Rick Laird was an Irish bassist working in jazz and best-known for his work with Mahavishnu Orchestra.
He is featured on the oft-sampled “You Know You Know” (1971, above) by Mahavishnu Orchestra.
Tag Archives: 2021
RIP Djivan Gasparyan (1928 – 2021)
Djivan Gasparyan was an Armenian composer and musician best known for his work on the duduk.
RIP Richard Lewontin (1929 – 2021)
Richard Lewontin was an American evolutionary biologist noted for many things, but also for opposing Sociobiology: The New Synthesis (1975) by E. O. Wilson, co-writing Not in Our Genes (1984), in the preface of which is stated:
“We [Richard Lewontin, Steven Rose, and Leon Kamin] share a commitment to the prospect of the creation of a more socially just—a socialist—society. And we recognize that a critical science is an integral part of the struggle to create that society, just as we also believe that the social function of much of today’s science is to hinder the creation of that society by acting to preserve the interests of the dominant class, gender, and race.”
RIP Richard Donner (1930 – 2021)
Richard Donner was an American film director of blockbuster movies.
His film The Goonies (1985) featured a Rube Goldberg machine to open a gate. The cage of the chicken in that sequence bore the text: “RUBE G. 83”.
RIP Raffaella Carrà (1943 – 2021)
Raffaella Carrà was an Italian showbiz person known for her dancing in “Prisencolinensinainciusol” (1972) and her singing and low-cut suit in “A far l’amore comincia tu” (1976).
The song is featured prominently in Water Drops on Burning Rocks (2000) by Ozon.
In 2011, French DJ Bob Sinclar sampled the original Italian version of “A far l’amore comincia tu” and included it in his single “Far l’amore” which was later featured in The Great Beauty (2013).
RIP Vladimir Menshov (1939 – 2021)
Vladimir Menshov was a Soviet and Russian actor and film director best-known for his film Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears (1979).
RIP Donald Rumsfeld (1932 – 2021)
Donald Rumsfeld was an American politician.
Normally, I do not cover politics but Rumsfeld, by saying there are “unknown unknowns”, entered the field of philosophy.
And by becoming the subject of the documentary The Unknown Known (2013), he makes a good entry point to the documentaries of Errol Morris.
Donald Rumsfeld famously saying “there are unknown unknowns”.
RIP Louis Andriessen (1939 – 2021)
Louis Andriessen was a Dutch composer, together with Dick Raaymakers, one of the most important ones of The Netherlands.
I give you De Staat, named after De Staat (Dutch title of The Republic by Plato).
RIP Gift of Gab (1971 – 2021)
Gift of Gab was an American singer-songwriter working in hip hop music.
MF Doom, who was also born in 1971, died a couple of months ago. Both him and Gift of Gab were known for their multisyllabic rhymes.
The most inspiring figure in hip hop today is Madlib.
RIP Jon Hassell (1937 – 2021)
Jon Hassell was an American composer and trumpet player best known for combining elements of various world music traditions with modern electronic techniques.
His music has a mesmerizing quality.
Of note is his collaboration with Moritz von Oswald (Oswald is the new Laswell).