Sad news: Frank Jolliffe has passed away,
but his musical influence lives on.
To those who haven't yet heard, Yuta and I are sad to report the
premature death of Frank Jolliffe. We heard that he had a fatal
heart attack on Wednesday, February 8th.
Frank was one of the first to buy a Stick from Sam Ash Music in 1976
and I gave him lessons when I'd periodically visit NYC. He became
increasingly connected to our lives with much correspondence and many
visits throughout the '80s.
It was his music that made the strongest connection, not just for me
but also to Stick and string tapping players world wide. In his
early twenties he took up the challenge of playing straight-ahead
jazz on The Stick and he mastered it the hard way, that is, the
purest way, walking the bass and freely improvising the melody in
bebop style, eventually becoming fluent at both at once in live
performance.
Through his many concerts, classes, private lessons, published
instruction, and his written song arrangements, Frank's influence
grew among Stick players and later among Warr guitarists and so did
the numbers of his students and fans. He was there with The Stick
"at the ground floor" and will be missed by the many musicians who
benefited from his bold, pioneering example.
With sadness, Emmett.
(click to see photos)
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Frank performing in 1993 (click for more photos)
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