All the music that ever was and ever will be is here now. It exists in a cloud just above our heads and when we play, we pluck it out of the ether for a lil while before sending it back up. Open in browser Friday December 30, 2022 Takeoff at the One MusicFest in Atlanta, Oct. 8, 2022. He was murdered three weeks later. (Paras Griffin/Getty Images) quote of the day “All the music that ever was and ever will be is here now. It exists in a cloud just above our heads and when we play, we pluck it out of the ether for a lil while before sending it back up.” - jaimie branch, 1983 – 2022 rantnrave:// Xanadu With our final newsletter of 2022, we bid farewell to the musical giants we lost this year, from rock and country queens to hip-hop innovators and jazz visionaries, from behind-the-scenes architects of R&B and soul to a record executive who imagined an industry—against all odds and maybe all logic—where nothing mattered as much as artistic freedom. We mourn but also celebrate the shared purity of spirit that runs through RONNIE SPECTOR’s New York rock melodrama and LORETTA LYNN’s Kentucky country sass, through TAKEOFF’s rap virtuosity and JAIMIE BRANCH’s jazz and electronic improvisations, through THOM BELL’s groundbreaking Philly soul productions, through the unbridled joy of TAYLOR HAWKINS’ drumming, even through the way MO OSTIN insisted on running WARNER BROS. RECORDS. In the mix below you’ll find appreciations, histories and personal remembrances of them and 19 others. It's impossible to include everyone who deserves to be remembered in a single newsletter, so please accept this one with apologies to luminaries like IRENE CARA, JAMES MTUME, WILLIAM “POOGIE” HART, KEITH LEVENE, NED ROREM, KLAUS SCHULZE, ABDUL WADUD, PATRICK ADAMS, DJ KAY SLAY, JEFF COOK, HARGUS “PIG” ROBBINS and ANGELO BADALAMENTI, and industry titans including ART RUPE, JIM STEWART, TERRY TOLKIN, CREED TAYLOR and CHARLES KOPPELMAN. (And I'd be personally remiss if I didn't mention JOEL WHITBURN, the chartographer whose books were bibles for me and so many others.) A full alphabetical list, with brief descriptions, of every music figure of note who died in 2022 can be found in our REDEF original “And the Songbirds Keep Singing: Music Deaths 2022.” Billboard offers a detailed list of behind-the-scenes industry deaths. The Curtain Hits the Cast Lastly, we want to note those who’ve passed in the two weeks since the last regular edition of MusicREDEF: Philly soul songwriter/producer/architect THOM BELL and Specials and Fun Boy Three lead singer TERRY HALL, both featured in remembrances below... Faithless lead singer MAXI JAZZ... Up-and-coming Memphis rapper BIG SCARR... Congolese singer and activist TSHALA MUANA... Canadian singer/songwriter IAN TYSON, best known as half of Ian & Sylvia... BERTHA BARBEE MCNEAL, co-founder of Motown’s the Velvelettes... KIM SIMMONDS, leader of British blues band Savoy Brown... Pioneering timpanist ELAYNE JONES, believed to be the first Black principal player in a major American orchestra... And fashion designer VIVIENNE WESTWOOD, who helped create the look of British punk and new wave. Rest in peace one and all. And a peaceful new year to all who are reading. - Matty Karas, curator and the songbirds are singing The New York Times How Takeoff and the Migos Flow Changed Atlanta Rap By Jon Caramanica Quick-jabbing triplets had been a staple of rap, but the trio made the style sound fresh, thanks in large part to Takeoff, its master of syncopation. The rapper was shot and killed at 28 on Tuesday. Esquire Loretta Lynn Made the Mundane Incendiary By Natalie Weiner There was no big picture angle or mission to the singer and songwriter's work besides telling her story over and over and over again with the kind of honesty and wit that made it feel not just fresh but revolutionary, every single time. Pitchfork Remembering Ronnie Spector, the Beating Heart of Rock’n’Roll By Jenn Pelly A true original, the Ronettes leader pioneered an eternal attitude-tough and tender at once. Billboard An Appreciation of Christine McVie, Poet Laureate of the Morning After By Alfred Soto The late Fleetwood Mac singer-songwriter was a master at capturing sensuality’s smaller moments. Sonos Radio Dada Strain Radio: Bird Songs for Breezy (Honoring Jaimie Branch), Part 2 By Piotr Orlov The final episode of Dada Strain Radio’s first season honors the memory of the late trumpeter/composer/improviser Jaimie “Breezy” Branch with music by Branch and memories from family and friends, including Kate Branch, Angel Bat David, Lester St. Louis and others. Detroit Free Press Songwriter-producer Lamont Dozier, force behind the scenes at Motown, dies at 81 By Brian McCollum With brothers Eddie and Brian Holland, Dozier crafted many of Motown's biggest hits, taking the Supremes, Four Tops and others to the chart tops. Passion of the Weiss A Requiem For PnB Rock (1991-2022) By Jayson Buford The Philadelphia musician was defined by the freedom of having no one to answer to. His passing is another tragedy in the midst of an epidemic of fallen rappers. The New Yorker Meat Loaf Ascends to Rock Heaven By Amanda Petrusich The songwriter made records that were loud, infectious, theatrical, rebellious, dorky, sex-crazed, and beloved. Los Angeles Times An underappreciated singer, Olivia Newton-John breathed sensuality into the soft rock of the ’70s By Stephen Thomas Erlewine From country to disco, Newton-John sounded persuasive in a variety of settings, her voice providing a sultry undercurrent to her songs' gentle promises. The Guardian A church with open doors: the ecstatic power of Pharoah Sanders By Jennifer Lucy Allan The spiritual jazz legend was a man of few words -- but his expansive, effusive playing said everything. like they know the score Los Angeles Times 'The end of an era': Stevie Nicks, David Geffen, Paul Simon remember music exec Mo Ostin By Robert Hilburn Warner Bros.' Mo Ostin, who died Sunday at 95, was among the greatest executives of the rock era, and loved by artists from Sinatra to Prince. Vulture Jerry Lee Lewis Was an SOB Right to the End By Bill Wyman Jerry Lee Lewis was known as the Killer, and it wasn’t a casual sobriquet — a schoolmate called him that after he tried to strangle a teacher. He once shot his bass player in the chest; just about all of his seven wives, including one who was a child, said he beat them; and there’s a lingering suspicion that he murdered wife No. 5. Kerrang! Taylor Hawkins: A wild light blinding bright By James Hickie He was obsessed with rock’n’roll and one of the greatest drummers on the planet, but more importantly Taylor Hawkins was a man brimming with love and kindness. The Guardian ‘She was so casual about her genius’: musicians on Low’s Mimi Parker Steve Albini, Robert Plant, Geoff Barrow and more pay tribute to the vocalist and drummer, who has died aged 55. Slate Coolio Was More Than 'Gangsta’s Paradise' By Nitish Pahwa The hip-hop classic was both 1995’s biggest song and its most acclaimed, but it was neither the rapper’s first hit nor his last. Trench MC Skibadee, Jungle Music & Me By Jordan Jarrett-Bryan My first encounter with Skibadee was an aggressive one. The year was 1999: I was in the queue for Planet V at Bagleys, aka jungle ravers’ heaven, and I was being directed by security to step out of the paying queue and into the guestlist queue. NPR Music Game was her middle name: The world was never ready for Betty Davis By Oliver Wang Raucous, outspoken and empowered, Davis, who died last week at 77, always knew what she wanted her music to be - raw - and she took control of her career in an era when few Black women could. The Guardian Gal Costa was a flamboyant revolutionary in Brazilian music By Felipe Maia As one of the founding artists of the Tropicália movement in the late 60s, she became known for her fearless voice, which captivated audiences for five decades. The Philadelphia Inquirer Thom Bell, 79, The Sound of Philadelphia producer, has died By Robert Moran and Dan DeLuca The Grammy-winning producer, arranger, and songwriter, along with Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, helped create “The Sound of Philadelphia,” which became world-famous in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Invisible Oranges The Gravedigger’s Song: RIP Mark Lanegan By Neill Jameson A eulogy for an incomparable artist. The Guardian Terry Hall was the self-assured eye of the Specials storm By Alexis Petridis As the pioneering 2 Tone band’s lead singer, Hall’s impassive style made him a star - and helped him weather the vicissitudes of fame, the changing charts and British decline. The Washington Post Rappers, royals among those remembering legacy of British music pioneer Jamal Edwards By Adela Suliman British rappers, lawmakers and royals lined up to champion the life and legacy of music industry executive and entrepreneur Jamal Edwards, who helped launch the careers of artists including Ed Sheeran, Jessie J and Stormzy. The New York Times The Soaring Legacy of Pablo Milanés By Ed Morales While helping pioneer nueva trova - which combined Cuban son and guaracha with soul, jazz and folk rock - he alternated embrace and rejection of the government that once jailed him. NPR Music Naomi Judd embodied the role of country music's 'mother' — and helped to expand it By Jewly Hight Alongside her daughter Wynonna, Naomi Judd, who died on April 30, willed one of the most riveting acts in country music into being through persistence and sacrifice. The Ringer Vangelis’s Return Flight to the Cosmos By Tim Greiving The synth pioneer and Oscar-winning film composer, who died last week at age 79, saw his work as part of something bigger than all of us. Some Came Running I Remember Anton Fier By Glenn Kenny I remember my campus friend Bob in 1978 or so expressing fake annoyance when telling me of drummer Anton Fier's imminent move from Cleveland to New York, where he would join the Haledon, N.J. band The Feelies. "I guess he heard somewhere that I had a pool at my house," Bob said. By which, I believe, Bob meant his parents' house. what we're into Music of the day “You Can't Put Your Arms Around A Memory” Ronnie Spector From "She Talks to Rainbows" (1999). 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