April Stevens RIP & Chuck Badie & Otis Redding III

April Stevens, (real name Caroline LoTempio), who has died aged 93, was best known for a series of duets with her younger brother Nino Tempo, but also had solo success in the fifties with records such as 'I'm In Love Again', 'Give Me A Little Kiss, Will Ya, Huh?', 'And So To Sleep Again' and, in 1959, the sexually suggestive 'Teach Me Tiger'. It was her collaborations with Nino Tempo that she will be best remembered for, as they transformed standards into exciting pop songs with innovative harmonies and up tempo backing. Nino was a talented jazz saxophone player who impressed Atlantic boss Ahmet Ertegun when he was backing Bobby Darin in a recording session. This led to Nino and his sister recording a series of successful records for Atco, including 'Sweet and Lovely', 'Deep Purple'. 'Whispering', 'Stardust' and 'The Coldest Night Of The Year'. Later records, for White Whale, included 'All Strung Out', 'The Habit Of Loving You Baby' and 'My Old Flame', plus a revival of 'Sea Of Love' combined with 'Sitting On The Deck of The Bay'for Bell. Later the duo had a Northern Soul hit with 'Wanting You'.

Another death to report is that New Orleans bassist Chuck Badie. His career stretches back to 1950 when he played with Roy Brown and spent time in the Paul Gayten and Dave Bartholomew bands. After periods with the Lionel Hampton band and the New Orleans based American Jazz Quintet he joined up wiuth Harold Battiste when he formed the All For One (AFO) label. He played on many Minit records by the likes of Ernie K-Doe, Irma Thomas, Benny Spellman and Jessie Hill and on Chris Kenner's recordings for Instant. He also played and recorded with Sam Cooke's band for ten months and created the intro for 'A Change Is Gonna Come'. The photo below shows Chuck during one of the panel sessions at the Ponderosa Stomp in 2015.

Sad news too that Otis Redding III, son of one of the greatest soul singers of all time, has died of cancer aged just 59. He appeared at Porretta in 1996 and in 2008 (pictured) and I commented at the time: 'A first for me was Otis Redding III. Although clearly not in the same class as his dad, he’s a pretty competent guitarist and singer who ran through a selection of his hits including a moving version of 'Dreams To Remember' (written by his mother Zelma).' RIP Otis.