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Death of saxophonist Hal Singer, who had played with Ray Charles and Billie Holliday

2020-08-21T16:13:08.756Z


DISAPPEARANCE - This great name in American jazz, who died on Tuesday at the age of 100, had recorded a hundred records during his 70-year career.


Saxophonist Hal Singer, a figure of American jazz who played with Ray Charles and Billie Holiday, died Tuesday at the age of 100 in the Paris region, announced Thursday the town hall of Chatou, in Yvelines, where the musician had resided for 20 years.

We regret to inform you of the death of Hal Singer on August 18, 2020 at the age of 100. Weakened in recent years, Hal Singer has passed away peacefully surrounded by his wife and his family, ”announced the town hall of this suburb of Paris in a statement, without specifying the causes of death.

70 years of career

During his 70-year career, the musician, born October 8, 1919 in Tulsa, United States, recorded nearly a hundred records, first across the Atlantic then in France where he set down in 1965, according to the biography of his site.

It was in 1942, in the famous " 52nd Street " of New York that he played alongside Don Byas, Roy Eldridge, Red Allen or even Billie Holiday after debuting in the black orchestras of the American Southwest.

His international tours will take him to Latin America, Africa and Asia, after having scoured American concert halls, in the company of the greatest like Ray Charles.

Read also: Saxophonist Lee Konitz, master of improvisation, carried away by the coronavirus

In 1989, he played his own role in Taxi Blues by Russian director Pavel Lounguine, which won the Best Director's Award at the Cannes Film Festival the following year.

" A history broker "

“He was an extraordinary witness to his time, he is a history broker. He was born in an America very marked by racial segregation, he suffered from it but at the same time, he was able to transcend this state of affairs, ”the mayor of Chatou, Eric Dumoulin, told AFP.

“He was an extraordinarily positive man, beyond his exceptional musical qualities. I will retain from him this joy of living, this optimism, ” added the city councilor.

Married to a Frenchwoman, Hal Singer decided to settle in Chatou in 2002. He had been promoted Commander of Arts and Letters in 1999. The burial will take place Saturday morning, in the strictest privacy, said the town hall to AFP.

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2020-08-21

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