John Levy, Bassist and Talent Manager, Dies at 99 in 24/01/2012

Jimmy Jones and John Levy, 1947.

John Levy, a bassist and pioneering talent manager whose roster included some of the biggest names in jazz, notably Nancy Wilson, Joe Williams, Cannonball Adderley and Wes Montgomery, died on Friday at his home in Altadena, Calif. He was 99.
Widely credited as the first African-American personal manager in jazz, Mr. Levy entered that profession by happenstance: he was a member of the original George Shearing Quintet in the late 1940s, and by virtue of his diligent practicality, he gradually found himself entrusted with most of the group’s business decisions. He established his management company, John Levy Enterprises, in 1951; Shearing, the British pianist then still riding the momentum of an international hit, “September in the Rain,” became his first client.

He would go on to represent singers like Betty Carter, Abbey Lincoln and Shirley Horn; pace-setting bandleaders like Ahmad Jamal, Ramsey Lewis, Freddie Hubbard and Herbie Hancock; and crossover stars like Roberta Flack and Les McCann.

Larry Butler dies at 69

Larry Butler, the producer of some of Kenny Rogers’s biggest hits and the only Nashville session leader ever to win a Grammy Award for producer of the year, died on Friday at his home in Pensacola, Fla. He was 69.
His death was from natural causes, said Jana Talbot, a friend of the family. He died in 24/01/2012.

As a musician, producer, songwriter and record executive, Mr. Butler had a hand in creating significant country recordings that also became major pop hits in the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s.

He played piano on Bobby Goldsboro’s “Honey,” the maudlin ballad that reached No. 1 on both the country and the pop charts in 1968. With the producer Chips Moman he wrote B. J. Thomas’s 1975 hit, “(Hey Won’t You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song,” another single that reached the top of the country and pop charts.