RIP: Johnny Otis and Etta James

Marc Myers at JazzWax does his usual excellent job of summing up the careers of the legends Johnny Otis and Etta James, who both passed away this week, and who were linked by virtue of Otis being one of James's producers. The audio/video clips are, as always with Myers, exquisitely chosen. The performance of "Misty Blue" from James's last, 2011 album triumphantly demonstrates that she kept her gift right until the end. We should all sound so good at 73!

http://www.jazzwax.com/2012/01/johnny-otis-1912-2012.html

The Telegraph (UK) posted an excellent obituary of James that doesn't shrink from the troubled aspects of her life. British newspaper obituaries in general are incomparably superior to American ones.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/culture-obituaries/music-obituaries/9028833/Etta-James.html

Here is a wonderful performance of George Gershwin's "Someone to Watch Over Me" from James's 1995 album Time After Time.