RIP Lars Hollmer (1948-2008)

I was really hoping this trend wouldn't continue but I received this as part of an email from Cuneiform/Wayside's Steve Feigenbaum earlier today...

"First of all, I am very, very sorry to inform his many fans and friends that after a nearly year-long struggle with cancer, Lars Hollmer died on Christmas day. He was a gifted and unique composer/accordionist/keyboardist and general musical hero to those on the 'wayside', including myself. I also got to know him a bit from working with him over the last 10 years and he was in addition to all these other attributes, a really good and funny person as well. Being a huge fan of his work over the many years and loving his music for (among many other qualities) its melodic wistfulness, I can not begin to convey how sadly appropriate I find his death on Christmas to be."

As someone who has only over the past few years started to explore and appreciate the music of Samla Mammas Manna and Lars Hollmer this was truly a shock. I had heard a few months ago that Lars was sick but hadn't heard anything about his condition at all for quite some time. RIP Lars...

My goodness. The losses that the music world has suffered this year are truly staggering.

The Worst Year Ever?

ESPN's Jim Caple reports on why, for some of us, this year has been particularly tough...

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=seattle2008&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab1pos1

RIP Pekka Pohjola (1952-2008)

I audibly gasped when first reading this news today. This completely slipped by me over the holiday weekend. Here's some more information from the english version of Helsingen Sanomat...

"Pekka Pohjola, widely regarded as the finest bass guitarist ever to come out of Finland, has died at the age of 56. His death was announced on Thursday on the online service of the Finnish Broadcasting Company, YLE. Pohjola, who was also a composer of some repute, was among the best known of Finnish artists on the international music scene, a true "musicians' musician".

Pohjola's musical output took influences from jazz, rock, folk music and traditional hymns. He initially studied classical music at the Sibelius Academy (piano & violin, and he came close to winning the Finnish nationals on the latter instrument), but switched over to rock, choosing the electric bass allegedly inspired by the example of The Beatles.

He began his professional career with Eero, Jussi and The Boys, and then moved to the highly influential Finnish progressive rock outfit Wigwam.

A solo career then followed, with a number of albums in a jazz fusion style somewhat reminiscent of the late Frank Zappa.

Always in demand as a session musician, Pohjola also toured with Tubular Bells composer Mike Oldfield in 1978.

He had come to the attention of the British music business slightly earlier, and two of his solo albums were released on the Virgin label at that time. Zappa, too, is said to have offered Pohjola a seat in his studio band at one stage.

Pekka Pohjola was born into a hugely musical family, with choirmaster Ensti Pohjola for a father and Erkki Pohjola, a well-known music pedagogue and long-serving conductor of the Tapiola Choir as his uncle.

His cousin is Sakari Oramo, the former Music Director of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and current Chief Conductor of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic.

Pekka's name is carried forward by two sons who have also gone into making music - Verneri (trumpet) and Ilmari (trombone) are both prominent Finnish jazz musicians, and they played alongside their father at the 2004 Pori Jazz Festival.

He also leaves to posterity a legacy of numerous excellent albums, most recently Views from 2001. "