Musicians who have retired

[Steve Reynolds]

Don Van Vliet famously retired from music in 1982 after recording Ice Cream for Crow at 41.

He left us on December 17, 2010.

Joe Maneri stopped performing after a 2005 mini-festival in NY @ 78 a few years before he left us on August 4, 2009. 

[Larry Kart]

I know of several not-that-famous but highly talented players (pianists, in particular) who retired because of arthritis.

[duaneiac]

Kind of jazz related since she was once a big band singer is perhaps the most famous recluse since Howard Hughes --- Doris Day.  She has been retired from music/show biz/public life for about 30 years, I guess.  She did allow some photos to be taken on her 92nd birthday this year.  She still looks good.

Edited October 26, 2016 by duaneiac

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

She hasn't changed her hairstyle, though

I don't know whether he qualifies, but Johnny 'Hammond' Smith retired and went into investing his savings - yeah, a jazz musician who saved his ackers! - into real estate. But he did make the occasional gig and took on one or two private music pupils.

Freddie McCoy retired and went to Africa and did other stuff. Now THAT'S an interesting thing.

The above two are both dead, of course. But the following are, as far as I know, still alive.

Leon Spencer retired and bought a farm in Martha's Vineyard. Don't know if he's still alive.

Chicago alto player Sonny Cox left music and went into baseball or some other American sport as a trainer or something.

New York tenor player Nat Dixon retired from the business (he ran his own label, Sax Rack) and went into religion - now runs his own church. Still plays tenor but doesn't do gigs.

After a long illness in 1980, Sonny Phillips went into semi-retirement and moved to LA. He performs and teaches occasionally.

MG

[JSngry]

Charles Lloyd invested in California real estate and more or less retired to TM for a while before returning to a higher-profile schedule.

Sonny Cox - high school basketball coach in Chicago, apparently high profile?

Sometimes when old folks "disappear", it's for various health reasons, not that they've retired. Max Roach and his Alzheimer's come to mind.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

I don't know what happened to Boo

1 hour ago, JSngry said:

Sonny Cox - high school basketball coach in Chicago, apparently high profile?

 

Yeah, full name is Sonny Landon Cox.

I don't know what happened to Boogaloo Joe Jones but there's no references to him performing since the late seventies. He's still alive, probably in NJ.

MG

[kh1958]

1 hour ago, The Magnificent Goldberg said:

She hasn't changed her hairstyle, though

I don't know whether he qualifies, but Johnny 'Hammond' Smith retired and went into investing his savings - yeah, a jazz musician who saved his ackers! - into real estate. But he did make the occasional gig and took on one or two private music pupils.

Freddie McCoy retired and went to Africa and did other stuff. Now THAT'S an interesting thing.

The above two are both dead, of course. But the following are, as far as I know, still alive.

Leon Spencer retired and bought a farm in Martha's Vineyard. Don't know if he's still alive.

Chicago alto player Sonny Cox left music and went into baseball or some other American sport as a trainer or something.

New York tenor player Nat Dixon retired from the business (he ran his own label, Sax Rack) and went into religion - now runs his own church. Still plays tenor but doesn't do gigs.

After a long illness in 1980, Sonny Phillips went into semi-retirement and moved to LA. He performs and teaches occasionally.

MG

Leon Spencer died in 2012. http://www.jazzwax.com/2012/03/leon-spencer-jr-1945-2012.html

[BillF]

Phil Woods announced his retirement some days before his sad demise in 2015.

[Clunky]

As I mentioned a few days ago in the "What 78 are you spinning.." Spike Hughes retired from being a jazz musician aged 25 in 1933 .  Perhaps having had Coleman Hawkins record his tunes , Hughes may have felt he couldn't improve on that, so he called time on jazz. He died in 1987. 

[duaneiac]

Kay Starr -- the last I heard from her was a track with Tony Bennett on one of his "duet" CDs last decade.  I guess she's retired by now.  She's 94 and certainly deserves to enjoy some retirement years.  Hopefully "The Wheel Of Fortune" was good to her.

[sidewinder]

Slide Hampton, Dizzy Reece?

[duaneiac]

On 10/26/2016 at 9:29 AM, JSngry said:

Sometimes when old folks "disappear", it's for various health reasons, not that they've retired. Max Roach and his Alzheimer's come to mind.

Sometimes even young folks "disappear" for health reasons -- think of Pat Martino, Keith Jarrett and Fred Hersch who each had to take extended forced "retirements" from their music careers to recover from health issues.

Not jazz related, but Glen Campbell's battle with Alzheimer's was sad to see, both on his final tour and in the documentary film that was made.

[BillF]

Not forgetting that in the classic era there were the "retirements" from the scene of Dexter, Art Pepper et al. 

 

[duaneiac]

2 hours ago, BillF said:

Not forgetting that in the classic era there were the "retirements" from the scene of Dexter, Art Pepper et al. 

 

But didn't guys like Art Pepper and Frank Morgan keep on playing in makeshift bands while in prison?  They may have been out of the public eye, but the continued with their music.

Gene Ammons had so much material recorded and kept on the shelf that the casual listener of the day may never have known he was, uh, "retired", since new Gene Ammons albums continued to come out.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

1 hour ago, duaneiac said:

But didn't guys like Art Pepper and Frank Morgan keep on playing in makeshift bands while in prison?  They may have been out of the public eye, but the continued with their music.

Gene Ammons had so much material recorded and kept on the shelf that the casual listener of the day may never have known he was, uh, "retired", since new Gene Ammons albums continued to come out.

And he was never retired; apparently the Governor let him practice for hours every day. So when he was released, he was 'gig-ready'.

MG

[JSngry]

Let's have a thread about jazz fans who are retired!

[BillF]

 Count me as one!

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

3 hours ago, JSngry said:

Let's have a thread about jazz fans who are retired!

Retired from being a jazz fan?

Well, maybe that's me

MG

[sidewinder]

7 hours ago, BillF said:

 Count me as one!

I'm half-way there!