Cyprus – Famous darbuka and def player Ahmet Altýparmak, the last living representative of Mehmetaliler, a band which has a very important place in Turkish…
Ahmet Altýparmak has Died
Category: Obituaries
Oral Historian Djali Djimo Kouyate Dies at 51
Djimo Kouyate, a jali, oral historian and 149th generation of the Kouyate family of jali, historians and musicians, died in Washington, DC, on August 1.…
South African bass icon Sipho Gumede dies
South African bass guitarist and composer Sipho Gumede died on Monday, July 26, at the Parklands Hospital in Durban, reportedly of lung cancer. Gumede was…
Flamenco Dancer Ana Parrilla Dies in Jerez
Jerez, Spain – Flamenco dancer Ana Fernández de Molina, also known as ‘Ana Parrilla,’ died July 11 in her hometown of Jerez de la Frontera…
Kerrville Folk Festival Photograph Ken Schmidt Dies in Kayak Accident
Ken Schmidt, photographer and dear friend of the Kerrville Folk Festival died in a kayaking accident on July 11 near Comfort, Texas. He was 40…
Newfoundland Composer Otto Kelland Dies at 99
Otto Kelland, the composer of “Let Me Fish Off Cape St. Mary’s”, one of Newfoundland’s favorite folk songs, died July 8 in Flatrock, Newfoundland. He…
Agnes Cunningham, Founder of Folk-song Journal Broadside, dies at 95
Agnes “Sis” Cunningham, a founder of the influential folk-song journal Broadside, died on Sunday, June 27, at a nursing home in New Paltz, N.Y. She…
Hawaiian Steel Guitar Legend, Tau Savea Moe, Dies at 95
Tau Savea Moe, who learned steel guitar from the instrument’s inventor and brought Hawaiian music to dozens of countries starting in the 1920s, died Thursday,…
Ben Shabalala of Ladysmith Black Mambazo Killed in Durban
[image1_left]South Africa – According to the US record label for Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Ben Shabalala, brother of Ladysmith Black Mambazo founder and leader Joseph Shabalala,…
Canadian Folk Music Festival Pioneer Estelle Klein Dies at 74
Estelle Klein, artistic director emeritus of the Mariposa Folk Festival, died in Belleville, Ontario, on June 17, after a brief battle with cancer. She was…