Jimmy
Giuffre died last month, at the age of 86 — I just heard about it.  Giuffre was a
jazz clarinetist with a cool, mellow style, influenced by Lester Young.  He was a fixture of the laid-back West Coast jazz scene in the 50s
and 60s and I was lucky enough to hear him play once in the 60s at my
boarding school in New England where he and his small group (a trio, I
think it was) were hired for one of our rare entertainment
treats.  I can't imagine how that happened — I never identified
anybody on our faculty who had a passion for jazz — but I'm sure glad
I got to hear the cat blow in person.