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Claudio Roditi RIP


Brad

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Roditi was a superb trumpeter and seriously underappreciated IMHO. Saw him twice in the 1990s: at the Wigan Jazz Festival with his frequent partner Paquito D'Rivera in a phenomenally hot quintet with a Latin rhythm section (I came out saying it was like listening to the Adderleys, whom I'd heard 25 years earlier), and in the Gillespie United Nations Orchestra (lot of joshing with Diz who kept mispronouncing his name as Rodichi). :D Very sad to see him go.

Edited by BillF
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2 hours ago, Brad said:

I was fortunate to see him once. 

Gosh.  I think(?) I saw him live once too -- many, MANY years ago, back when I was in college.  SUPER early in my jazz listening, like when I was a Junior year in college maybe.

Would have been in St. Louis, at a club called Just Jazz (iirc), maybe around 1989-92?  I'm gonna guess 1991, but I really can't remember.

If it weren't for his rotary-valve trumpet -- which I half-remember seeing 'somebody' play live at some concert I went to (super-early, at one of the first 3-4 jazz clubs I ever went to -- I'm not 100% sure I would remember having seen him.  NOT because he wasn't good, but just cuz I was so incredibly green.

In any case, RIP.  I'll try and Google around and see if I can find any evidence of him having played in St. Louis around that time -- at what I'm almost positive was Just Jazz (could swear that was the name of the club, down around 9th and Missouri I want to say, in Downtown STL).  I only remember that as being the address, and my memory of the streets of St. Louis is so vague now, I couldn't even begin to tell you if that's right.

 

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10 hours ago, Peter Friedman said:

And on this:

51BSm+VZ0pL._AC_UY218_ML3_.jpg

Yes, Roditi and Greg were well paired in various 90s recordings.

9 hours ago, Rooster_Ties said:

Gosh.  I think(?) I saw him live once too -- many, MANY years ago, back when I was in college.  SUPER early in my jazz listening, like when I was a Junior year in college maybe.

Would have been in St. Louis, at a club called Just Jazz (iirc), maybe around 1989-92?  I'm gonna guess 1991, but I really can't remember.

If it weren't for his rotary-valve trumpet -- which I half-remember seeing 'somebody' play live at some concert I went to (super-early, at one of the first 3-4 jazz clubs I ever went to -- I'm not 100% sure I would remember having seen him.  NOT because he wasn't good, but just cuz I was so incredibly green.

In any case, RIP.  I'll try and Google around and see if I can find any evidence of him having played in St. Louis around that time -- at what I'm almost positive was Just Jazz (could swear that was the name of the club, down around 9th and Missouri I want to say, in Downtown STL).  I only remember that as being the address, and my memory of the streets of St. Louis is so vague now, I couldn't even begin to tell you if that's right.

 

He seems to have been at career peak around the dates you give.

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I'm sorry to hear this.  I saw him in 2017 as part of a Dizzy tribute with Eric Alexander, Cyrus Chestnut, John Lee and Tommy Campbell.  I remember thinking he seemed tired and short-winded, but I kind of attributed that to aging and the life of a traveling musician playing a difficult instrument.  According to this fundraiser that I didn't know about, he was diagnosed with cancer that had spread to his lungs that year. 

I wish that I could have seen him under better circumstances, but I am thankful that I got to see him perform nonetheless.  Thank you for the music, Mr. Roditi, and rest in peace.

 

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20 hours ago, Rooster_Ties said:

Gosh.  I think(?) I saw him live once too -- many, MANY years ago, back when I was in college.  SUPER early in my jazz listening, like when I was a Junior year in college maybe.

Would have been in St. Louis, at a club called Just Jazz (iirc), maybe around 1989-92?  I'm gonna guess 1991, but I really can't remember.

If it weren't for his rotary-valve trumpet -- which I half-remember seeing 'somebody' play live at some concert I went to (super-early, at one of the first 3-4 jazz clubs I ever went to -- I'm not 100% sure I would remember having seen him.  NOT because he wasn't good, but just cuz I was so incredibly green.

In any case, RIP.  I'll try and Google around and see if I can find any evidence of him having played in St. Louis around that time -- at what I'm almost positive was Just Jazz (could swear that was the name of the club, down around 9th and Missouri I want to say, in Downtown STL).  I only remember that as being the address, and my memory of the streets of St. Louis is so vague now, I couldn't even begin to tell you if that's right.

 

The St. Louis club you mentioned was called Just Jazz around 1991-1992 and we briefly carried a live series recorded ther around that time. I made it there twice with friends who had a private plane and we heard George Shearing with Neil Swainson and the McCoy Tyner Trio there.

i think the name has changed since then.

Edited by Ken Dryden
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