Musicians Who Died in 1978

Mar 26 Alix Combelle, French swing saxophonist, clarinetist, and bandleader (Quintette du Hot Club de France), dies at 65
Mar 30 Larry Young [aka Khalid Yasin], American hard-bop and jazz-fusion Hammond B-3 organist (Unity), dies from several untreated illnesses, including pneumonia, at 37
Apr 3 Ray Noble, English bandleader, comedian and actor (The Very Thought of You), dies at 74
Apr 4 Gino Contilli, Italian composer, dies at 70
Apr 5 Carlo Tagliabue, Italian operatic baritone, (La Scala, 1930-55), dies at 80
Apr 6 Nicolas Nabokov, Russian composer (Holy Devil), dies at 74
Apr 7 Ernest Kanitz, Austrian-American composer, dies at 83
Apr 21 Sandy Denny, English singer-songwriter (Fairport Convention - "If You Gotta Go"), dies of traumatic mid-brain hemorrhage and blunt force trauma to her head after a series of falls at 31
May 1 Aram Khachaturian, Armenian composer (Masquerade Suite, Gayane), dies at 74
May 16 William Steinberg, German-American conductor (Pittsburgh Symphony, 1952-76; Boston Symphony, 1969-71), dies at 78
May 20 Ivan Harold Browning, American stage and screen actor and singer (Shuffle Along - "I'm Just Wild About Harry"), dies at 87
May 22 Bjarne Brustad, Norwegian composer, dies at 83
Jun 6 D. H. Th. Vollenhoven, Dutch composer and philosopher, dies at 85
Jun 6 Lester "Shad" Collins, American jazz trumpet player, composer and arranger (Chick Webb; Lester Young: Cab Calloway), dies at 67
Jun 14 Theodore Karyotakis, Greek classical composer, dies at 74

Jul 9 Zoltán Aladár, Transylvanian composer, music critic and teacher (The Goat and the Three Goons), dies at 49
Jul 10 Michel Gusikoff, American violinist, concert master, and composer, dies at 85
Jul 13 Antonio Veretti, composer, dies at 78
Jul 27 Willem Van Otterloo, Dutch cellist, composer, and conductor (Residentie Orkest, 1949-73; Melbourne Symphony, 1967-70; Sydney Symphony, 1971-77), dies in a car crash at 70
Jul 29 Glen Goins, American guitarist and singer (Parliament-Funkadelic - "Fantasy is Reality"), dies from Hodgkin's lymphoma at 24
Jul 29 Wesley LaViolette, American composer,conductor, poet, and educator dies at 84
Jul 30 Aasan Ferit Alnar, Turkish classical composer, dies at 72
Jul 31 Enoch Light, American orchestra leader (Gulf Road Show with Bob Smith), dies at 70
Jul 31 Günther Rennert, German film and opera director and producer, dies of a lung embolism at 67
Aug 2 Carlos Chávez, Mexican conductor and composer (Sinfonía India), dies at 79
Aug 7 (Albert) Eddie Calvert, British trumpeter ("Oh, Mein Papa"; "Cherry Pink (and Apple Blossom White)"), dies of a heart attack at 56
Aug 7 Franz Alphons Wolpert, German composer, dies at 60
Aug 14 (Giuseppe) "Joe" Venuti, American jazz musician and pioneer violinist considered the "father of jazz violin", dies of cancer at 74
Aug 15 Harrison Kerr, American composer, dies at 80
Aug 20 Ivan Jirko, Czech composer, music critic and psychiatrist, dies at 51

Aug 24 Louis Prima, American jazz and pop singer, trumpeter, and bandleader ("That Old Black Magic"; "Oh, Marie"), dies at 67
Aug 26 Charles Trowbridge Haubiel, American composer, pianist and lecturer (Tre Ritratti Characteristici), dies at 86
Sep 1 Olga de Haas, Dutch ballerina, dies as a result of anorexia nervosa at 33
Sep 5 Joe Negroni, American rock vocalist (Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers), dies of a brain hemorrhage at 37
Sep 6 Tom Wilson, American record producer (Sun Ra; Bob Dylan; Simon & Garfunkel; Mothers of Invention; Velvet Underground), dies of a heart attack at 47

Keith Moon (1946-1978)

Sep 7 British rock drummer (The Who - "Bell Boy"), dies of a drug overdose at 32

Sep 8 Pancho Vladigerov, Bulgarian pianist, composer (Vardar Rhapsody; Song to Peace), and pedagogue, dies at 79
Sep 24 Ruth Etting, American stage, radio, and screen singer ("Shine On Harvest Moon"; "Ten Cents A Dance"), and actress (Roman Scandals; Ziegfeld Follies), dies at 80
Sep 30 Beryl Booker, American swing and cool jazz pianist (Dinah Washington), dies at 56
Oct 8 Tibor Serly, Hungarian violinist and composer (American Elegy), dies at 76

Oct 9 Belgian singer, songwriter, actor, director and composer (Le Far West, Pain in the A__), dies of a pulmonary embolism at 49

Oct 10 Ralph Marterie, Italian-American trumpeter and big band bandleader ("Skokiaan"; "Shish-Kebab"; "Dry Marterie"), dies at 63

Oct 23 American country singer (Johnny Cash Show), dies at 69

Nov 9 Otto Siegl, Austrian composer, dies at 82
Nov 12 Howard Swanson, American composer known for his settings of poems of Langston Hughes, dies at 71
Nov 18 Lennie Tristano, American jazz pianist (The New Tristano), dies of a heart attack at 59
Nov 26 Frank Rosolino, American jazz trombonist (The Frank Rosolino Sextet), kills himself after shooting his sons at 52
Nov 29 Alan Richardson, Scottish pianist and composer, dies at 74
Dec 3 William Grant Still, American composer ("Afro-American" Symphony), dies at 83
Dec 12 Clifton Chenier, American blues singer (Bayou Blues), dies at 53
Dec 16 Blanche Calloway, American jazz vocalist, bandleader (Twelve Clouds of Joy), civil rights activist, and broadcaster, dies of breast cancer at 76
Dec 17 Don Ellis, American avant garde jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and Grammy Award-winning film score composer (The French Connection), dies of a heart attack at 44
Dec 26 Fritz Büchtger, German composer, educator, and modern music proponent (Association for Contemporary Music; Studio for New Music), dies at 75
Dec 27 Chris Bell, American rock guitarist (Big Star - "In The Street"), dies in a car crash at 27