Richard Merrill Sudhalter (28 December 1938 – 19 September 2008)

Biography A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or c ...

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...

'' was an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a majo ...

trumpeter and writer.

Biography

Born in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

, United States, Sudhalter was inspired to pursue a musical career by his father, Al Sudhalter ''(né'' Albert W. Sudhalter; 1905–1975), a noted Boston-area

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of Single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed (mouthpi ...

soloist. Dick began playing the

cornet The cornet (, ) is a brass instrument similar to the trumpet but distinguished from it by its conical bore, more compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B, though there is also a so ...

at 12 and within a few years was performing professionally. After graduating from Oberlin College, he moved to Europe in 1964, later becoming a

United Press International United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the ...

correspondent. In 1968, he covered the Russian invasion of Czechoslovakia from Prague for UPI and was subsequently assigned the role of Manager for Eastern Europe. During his twelve years living in Europe and the UK, he also wrote under the pseudonym "Art Napoleon." He wrote jazz criticism for the ''

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...

'' from 1978 to 1984.

Literary works

In 1974, Sudhalter and Philip R. Evans ''(né'' Philip Roland Evans; 1935–1999) co-wrote ''Bix: Man and Legend'', the standard biography of jazz

ist

Bix Beiderbecke Leon Bismark "Bix" Beiderbecke (March 10, 1903 – August 6, 1931) was an American jazz cornetist, pianist and composer. Beiderbecke was one of the most influential jazz soloists of the 1920s, a cornet player noted for an inventive lyrical a ...

, and the first jazz biography ever to be nominated for a National Book Award. Music critic

Terry Teachout Terrance Alan Teachout (February 6, 1956 – January 13, 2022) was an American author, critic, biographer, playwright, stage director, and librettist. He was the drama critic of ''The Wall Street Journal'', the critic-at-large of '' Commentary ...

has called the book "a 'landmark of jazz scholarship' and the 'first jazz biography written to the standards' of a serious study of a classical composer or other major historical figure." Sudhalter's other books are ''Lost Chords: White Musicians and Their Contribution to Jazz, 1915-1945'' (1999) and ''Stardust Melody'' (2002), the first full-length biography of

Hoagy Carmichael Hoagland Howard Carmichael (November 22, 1899 – December 27, 1981) was an American musician, composer, songwriter, actor and lawyer. Carmichael was one of the most successful Tin Pan Alley songwriters of the 1930s, and was among the firs ...

. ''Lost Chords'' ignited some controversy for its assertion that jazz was shaped by both black and white musicians.Obituary, ''Oberlin Alumni Magazine'' (Winter 2008–2009), p. 47 Sudhalter received an ASCAP Deems Taylor Special Citation for Excellence for ''Lost Chords'', and a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

in 1983 for his liner notes for ''Bunny Berigan: Giants of Jazz''.

Illness and death

A stroke in 2003 forced him to retire from playing, after which he developed

multiple system atrophy Multiple system atrophy (MSA) is a rare neurodegenerative disorder characterized by autonomic dysfunction, tremors, slow movement, muscle rigidity, and postural instability (collectively known as parkinsonism) and ataxia. This is caused by p ...

, a disease that left him unable to speak and subsequently led to his death from

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severi ...

, aged 69. He was survived by his brother and sister Carol Sudhalter, a New York-based saxophonist and flutist, two adult daughters, his ex-wife Vivian Sudhalter of 18 years, and his companion Dorothy Kellogg of 22 years.

References

External links

''New York Times'' obituary, 20 September 2008Dick Sudhalter papers, artifacts, and audio recordings
Institute of Jazz Studies {{DEFAULTSORT:Sudhalter, Dick American jazz cornetists American music critics Grammy Award winners Deaths from pneumonia in New York City Jazz writers Oberlin College alumni Musicians from Boston 1938 births 2008 deaths Neurological disease deaths in New York (state) Deaths from multiple system atrophy 20th-century American musicians 20th-century American biographers Jazz musicians from Massachusetts