Friday, April 18

Tag: Alan

Alan Abel, musician
26Apr By Web TeamNo Comments
Noteworthy, Profiles, United States

Alan Abel, musician

Alan Abel -- an American percussionist, music educator, and inventor of musical instruments -- died on April 25, 2020, of complications from COVID-19. He was the associate principal percussionist of the Philadelphia Orchestra from 1959 until his retirement in 1997. He is widely regarded as one of the most important percussion educators of the second half of the twentieth century, having taught at Temple University beginning in 1972. Abel’s inventions include several unique and ubiquitous triangles and a bass drum stand that allowed the instrument to be suspended with the use of rubber bands. Abel was born in Hobart, Indiana, in 1928. At the age of seven, he started percussion lessons. He studied with Clarence Carlson at the Roy Knapp School and then with Haskell Harr and William S...
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Alan Merrill, vocalist, guitarist, songwriter, actor & model
30Mar By Web TeamNo Comments
Noteworthy, Profiles, United States

Alan Merrill, vocalist, guitarist, songwriter, actor & model

Alan Merrill ‑ an American vocalist, guitarist, songwriter, actor and model – passed away on March 29, 2020 after contracting Covid-19.   In the early 1970s, Merrill was the first Westerner to achieve pop star status in Japan. He was the writer of, and lead singer on, the first released version of the song "I Love Rock 'n' Roll", which was recorded by the Arrows in 1975. The song became a breakthrough hit for Joan Jett in 1982.   Merrill was primarily a vocalist and songwriter, but also played the guitar, bass guitar, harmonica, and keyboards.   Merrill was born in The Bronx, New York City on February 19, 1951, the son of two jazz musicians, singer Helen Merrill and saxophone/clarinet player Aaron Sachs. He went to Aiglon Colle...
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Alan Finder, journalist
25Mar By Web TeamNo Comments
Noteworthy, Profiles, United States

Alan Finder, journalist

Alan Finder –an American journalist and a longtime employee of the New York Times ‑ died on March 24, 2020, due to complications brought on by COVID-19.   Alan A. Finder was born in Brooklyn and raised in Nassau County, New York, graduating from Valley Stream South High School. He earned a B.A. in history at the University of Rochester in 1969 and an M.A. in American studies at Yale University in 1972.   From 1974 to 1979, he worked at The Record in Hackensack, New Jersey, and then until 1983 at Newsday on Long Island. Finder worked for 27 years at the New York Times and retired in December 2011. Times executive editor Dean Baquet described Finder as "one of Metro's stars in the 1980s and 1990s, a big writer in a big, hugely competitive era for Ne...
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