NOTEWORTHY DEATHS

Tommy Ramone, a co-founder of the seminal punk band the Ramones and the last surviving member of the original group, has died, a business associate said Saturday.

Dave Frey, who works for Ramones Productions and Silent Partner Management, confirmed that Ramone died Friday. Frey didn't have additional details. Ramone was 65.

Tommy Ramone, a drummer, co-founded the Ramones in 1974 in New York along with singer Joey Ramone, bassist Dee Dee Ramone and guitarist Johnny Ramone. All four band members had different last names but took the common name Ramone.

The band influenced a generation of rockers, and its hit songs "I Wanna Be Sedated" and "Blitzkrieg Bop," among others, earned them an induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002.

Clad in leather jackets and long black mops of hair, the group of motley misfits started out in legendary New York clubs such as CBGB and Max's Kansas City, where band members blasted their rapid-fire songs.

Since its debut album in 1976, the band struggled for commercial success, but it left a formidable imprint on the rock genre. Though they never had a Top 40 song, the Ramones influenced scores of followers, including bands such as Green Day and Nirvana.

The Ramones disbanded in 1996 after a tour that followed their final studio album, Adios Amigos. A live farewell tour album, We're Outta Here!, was released in 1997.

Bass virtuoso, leading jazz innovator

NEW YORK -- Bassist Charlie Haden, who helped change the shape of jazz more than a half-century ago as a member of Ornette Coleman's groundbreaking quartet and liberated the bass from its traditional rhythm section role, has died. He was 76.

Haden died Friday in Los Angeles after a prolonged illness, said publicist Tina Pelikan of ECM Records.

Haden began performing with his parents and siblings as the youngest member of the Haden Family band, which had its own radio show and was popular on the Midwest country circuit.

But polio weakened his vocal cords and ended his singing career at 15, leading him to focus on the bass. He became interested in jazz after hearing Charlie Parker perform with Jazz at the Philharmonic, and he headed to Los Angeles to study music and began performing with local musicians before meeting Coleman.

After making a series of groundbreaking recordings with Coleman's band, Haden collaborated with pianist-composer Carla Bley to form the Liberation Music Orchestra in 1969, which blended experimental big band jazz with world folk music.

Haden later formed the Los Angeles-based Quartet West, which played more mainstream, bop-oriented tunes, inspired by the film noir world of the 1940s.

Haden was a three-time Grammy winner -- receiving a best jazz instrumental performance award for his 1997 album with Pat Metheny, Beyond the Missouri Sky, and best Latin jazz album honors for Nocturne (2001) and Land of the Sun (2004) with Cuban pianist Gonazalo Rubalcaba. He also received a Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award in 2013.

A Section on 07/13/2014

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