Kevin Whitehead

He didn't record so very much, and not always in ideal settings, though even his 70s funk records have their moments.

Back then, his slippery phrasing and side-slipping harmony pointed the way for future alto stars Steve Coleman, Greg Osby, and Rudresh Mahantapa.

Here's Bunky Green on Tension and Release in 1979.

Another much better known horn player passed in 2025.

Let's listen a bit, then I'll tell you who it is.

The Jazz Messenger's 1966 on Secret Love with trumpet hotshot Chuck Mangione.

A few years later, Mangione would turn his attention to pop jazz, hitting it big in 1978 with Feels So Good, a terminally mellow tune that set him up for life.

Chuck Mangione was a good sport about his flugelhorn, cuddling public image, spoofing himself on TV's King of the Hill.

But give the man his due, his younger self could really play.

Chuck Mangione.

A few other players who worked at the edges of jazz passed in 2025, including vibraphonist Roy Ayers, accordionist Guy Klusevic, much-missed pedal steel guitarist Susan Alcorn, Brazilian multi-instrumentalist Tremelo Pascoal, and the great Bronx-born Latin band leader Eddie Palmieri.

As a pianist, Palmieri showed off some fresh moves within the Afro-Cuban tradition.

soloing on his Dime from 2005.

Every time he slams out a chord, it's like he's switching channels to another rhythmic profile.

It's a Montuno gone postmodern.

Besides Eddie Palmieri, another formidable arranger for big bands died this year, pianist Jim McNeely, who played with New York's Vanguard Jazz Orchestra for years.

He also wrote for several European radio bands who loved how good his sleekly handsome charts made them sound.

Let's go out with a slice of Jim McNeely's Sweet Rituals, which riffed on themes and rhythms from Stravinsky's Rite of Spring.

McNeely looking forward and back, as the jazz greats do.

The stuff masters like these dreamed up is now part of the collective wisdom shared by all of us they leave behind.