Tito Jackson RIP

The latest music death is that of Tito Jackson at the young age of 70. Tito was, of course, an original member of the Jackson 5 so his early career is well documented, and his death has been widely reported. His solo career began in 2004 and he appeared at Under The Bridge in London in 2015. Renowned music journalist Seamus McGarvey contributed a review of his show to The Vinyl Word (and provided the photo above). Here's what he wrote: 'Tito opened with a great piece of rocking blues featuring good vocals and some nifty guitar work in the shape of 'I Gotta Play' from his first solo album, and a nicely paced version of T-Bone Walker's 'T-Bone Shuffle', the band hitting just the right tempo and Tito playing some easy strolling guitar. With some jokes about his voice not being as high-flying as his late brother Michael's, along with Denise Pearson and Haydon Eshun (Ultimate Kaos) Tito launched into a selection of The Jacksons hits from 'I Want You Back' to 'ABC' and 'Dancing Machine' from their Motown days, on to numbers from the brothers' or Michael's days with Epic including 'This Place Hotel', 'Black Or White' and 'Blame It On The Boogie'. Both Denise and Haydon were in good voice and danced energetically, while Tito himself remained well to the fore and kept it all moving along. For the final section of the show, Tito returned to his solo role and featured songs from his forthcoming album, demonstrating versatility across a range of musical styles. The numbers included a fine funky piece called 'Jammer St.' with Tito playing some nice solo guitar, the medium stepping 'So Far So Good' and the punchy 'Get It Baby'. He changed the pace for a country number, 'On My Way Home To You' which, as he explained, was 'where I started back in the day', and a medium-tempo reggae-styled number called 'Home Is Where the Heart Is', once again featuring some tasteful guitar picking. Despite all of this being new material, Tito managed to get the crowd onside and singing along, ending with another medium-stepper, 'We Made It', before the full line-up was reassembled for the closing 'Shake Your Body'. Despite loud calls for 'more!' and much chanting of 'Ti-To! Ti-To!', that was it; the end of a well-balanced 75-minute set, and an entertaining evening.' RIP Tito.

Another death. at the age of 93, is that of Caterina Valente, an Italian/French/German multilingual singer who enjoyed success across Europe and the US in the late fifties and early sixties. She appeared with many of the established artists of the era including Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald and Dean Martin.