became something vastly different than what it was when she first broke into it, she maintained her class, dignity and integrity above all.

Born Edith Garmezano in the Bronx to Sephardic Jewish parents of Sicilian and Turkish origins in 1928, she would later transform her name as so many entertainers did in those days. She spoke fluent Spanish at home, and this would later serve her both in her early career as a United Nations translator, and later as a musician, when she would record a string of Latin-themed albums.

Right out of high school, she was already singing in an orchestra during these, the waning years of the Big Band craze. One of these groups, the Tommy Tucker Orchestra, would employ her as a vocalist in 1950 for her very first recordings--made when she was only 22. After a time spent as the singer for the band of former Glenn Miller tenor saxophonist Tex Beneke, she struck out solo in 1952, during a period when the solo vocalist was rapidly replacing the band as the preferred form of pop music.

She made her first TV appearance in 1953 on the original Tonight Show, hosted by Steve Allen. On that fateful day, she would meet her future husband and lifelong musical partner, Steve Lawrence--a fellow guest booked for the same taping. They would be married in 1957, and by the following year, would be teamed up on their own TV show, which ironically enough, served as a summer replacement for Allen's Tonight Show.

By that point, Gorme was already an established act on her own, having nine singles on Billboard's Hot 100 pop chart to her credit. After the marriage and thanks to the TV exposure, the duo began performing together, and before long would also be recording together as well. They became fixtures on the Las Vegas scene--a situation that would last for decades to come--and close friends of Vegas' ultimate entertainer, Frank Sinatra.

However, by the early 1960s, the pop landscape was changing, and with rock and roll becoming the music of the moment, it started getting tougher for Gorme to remain a fixture on the pop charts--instead, the majority of her future hits would be on the so-called Easy Listening or Adult Contemporary chart. However, not before she'd have her biggest pop hit of all, the infectious "Blame It on the Bossa Nova". Her only top 10 hit, it went platinum for her in 1963, mere months before the Beatles arrived and took over.


All told, Eydie, both on her own and with Steve, would land 27 singles on the AC chart during the 1960s and 1970s, and would rise to become one of music's most respected voices and forces. She won a Best Female Vocal Performance Grammy in 1967 for "If He Walked Into My Life". The "Steve and Eydie" stage act flourished, and the two became iconic for their on-stage banter and the real life affection that showed through in their appearances. In one final nod to Steve Allen, perhaps the tune most associated with the couple would be Allen's composition "This Could Be the Start of Something". They became a favorite of the older set, an aging listenership that found itself more and more alienated by the music industry's pursuit of the youth market.

Through it all, Gorme maintained a flourishing solo career, highlighted in the '60s by a series of Spanish albums she recorded with the group Trio Los Panchos. In fact, this period would introduce her to a whole new audience that would continue to hold her talents in high regard for years to come. 

Following the 1970s, Eydie and her husband chose to focus mainly on their live appearances, catering to the audience that already knew and loved them. In 1986, they were struck with tragedy when their son Michael died of a freak heart attack at age 23. After being flown out of Vegas on Sinatra's private plane to be with their family, the couple took a year off from performing in order to mourn.

Eydie Gorme continued to proudly perform into her 80s, but finally stepped away from the stage in 2009, leaving her husband to continue on his own. It's suspected that the undisclosed illness which caused her death may have been the reason. She died in Las Vegas' Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center, with her lifelong love Steve at her side, along with their surviving son David and their one granddaughter.

Whether it's her famous hits, her Spanish recordings, her duets with Steve, or classic albums like 1965's definitive Don't Go to Strangers, Eydie Gorme left the world with an impressive and sometimes slightly underrated body of beautiful work. "Steve and Eydie" will forever be a touchstone of a particular generation--and although half of that touchstone is now commended to musical history, that history is made all the more decorated for it.

Andy Williams 1927-2012

He was known as "Mr. Christmas". And you can't possibly hear Henry Mancini's "Moon River" without thinking of him. Andy Williams may have been considered somewhat milk-toast by some, but regardless of that, he was was an example of someone who kept the traditional pop vocalist role alive just as rock and roll bands were taking over the mainstream limelight.

Andy Williams left us late last month after a brief battle with bladder cancer that began in 2011. He had been largely quiet for most of the past 30 years, his easy-listening style eventually shouted down by the new forms of popular music that were being born just as his career was also hitting its stride. But from the mid 1950s through the mid 1970s, he was without a doubt one of America's premiere practitioners of popular song.

The Williams Brothers

Williams actually got his start in the 1940s as part of a boy singing group with his brothers Bob, Don and Dick. They can be heard on Bing Crosby's hit 1944 recording of "Swingin' on a Star", and achieved major success after World War II touring with nightclub entertainer Kay Thompson, who had discovered the boys during her time as former head of vocal talent at MGM. They were among the first major Vegas attractions.

Despite a 20-year age difference, Andy and Kay became romantically involved, and by the 1950s, Andy had gone his separate way from his brothers. It was Kay's show-biz connections that helped kick-start his solo career in the mid 1950s, landing him a regular singing spot on the original Tonight Show with Steve Allen, as well as his first record contract.

Williams shared the same label as early rock 'n rollers like The Everly Brothers and The Chordettes, and even dabbled in a lot of teeny-bopper bubble gum pop during those years as well. However, he also cherished a great deal of traditional-style pop as well, and by the 1960s was one of America's top vocalists, just as the rock era was firmly entrenching itself as the mainstream in American music. Williams remained a unique aberration during those years, representing the last gasps of the old guard in a lot of ways.

He developed an interesting working relationship with composer Henry Mancini, regularly performing his songs at the Oscars, including "Moon River" and "Days of Wine and Roses". Although he never had hit singles with them, he did record them, and it was "Moon River" in particular with which he would become most identified for the rest of his career and life. It was also during the 1960s that Williams developed his deep friendship with Robert and Ethel Kennedy--Williams was with Kennedy when he was assassinated in 1968, and even sang at RFK's funeral.

Williams' heyday of the 1960s also saw him become a regular fixture on TV, a role for which he is still fondly remembered by so many--both the World War II generation who loved him for carrying the torch, and their baby boomer children who consider him something a kitsch reminder of their childhood. Williams' highly successful variety show ran through the 1960s and into the early 1970s. His beloved Christmas specials ran regularly into the mid 1970s, and even sporadically into the 1980s and 1990s. His recording of "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" is a holiday staple.

More than anything, Andy Williams was a feel-good entertainer. He may not have had the artistic chops of other practitioners of popular song, or the respect of the musical elite, but he kept the tradition alive during an era that made singers like him seem progressively more "uncool" in the eyes of mainstream America. His warm, earnest voice will be greatly missed.

Tony Martin 1913-2012

The window is rapidly closing. We are losing the links to a golden era in American popular music. And last month, one of the final breaths of fresh air coming through that window ceased forever. On the evening of July 27, the legendary Tony Martin died of natural causes at the age of 98. He was the last of the major pre-World War II vocalists, having been a contemporary of Crosby and Sinatra (his career even predated Frank's by a couple of years). Though not among the most well-remembered in contemporary days due to a career stifled by the advent of rock n' roll, he was nevertheless an important figure, and his death is a turning point in the history of pop.

He was born Alvin Morris on Christmas Day 1913, the son of Hattie & Edward Clarence Morris. His family was of Eastern European Jewish stock, but like so many in those days, he changed his name upon arriving in Hollywood. But before that, he showed an aptitude for singing at an early age, participating in school glee clubs and forming his first band in high school. In college, he joined the orchestra of Tom Gerun, where he played in the reed section along with future bandleader Woody Herman.

But it would be in singing that Morris would find his calling, and his fame. Banking on his sizable vocal gift as well as his good looks, he took a shot at becoming a musical film star. Officially changing his name, he made one of his first appearances, a bit part in the Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers classic Follow the Fleet, in 1936. He was promptly signed to 20th Century Fox and later M-G-M, and went on to appear in a string of movie musical mainly during the 1930s but also the '40s and '50s as well. Notable on his screen resume are the Marx Brothers' The Big Store (1941) and the fantastic musical revue Till the Clouds Roll By (1946),

With Jack Haley (aka The Tin Man) in 1936's Pigskin Parade.

His first record label was Decca, which signed the 24-year-old singer in 1938 and paired him up with the Ray Noble orchestra. His earliest hits there included "The Moon of Manakoora" and "I Hadn't Anyone Till You". Martin stayed with Decca through 1942, also racking up major hits with "It's a Blue World" and perhaps his most signature tune, "To Each His Own". His recording career was interrupted with a stint serving in World War II, where entertained the troops for years, even joining Glenn Miller's band for a time.

Following the war, he signed on with then-independent Mercury Records, where he remained for two years--a time that included a re-recording of "To Each His Own" that proved even more successful than his original. The singer was on a high, and RCA Victor stepped in to offer him an even more lucrative contract, which he accepted. He remained there for the remainder of his recording career.

It was also in the late '40s that Martin met Cyd Charisse, the gorgeous musical ingenue who would become his second wife (Martin had been married previously to Alice Faye for four years). Martin and Charisse became one of Hollywood's most glamorous--and longest running--couples, remaining together for 60 years, until Charisse's passing in 2008. They had a son together, Tony Martin Jr., who passed away last year.

Martin's career peaked in the 1950s, with a two-year run on NBC with his own TV show. However, by the late 1950s, with rock n' roll changing the landscape of pop music, Martin was one of those left on the outside. He was unable to keep his career going at the level that some of his contemporaries would do in the succeeding decades, and experienced a major drop-off. His string of charted hits ended in 1957 with "Do I Love You", and so did his musical film career, with Let's Be Happy. He would be heard from only rarely in the years that followed.

Still, Martin did continue to tour and perform all through those later years, and most fans marveled at how his voice continued to hold up well into his senior years. Despite leaving the mainstream spotlight in his early 40s, Martin performed live well into his 90s. His last live performance occurred in 2008, and perhaps it was a combination of old age and the loss of his beloved wife that led him to finally call it quits after an astonishing 72-year career that included 45 charted hits and 32 motion pictures.

There are literally no more like him. From an era of popular music that pre-dated World War II and started just as the big bands were gripping the American consciousness, Tony Martin was the last of a vanishing breed. He would benefit in later years as the vocalist became pop music's central focus, and then saw his star fade as music once again moved on to much newer and different sounds. For fans of the Great American Songbook, he remained a legend among legends who was always fondly remembered. And he will be remembered still by all those who admired his sweet, smooth voice and the earlier time it represented.

He will be missed. Let's never forget the music.

I leave you with my own favorite Martin recording, which I once used as background to a video I made of my infant son... 

Etta James 1938 - 2012

She was considered by many to be among the greatest rhythm and blues singers of all time. Her career was marked by dramatic highs and lows, with the latter largely the result of the heroin addiction that consumed years of her life. First achieving success as a teenager in 1954 with the bawdy song "The Wallflower (Dance with Me Henry)", Etta James went on to record a string of hits with Chess Records in the 1960s before disappearing from public view due to her drug problem.

She reemerged in the 1970s and recorded sporadically from then on, developing her style into a unique blend of straightforward blues, R&B and rock. The influence of gospel was also evident in her soulful delivery, and she was particularly noted for her ability to modulate with ease between soft, tender crooning and traditional blues shouting. Her work has been described as a bridge between blues and rock 'n' roll, and she has influenced such performers as The Rolling Stones and Janis Joplin.

Etta James was born Jamesetta Hawkins on January 25, 1938 in Los Angeles--her mother Dorothy was only 14 years old at the time. The identity of her father is uncertain, although she occasionally speculated that he might have been the billiards legend Minnesota Fats. After her mother proved unable to care for her, James was raised by her landlady, Lula Rogers, in the South Central section of L.A. As was the case with many rhythm-and-blues performers, in her youth James sang gospel hymns in her local church choir. James was exceptional, however, performing on gospel radio broadcasts while only five years of age.

In the early 1950s, a teenage Jamesetta Hawkins--by then a self-described juvenile delinquent--joined two other girls to form a singing group called the Creolettes. In 1954 they came to the attention of influential R&B bandleader Johnny Otis, who took them on tour with him, changing the group's name to the Peaches and its lead singer's name to Etta James. Otis got them signed to Modern Records, and before the year was out they had recorded their first single. Written by James and Otis, with James on lead vocals, the song was originally entitled "Roll with Me, Henry". At the request of Modern Records, the title was toned down to "The Wallflower (Dance with Me Henry" despite the fact that the words in the original title remained in the song. The record was a success, reaching number two on the R&B chart.

James spent time in the late 1950s as an opening act at concerts and as a backup singer. She toured with Little Richard, and backup credits from this period include records by the likes of Marvin Gaye and Chuck Berry. She also met one of her idols, Billie Holiday, who prophetically warned her of the potentially self-destructive side of being an entertainer. "Maybe she saw the wildness in my eyes, maybe she saw all the trouble waiting for me," James speculated in a 1995 Jet magazine interview.

At the end of the 1950s, James struck out on her own, moving to Chicago and signing a contract with the blues record label Chess. This period saw the artistic high point of James' output. Between 1960 and 1963 she accumulated 10 charted hits for Chess Records, including her iconic, bluesy rendition of "At Last", which reached number two on the R&B chart in 1961. Several of James' Chess singles from this period were nominated for Grammys, including "All I Could Do Was Cry" in 1960 and "Fool That I Am" in 1961.



Despite her impressive streak, however, James was unable to cross over from the R&B to the pop charts. This was ironic, given the fact that many mainstream vocalists, such as Diana Ross, had adapted elements of her style. Also ironic was that James' addiction to heroin began in 1959, just at the time her career was starting to take off at Chess Records. Her habit worsened through the 1960s, and her initial attempts to cure herself through methadone treatment only made matters worse. In the early 1970s, she sought rehabilitation, checking into a hospital. There she made great strides toward recovery, and finally returned to her music in 1973.

James 1970s comeback faltered slightly with the demise of Chess Records due to bankruptcy. One highpoint, however, included an invitation to appear as an opening act for The Rolling Stones on their 1978 American tour. She had been asked to appear by Stones guitarist Keith Richards, a devoted admirer.

She was artistically silent for much of the 1980s, but the crucial contribution she made to rock 'n' roll music, particularly in its earliest days, was recognized in 1993 with an induction to the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame. James published her autobiography, Rage to Survive, two years later, not long after finally winning her first Grammy, for the album Mystery Lady: The Songs of Billie Holiday. In recent years, her experiences at Chess were dramatized in the 2008 movie Cadillac Records, in which she was portrayed to great effect by contemporary R&B belter Beyonce Knowles.

Etta James lived out the final years of her life in Riverside, California with her husband Artis Mills. After battling leukemia, she died on Friday at a Riverside hospital in the arms of her 43-year-old son Donto. She was 73.

Danny Stiles 1923-2011

There aren't many left working who are continuing the tradition of the Great American Songbook on the radio, especially in the New York market--once a haven for traditional pop music dating back to the days of WNEW-AM. One who immediately comes to mind is the great Jonathan Schwartz, still broadcasting proudly on New York's WNYC NPR affiliate, as well as Sirius-XM satellite radio. The other was Danny Stiles--and sadly, we lost Mr. Stiles early last week. With him went a national treasure--a 65-year radio tradition that spanned the post-World War II days right up to the 21st century, bringing us all the cherished hits from the golden age of American popular music.

Danny was 87 at the time of his death, and still broadcasting on New York's AM NPR affiliate, as well as streaming on the internet 24/7. The so-called Vicar of Vintage Vinyl, Danny Stiles on your radio dial, he was a comforting oasis of nostalgia and quality music in a sea of chaos and nonsense. He was one of those popular personalities that made the world a happier place simply by his existence--you always knew that no matter what was happening in the ever degrading world of recorded music, Danny Stiles was still on the air, and that was a good feeling. I'm sad to think that it will no longer be the case, ever again.

Stiles considered himself something of a curator of 20th century musical history, with a collection of more than a quarter of a million records, mostly in the categories of swing and traditional pop, from which he drew for his weekly radio program. By the end of his career, he had been relegated to a god-awful late Saturday night time slot--but at least he was still out there, doing his thing, playing the music of Basie, Sinatra, Ellington, Holiday, Crosby, Goodman and so any others.

As Schwartz and others have pointed out, Stiles stuck to his guns and stayed true to his musical convictions, despite the insidious incursion of radio program directors that continued to rot his industry--and the musical tastes of a nation--from the inside out over the decades following the war. For that, and for the music he joyously brought into our lives, Danny Stiles is to be commended. He was a rare gift, and we shall not see the like of him again.

Lena Horne 1917-2010

A very sad day indeed for lovers of classic pop and jazz. The woman who was perhaps the last of the great pre-1945 vocalists has left us for good. After years of being out of the public eye due to failing health, the legendary Lena Horne has passed on at the age of 92.

Starting out as a Cotton Club singer in the 1930s, Horne would later go on to superstardom in Hollywood during the 1940s, and put out a string of iconic recordings typified by the timeless Harold Arlen/Ted Koehler composition "Stormy Weather", which became something of a theme song. Her career was hurt by her left-leaning view in the 1950s and her strong support of civil rights in the 1960s, but she remained one of the most popular practitioners of popular song nevertheless.

Raised in an upper middle-class family of mixed racial descent, she spent her childhood in Brooklyn, Pittsburgh and Atlanta before joining the Cotton Club chorus girls. She was a vocalist for a few big bands at the height of the big band craze, most notably that of Charlie Barnet, before signing a recording deal with RCA Victor in 1941.

Her stunning looks helped assure her a career in Hollywood, and she made memorable appearances in films like the all-black Cabin in the Sky, as well as Ziegfeld Follies. She would later focus on intimate nightclub performance throughout the 1950s and 1960s, maintaining a high public profile despite her politics thanks to becoming a regular on a plethora of talk shows, including the Tonight Show and Ed Sullivan.

Lena remained a titan of American popular music well into the rock era, and even enjoyed a long-running one-woman show on Broadway in the early 1980s. During the 1990s, there was talk of an entire album of duets with Frank Sinatra, but sadly, throat surgery rendered the Sinatra project impossible, and health issues led Ms. Horne to retire in 1998.

The amazing Lena Horne will forever be remembered by anyone to whom great music matters. Her voice is instantly recognizable, and thankfully we have it preserved for all time in immortal recordings like "Love Me or Leave Me", "It's Love", "Ill Wind", "More", "The Man I Love", "You're My Thrill" and "Let Me Love You". She was the personification of class, sophistication and effortless beauty--a rare link to our musical heritage that will be sorely missed.

Lena Horne passed away yesterday in Manhattan's New York-Presbyterian Hospital. She is survived by her daughter, best-selling author Gail Lumet Buckley, as well as her granddaughter, screenwriter Jenny Lumet.

Les Paul 1915-2009

Standard of the Day salutes the legendary Les Paul, who passed away last Thursday at the age of 94. Born Lester William Polsfuss, he is responsible for the introduction of the modern electric guitar, and crafted a unique sound for himself, along with his singer wife Mary Ford.

From the late 1940s through the early 1960s, the duo put out a series of signature recordings that included songs like "Lover", "How High the Moon", "The World Is Waiting for the Sunrise" and "I'm Sitting on Top of the World".

Ironically, Les Paul would fade into retirement as the 1960s came to a close and his new instrument came to be embraced by the rock movement that would eclipse the type of music he and his peers made their living recording. Today, his name is synonymous with the brand of guitar it is emblazoned upon, used to play music very different from that recorded by Paul himself.

Freddie Hubbard 1938-2008

The world of jazz has lost one of its most celebrated trumpeters, with the passing of the great Freddie Hubbard last night due to complications from a heart attack suffered in November.

Hubbard represented the next evolution of jazz trumpeting after bop innovators like Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis. He played in bands with the likes of Quincy Jones, Art Blakey, Slide Hampton and Max Roach in the 1950s and '60s, before starting up some bands of his own in the 1970s and '80s. Non-jazz fans can even here is distinctive sound on Billy Joel's "Zanzibar" off the 1978 album 52nd Street.

An infection in his lips had curtailed his career in the early 1990s, but Hubbard was ironically on the rebound, finally returning to performing and recording last summer, mere months before the heart attack that claimed his life.

Rest in peace.

Eartha Kitt 1927-2008

Standard of the Day bids a fond farewell to the lovely and talented Ms. Eartha Mae Kitt. Although best known for her role as Catwoman on the 1960s Batman TV series, Eartha was a gifted singer and dancer as well, and is one of the only performers to ever have been nominated for the Tony, Grammy and Emmy.

Nightclub audiences have long been treated to her sultry voice as she performed her own unique renditions of signature songs like Cole Porter's "Love for Sale" and her holiday-themed hit "Santa Baby", a standard later covered by the likes of Madonna and Macy Gray.

Singing at The Village Vanguard in the early 1950s, she was discovered by Broadway producers, who helped launch her career with a role in New Faces of 1952. Orson Welles, who cast her as Helen of Troy in his production Dr. Faustus, was prompted to describe her as "the most exciting woman in the world."

Despite a strong stance against the Vietnam War that damaged her career in the late 1960s, Ms. Kitt remained a fixture on the club circuit around the world. In recent years, she continued to wow Broadway audiences, and celebrated her eightieth birthday last year with a concert at Carnegie Hall.

Earth Kitt leaves behind a daughter, four grandchildren, and a stirring musical legacy.

Joe Cocuzzo 1937-2008

Standard of the Day recognizes the passing last Wednesday of respected jazz drummer Joe Cocuzzo, the one-time regular drummer for Rosemary Clooney who also played with the likes of Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Harry James, Lena Horne, Vic Damone and Peggy Lee. He had recently been appearing regularly with Michael Feinstein, and just finished work on the CD Keely Smith Live at Feinstein's, due out later this year.