Billy Waugh
Al Jaffee, artist and long time illustrator for Mad Magazine has died aged 102.
4 Likes
Yesterday, Ahmad Jamal, one of the greatest pianist in all of jazz, died aged 92.
Jamal is one of my all time favorites and I have many of his records going back into the early 50s. I had the opportunity to see him live abut five years ago and he had lost nothing in ability. An amazing talent. R.I.P. Ahmad, and thanks.
3 Likes
Griff’s update: The owners are in the process of rebuilding. They don’t need to do a total teardown and they were grandfathered in for the modern flooding restrictions, so it should be a quick turnaround once they get going in earnest.
In the meantime, they’re hosting a rebuild fundraiser on Saturday from noon to 6pm at the Memorial Trail Ice House on 6202 Washington Ave. There will be a crawfish boil, silent auction, raffle, and music from the Zydeco Bulls.
5 Likes
Harry Belafonte, 96
3 Likes
2 Likes
Jamal came out of a Pittsburgh high school that also produced Billy Strayhorn, Mary Lou Williams, and Erroll Garner. I didn’t know him until a couple of years ago when we visited Pennsylvania and I put together a playlist of Pennsylvania musicians. What an incredibly appealing talent.
1 Like
Jerry Springer, 79.
Dick Groat, 92.
SS on my favorite team of all time, until 2017 and 2022. Still tied for #1.
2 Likes
Saw him & Maz practice DP and defending against the double steal in ST one year (before he got traded to the even-then hated Cardinals). One of my heros.
2 Likes
I hadn’t realized, or perhaps had forgotten, that Dick Groat had a brief stint in the NBA.
Two sport star at Duke, right?
Jim Umbricht was on the 59 and 60 teams. Former Waco Pirate Roman Mejias was on the 59 team.
Yes, and a college All-American at both sports.
1 Like
Longtime Cardinal player and announcer Mike Shannon, 83
RIP Shannon. I’ve never heard a person whose speaking voice more closely resembled an idling diesel engine.
1 Like
That saddens me. I grew to really appreciate Mike Shannon listening to Cardinal’s games when I lived in St Louis. He learned all the good stuff from his many years sharing a booth with Jack Buck and added his own goofy cornball charm. In the 80’s and 90’s he always had a cool frosty one with him in the booth and by the 7th or 8th inning his voice would be a bit slurred but it didn’t hurt his uncannily prescient color commentating. He wasn’t too bad at play by play in the middle innings either.
1 Like
A few of very many Shannonisms - “He ran to second faster than a cat in Chinatown.” “The right-hander is throwing up in the bullpen.” “A hit up the middle right now would be like a nice ham sandwich and a cold, frosty one.” “The key thing is, he has that photogenic mind.” “(About Hideo Nomo) He’s the biggest thing to hit Japan since they dropped that bomb on Nagashima!” “1,2,3 Buckle your shoe.” “Well, no one’s perfect. Only one guy was ever perfect, Jack, and they nailed him to a tree!” “Well, folks, this game began as a tiny worm and is blossoming into a large cobra.” “It’s Mother’s Day today, so to all you mothers out there… Happy Birthday!” “Foul ball! Oh and it lands right in that lady’s bush. (long pause) And by Busch, of course, I’m referring to her ice cold beer. That sounds pretty good right about now.”
3 Likes
If you’ve never heard his on-air exploration of NFTs, it’s well worth a googling.
1 Like