Michael L. Brecker – Saxophone

Alice Coltrane – Piano

Eileen M. Folson – Cello

Ray Gogarty – Electric Guitar

Pat Harrison – Percussion

Bob January – Clarinet/Conductor/Arranger

Robert Kalin – Drums

Martha Kovacs – Violin

John F. Lad – Viola

Albert Mello – Piano

Herman S. Needleman – Drums

Frank Paone – Violin

John L. Rossi – French Horn

Avram Weiss – Violin

Anthony Wyhopen – Trumpet

Alice Coltrane

Alice Coltrane, 69, the jazz pianist, organist, harpist, and composer and widow of John Coltrane, died on Jan. 12. She had joined Local 802 in 1963.

Born in Detroit, Ms. Coltrane studied classical music, and was given piano lessons by Bud Powell. She played with her own trio and as a duo with vibist Terry Pollard. From 1962 to 1963 she played with Terry Gibbs’s quartet, during which time she met John Coltrane. She replaced McCoy Tyner as pianist with Coltrane’s group from 1965 until his death in 1967, marrying him in 1966. John became stepfather to Alice’s daughter Michelle, and the couple had three children: drummer John Jr., and saxophonists Oran and Ravi. John Jr. died in a car crash in 1982.

After her husband’s death she continued to play with her own groups, moving into more meditative music, and later performing with her children.

In the early 1970’s, Ms. Coltrane took the name Swamini Turiyasangitananda. She was a devotee of the Indian guru Sathya Sai Baba. Heavily influenced by his teachings and the philosophies of Hinduism, Ms. Coltrane established the Vedantic Center near Malibu, California. She continued to perform under the name Alice Coltrane.

In the 1990’s new interest was shown in her work, which led to the release of the compilation “Astral Meditations,” and in 2004 she released her comeback album “Translinear Light.” Following a 25-year break from major public performances, she returned to the stage for three U.S. appearances in the fall of 2006, culminating on Nov. 4 with a concert in San Francisco with her son Ravi, drummer Roy Haynes, and bassist Charlie Haden.

Besides her children mentioned above, Ms. Coltrane is survived by her sister Marilyn McLeod and Margaret Roberts and five grandchildren.

Edited from Wikipedia.

Back to top

Pat Harrison

Pat Harrison, 75, a percussionist and an 802 member since 1957 died on Jan. 16.

Mr. Harrison graduated high school in 1949, enlisted in the Navy, and was accepted into the Navy School of Music. He served in the Korean War aboard the aircraft carriers Valley Forge and Hornet.

Mr. Harrison studied at Juilliard. With a fellow student, he started a Wednesday-night jazz group years before the school got its own jazz department. He left Juilliard to join Jerome Robbins’ “Ballets USA.” He married Robbins’ prima ballerina, Wilma Curley, in 1959. They later divorced.

Mr. Harrison was a percussionist on Broadway for many years. He played in two productions of “Gypsy” (Ethel Merman and Angela Lansbury), two productions of “Hello Dolly” (Carol Channing, Pearl Bailey and Cab Calloway), “Stop the World I Want to Get Off” (Anthony Newley), “I Do, I Do” (Robert Preston and Mary Martin), “George M!” (Joel Grey), “Applause” (Lauren Bacall), “Man of La Mancha” (Richard Kiley) and others.

At age 53 he began a new career with the U.S. Post Office in Santa Ana, Calif. He retired in 2001 at age 71.

Mr. Harrison is survived by his sons Tim and Gene, brother Jim, sisters Irma Cuervo and Kathryn Stewart, grandchildren Kristin and Danielle, daughter-in-law Colleen, brother-in-law Robert, and many nieces and nephews.

Friends are invited to express their condolences and share their memories in Mr. Harrison’s guest book at www.OCregister.com/obituaries.

Back to top

Bob January

Bob January, 72, a clarinetist, saxophonist, trumpeter, arranger, composer, and orchestra leader, died on Oct. 27, 2006. He joined Local 802 in 1958.

Mr. January graduated from Ohio State University in 1956 with a B.S. in music education. After teaching for several years, he moved to New York City where he played tenor sax briefly with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, Charlie Mingus and Al Haig. He opened a piano workshop where he sold and repaired pianos; he also tuned pianos for the New York City public schools, many hotels and well-known pianists.

At the same time he was exploring the limits of jazz with his Atonal Jazz Band, Mr. January formed the Original Swing Era Big Band to play the original charts of the big bands. The band appeared weekly for several years at the Village Gate. There he met Eubie Blake who reportedly told him, “You’ve got that same thing Glenn Miller had.”

Mr. January used his skills as an arranger to create the Satin Swing Orchestra, which performed extensively at Roseland and the Rainbow Room. He produced the MetroSwing Big Band which played original compositions during the Studio 54 and Red Parrot eras. His Strauss Festival Orchestra, a 20-piece dance orchestra with strings, performed for major engagements and was the standing orchestra of the New York Quadrille Ball for several years.

Mr. January was born Robert George Slenker. He is survived by his wife Betsy January, daughters Celeste Cockrell, Charlene Dodds and Jill January, sister Nancy Slenker Soroka, five grandchildren and two great grandchildren.

Back to top

Frank Paone

Frank Paone, 72, a multi-instrumentalist and an 802 member since 1953, died on Dec. 16, 2006.

Mr. Paone, a Brooklyn native, worked widely in the club date field and became a very popular “utility” player given his unusual combination of instruments: tenor sax, flute and violin.

He worked for many different offices, and for a long time worked steadily for Steven Scott and Peter Duchin.

He had sideline roles in films and television shows — like “Goodfellas” and “Live with Regis and Kathy Lee” — played at inaugural balls, and worked on many cruise ships including World Wide Cruises.

He is survived by his wife Irina and their children Dean and Irina, and his former wife Madeline and their children Ann Marie, Nicholas and Theresa. He is also survived by his brothers Nick and Anthony, sister Millie and granddaughters Abigail and Lillian.

Back to top

Avram Weiss

Avram Weiss, 92, a violinist and an 802 member since 1935, died on Jan. 4.

Born in Poland of a musical family, at age 4 Mr. Weiss began his studies with his grandfather, a violinist who studied at the Petrograd Conservatory in Russia. Shortly afterwards, an accident caused the loss of half of the thumb of his left hand. With the encouragement of his family who recognized his innately endowed musical gifts, he persevered and was able to compensate for this technical difficulty.

The family first emigrated to Toronto, where a young Mr. Weiss studied at the Toronto Conservatory before moving to New York City. He won a scholarship to the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia, where he trained with Vera Fonaroff and Efrem Zimbalist. Mr. Weiss also studied with Toscha Seidel, who connected him to the tradition of Leopold Auer.

Mr. Weiss toured worldwide with the New York Philharmonic and the NBC Symphony. He also recorded jingles, on the “Ed Sullivan Show,” and on WOR radio and CBS television.

He is survived by his wife Helen, daughters Leslie Grazi and Deborah Goodman, and grandchildren Sally, Joe, Ari, Evan, Rebecca, Tamar, Michael, Eric and Bella.

Back to top