[Dixielandjazz] Marty Harris Obit

[Stan Brager]

Here's Marty Harris' obituary which appeared in today's Los Angeles Times:

 

Marty Harris

Pianist performed with jazz and pop greats

Marty Harris, 77, a pianist who performed with such jazz and pop greats as
Benny Goodman
<http://www.latimes.com/topic/entertainment/music/benny-goodman-PECLB001998.
topic>  and Diana Ross
<http://www.latimes.com/topic/entertainment/music/diana-ross-PECLB003579.top
ic> , died of colon cancer Thursday at his Toluca Lake home, said his wife,
Bonnie.

Born Dec. 9, 1933, in New Jersey, Harris was reared in Florida and studied
the piano in high school. He served in the Navy in the early 1950s and moved
to the San Fernando Valley in 1961.

Since the 1950s, he had played with such jazz names as Woody Herman
<http://www.latimes.com/topic/entertainment/woody-herman-PECLB002352.topic>
, Clark Terry, Bob Cooper and Anita O'Day. Harris also accompanied the
singer Tom Jones
<http://www.latimes.com/topic/entertainment/music/tom-jones-PECLB002652.topi
c>  and had frequently performed locally with trumpeter and singer Jack
Sheldon.

Drawn to the rhythms of jazz from a young age, Harris told The Times in
1997: "I liked the beat; it just felt good. Then someone showed me how to
play a little bit, and I got to be pretty good."