Johann Strauss ll

popular name: Jelly Roll Morton

date_of_death: July 10, 1941

age: 50

cause_of_death: Respiratory distress due to previous stab wounds

claim_to_fame: Music

best_know_for: Along with Sidney Bechet, Johnny Dodds, Kid Ory, and Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton was one of the most important musical figure to emerge from the early days of New Orleans. While most will dismiss his claim that he, Jelly Roll Morton, alone created jazz music, there can be no doubt to his technical brilliance as a pianist, composer and arranger. For it was Jelly Roll Morton who transformed the rigid confines of ragtime and ushered in the free form structures of jazz. His composition "Jelly Roll Blues", published in 1915, was one of the first published jazz compositions. Morton also wrote "King Porter Stomp", "Wolverine Blues", "Black Bottom Stomp", and "I Thought I Heard Buddy Bolden Say" which were covered by every major jazz and dance orchestra including Benny Goodman and Fletcher Henderson. Sadly he never received a penny in royalties for his original compositions and he was only recognized for his contributions decades after his passing when Morton was inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, elected as a charter member of the Gennett Records Walk of Fame and was inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame.

popular name: Otis Spann

date_of_death: April 24, 1970

age: 46

cause_of_death: Liver cancer

claim_to_fame: Music

best_know_for: Arguably the most important pianist of the postwar Chicago blues scene, Otis Spann started playing piano at the age of seven, with some instruction from local piano players in his native Jackson. By 1944 he was playing in local bands around that city and three years later left for Chicago, where he would live for the rest of his tragically short life. Spann replaced Merriweather as Muddy Waters' piano player in late 1952, and had his first recording session with the band on September 24, 1953. From 1952 to 1969 Spann was a full-time member of the Muddy Waters band, which also included Jimmy Rogers and Little Walter. He was also in great demand by the Chess label as house pianist, accompanying artists like Bo Diddley, Chuck Berry ("No Money Down", "You Can't Catch Me"), Howlin' Wolf, Sonny Boy Williamson, Jimmy Rogers and Little Walter. In April of 1970, blues pianist Otis Spann flew to Boston to play a gig. With him were his wife, Lucille, and his band. The concert would be Otis' last. Before he flew to Boston, doctors had diagnosed Spann with terminal liver cancer — he died three weeks after the concert. He was laid to rest at Burr Oak Cemetery in Alsip, Illinois.

popular name: Howlin' Wolf

date_of_death: January 10, 1976

age: 65

cause_of_death: Complications from brain cancer and kidney disease

claim_to_fame: Music

best_know_for: Chester Arthur Burnett, known as Howlin’ Wolf or Howling Wolf, was one of the most influential musicians of the post–World War II era. His electric blues guitar, backing his powerful, howling voice, helped shape rock and roll. The raw, rasping, guttural power of Wolf's fierce voice, combined with his imposing physical presence and wild stage abandon, made him unforgettable. His influence stretched far beyond the realm of the blues; British rock performers Eric Clapton, The Rolling Stones, and The Yardbirds merged Wolf's blues with white rock and roll in songs like "Smokestack Lightning," "Ain't Superstitious," "Back Door Man" and "Little Red Rooster." Wolf was an experimental bluesman who formulated a wide range of moods and possibilities for his songs. He was also notably consistent: Throughout his career he retained the style, vigor, and flavor of the Mississippi Delta blues of his early years.