Jazz Trumpeter Wallace Roney Dies at 59 from Covid-19

[Suburban Warrior]

Wallace Roney, a trumpeter and composer who embodied the pugnacious, harmonically restive side of post-bop throughout an illustrious four-decade career, died this morning at St. Joseph's University Medical Center in Paterson, N.J. He was 59.

The cause was complications from COVID-19, according to his fiancée, Dawn Felice Jones. She said Roney had been admitted to the hospital last Wednesday.

Roney first rose to prominence as a sharp young steward of the modern jazz tradition, winning national awards in his early 20s and joining several high-profile bands. But it was a public benediction by his idol and mentor, Miles Davis, that catapulted him into a rare stratum of jazz celebrity.

Very sad to hear this.

[Ferrets are Cool]

1. Very sad.

[zonemaster]

2. F-word

Wallace Roney crafted his sound to be a lot like Miles'. He caught flak for that, but it was also somewhat thrilling to be able to listen to someone in his physical and musical prime who sounded like a re-incarnation of Miles when he was at the top of his game in the 50's and 60's. Right before Miles died, he went back to the Montreaux Jazz Festival at the urging and under the direction of Quincy Jones, and reprised some of the orchestral jazz music from the Sketches of Spain album. Wallace Roney was selected to be there as backup for Miles on the most strenuous passages.

[uponit7771]

3. damn