David Young...has passed away.

[sheldonm]

The great tenor player David Young has passed away. David, while not that well known to many...recorded several times with George Russell on many of his greatest albums and was a regular on the Indy Jazz scene for too many years to count.

David had lived here in Indy all his life and continued to play until the past 6 months of so. Always a joy to see him play and talk with him.....though he was a very modest guy by most accounts. He didn't really like the spotlight on him and would rarely speak about himself but truly a wonderful man and artist. Certainly will be missed by me and countless others.

RIP

m~

[Chuck Nessa]

Vary sorry to hear this.

[JSngry]

Same here. Besides the work with Russell, his Mainstream album was quite nice.

[paul secor]

I only know his playing from a couple of George Russell records - primarily the Five Spot album. David Young could truly play. I thank him for his music and mourn his passing.

[king ubu]

I love those Russell albums! Don't know anything by Young besides. Sad news, r.i.p.

[sheldonm]

David had maybe one-two leader dates but had such a wonderful sound. Knew and played with Wes Montgomery, David Baker, Mel Rhyne, Jimmy Coe, Al Kiger, Joe Hunt and other Indy greats as well.

Mark~

[AllenLowe]

years ago I saw Mercer Ellington's/Duke Ellington orchestra. There was a terrific tenor player in the band named David Young. He was black - was this the same guy?

[ghost of miles]

years ago I saw Mercer Ellington's/Duke Ellington orchestra. There was a terrific tenor player in the band named David Young. He was black - was this the same guy?

I believe so, Allen.

Seriously bummed about this. I knew he wasn't doing well--he wasn't able to make it to sheldonm's "Great Day in Indy" photo shoot--but damn... Very fortunate to have seen him play several times, including once with David Baker here in B-town in 2004, and again last year with Melvin Rhyne and some other Indy stalwarts. RIP, David...I'll definitely be playing the Mainstream album tonight.

[AllenLowe]

he was brilliant - he sorta served as the Paul Gonsalvez tenor when I saw the band - it was probably 1980 or so and I remember thinking, who is this guy and where has he been hiding?

that version of the band also had Ronnie Boykins on bass, whom I knew a little through Bob Neloms.

[ghost of miles]

Photo of David Young by Mark Sheldon (Mark, hope it's OK to post this here):

[ghost of miles]

Did DY ever record with the Mercer-led Ellington orchestra?

EDIT: looks like he's on the Christmas Laserlight CD, and on a DVD performance from Warsaw '77.

You can also hear him in the Night Lights show When Russell Met Baker.

Edited February 6, 2009 by ghost of miles

[clifford_thornton]

RIP.

I know what I'll be spinning when I get home.

Talk about an underrated player.

[Michael Weiss]

RIP. I played with David several times when I lived in Indiana, not as much as Pookie Johnson though. Sweet guy. They all are.

[sheldonm]

RIP. I played with David several times when I lived in Indiana, not as much as Pookie Johnson though. Sweet guy. They all are.

...several of the Indy greats have left us in the past several years....Pookie, Jimmy Coe, Russell Webster, Dick Dickinson, JJ Johnson and now David....damn!

[JohnS]

Sorry to hear this bad news. He was superb on those classic Russell discs.

[sidewinder]

...several of the Indy greats have left us in the past several years....Pookie, Jimmy Coe, Russell Webster, Dick Dickinson, JJ Johnson and now David....damn!

Not to mention Freddie..

[sheldonm]

...several of the Indy greats have left us in the past several years....Pookie, Jimmy Coe, Russell Webster, Dick Dickinson, JJ Johnson and now David....damn!

Not to mention Freddie..

...my bad on that one...........and both Aletra and Virtue Hampton...know as the Hampton Sisters (sisters of Slide).

[ghost of miles]

OK, haven't been able to run down much more biographical info yet, but I should have more soon for a forthcoming Night Lights tribute program; in the meantime, here's a post for David at the Night Lights site:

David Young R.I.P.

[ghost of miles]

The Indianapolis Star has an obituary up now, with some more background info on David:

David Young

I interviewed David Baker yesterday and am continuing to gather material for a Night Lights show. Sheldonm, I'll probably try to make the funeral tomorrow.

[sheldonm]

The Indianapolis Star has an obituary up now, with some more background info on David:

David Young

I interviewed David Baker yesterday and am continuing to gather material for a Night Lights show. Sheldonm, I'll probably try to make the funeral tomorrow.

Sorry to miss you at the service; it was well attended by family, friends and many musicians including Mel Rhyne who played piano and organ frequently during the service with many of the other Indy greats. Ran into David Baker and Lida...and then vibist Billy Wooten; chatted with him for about 30 minutes prior to the service. While sad that David is gone, the service was joyous and upbeat like he would have wanted it to be!

Regarding more info....I have a couple friends other than the one I turned you on to that have known David for 30-40 years....I can probably help you out there as well.

m

[ghost of miles]

Thanks, Mark. I'm so sorry I missed it, but end-of-the-week work just piled up too much by this morning. Glad to hear that it was so well-attended and that things went so well.

[ghost of miles]

Here's a short (five-minute) piece that I did for WFIU's "Artworks" program on David...includes some remarks from David Baker. Fullblown Night Lights show coming in April:

Remembering jazz saxophonist David Young

[AllenLowe]

by the way, I am finding Young on a bunch of old Decca blues cuts as I work through my new project -

[Chuck Nessa]

Different Dave Young.

That Dave Young was from Chicago and played with Roy, the Hendersons, Lucky Millinder, etc.

Edited March 22, 2009 by Chuck Nessa