Jazz flutist Herbie Mann died late Tuesday at his home in Pecos, New Mexico, near Santa Fe. At 73, Mann succumbed after a long battle with prostate cancer according to his family.
Known throughout the jazz and world music scenes for bridging multicultural musical styles, Mann popularized the Bossa Nova for the American audience and adoring fans worldwide. Mann was devoted to incorporating such diverse styles as African, Brazilian, Middle Eastern and Japanese into his music, as well as mixing in American soul and blues. Mann leaves behind a wealth of music with recordings such as African Suite, Brasil, Bossa Nova & Blues, Latin Mann, Memphis Two Step and his last CD Eastern European Roots, released three years ago in 2000.
Herbie Mann played with stellar musicians like Nigerian drummer Babatunde Olatunji and Brazilian musician Sergio Mendes. He was also known for having an eye for up and coming musicians like Chick Corea and Roy Ayers. With his own label Kokopelli, Mann put out more than 100 albums.
Herbie Mann is survived by his wife, Susan; sons, Paul and Geoff; and daughters Claudia and Laura. Private ceremonies will be held on Sunday.
Author: TJ Nelson
TJ Nelson is a regular CD reviewer and editor at World Music Central. She is also a fiction writer. Check out her latest book, Chasing Athena’s Shadow.
Set in Pineboro, North Carolina, Chasing Athena’s Shadow follows the adventures of Grace, an adult literacy teacher, as she seeks to solve a long forgotten family mystery. Her charmingly dysfunctional family is of little help in her quest. Along with her best friends, an attractive Mexican teacher and an amiable gay chef, Grace must find the one fading memory that holds the key to why Grace’s great-grandmother, Athena, shot her husband on the courthouse steps in 1931.
Traversing the line between the Old South and New South, Grace will have to dig into the past to uncover Athena’s true crime.
