HammondCast 201 KYOU Radio, today Jon Hammond puts the spotlight on LOU COLOMBO trumpet player band leader originally from Brockton MA, Jon played organ with Lou for 2.5 years on the house band at the exclusive Wychmere Harbor Club and Thompson's Clam Bar in Harwich Port Cape Cod MA - a recently discovered recording from the bandstand with Lou Colombo, Jon Hammond on B3 organ, Frank Shea drums and 2 additional horns on a big Saturday night: "Meditation" medley with "Shadow of Your Smile", "Honeysuckle Rose", "Stars Fell On Alabama" medley with "Georgia", "How Deep Is Your Love", "Satin Doll" ©
http://www.jonhammondband.com 45 minutes
The articles reporting the sad and tragic death of Lou Louis Colombo that just appeared:
http://www.marcoislandflorida.com/article/20120304/NEWS0110/120304003/Massachusetts-man-killed-in-south-Fort-Myers-crash?odyssey=tab%7Cmostpopular%7Ctext%7CFRONTPAGE
Massachusetts man killed in south Fort Myers crash
An 84-year-old man from South Yarmouth, Massachusetts was killed late Saturday night in a vehicle crash at the intersection of McGregor Boulevard and Kapok Court in south Fort Myers.
Louis Colombo was killed when he turned west onto McGregor Boulevard, pulling out in front of a Jeep Wrangler heading north.
The Wrangler, driven by Hunter Blackburn, struck the left side of Colombo's minivan and later hit a fire hydrant, cutting off water in the area for about three hours.
Blackburn, 52, was not injured.
http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120304/NEWS11/120309884/-1/rss04
By Karen Jeffrey
kjeffrey@capecodonline.com
March 04, 2012
Lou Colombo, the heart beat of jazz on Cape Cod for more than half a century was killed late Saturday night in a car crash in Fort Myers, Fla.
According to the Fort Myers Press News, Colombo, 84, was killed when he turned onto McGregor Boulevard in Fort Myers, and was struck by a vehicle heading north.
Lou Colombo Movie on YouTube by Jon Hammond:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkqBaFIAXn4
"Jon Hammond here...I just came back from visiting my main man Lou Colombo the great trumpet player bandleader and former Pro Baseball player in Fort Myers Florida. I played on Lou's band for 2.5 years in the late 70's in house band at the Wychmere Harbor Club in Cape Cod. Lou is going strong happy to report, playing regularly at the restaurant of his daughter Sherri and son inlaw Marc Neeley - Roadhouse Cafe during winter months and in the summer he plays at his son David's Roadhouse Cafe in Hyannis MA on Cape Cod. I schlepped my Hammond Sk1 organ all the way down there in hopes I could sit in with Lou for a couple of tunes but unfortunately that wasn't possible, however I shot some video of Lou and his fine group, so enjoy the music and personality of Lou Colombo, one of the all-time greats on his instrument!
The musicians on Lou's band here at Roadhouse Cafe are Nelson Foucht on trombone, F.L. "Woody" Brubaker piano and keyboard bass, Richard Iannuzzi drums and Gil DiBenedetto tenor saxophone and clarinet.
Plus a little bit of flashback audio from our gig in 1978 near the end some photos, old and new from just a few days ago. Enjoy folks! sincerely, Jon Hammond
*Member Local 802 and Local 6 Musicans Union, a HammondCast"
On Blip TV:
http://blip.tv/jon-hammond/lou-colombo-movie-by-jon-hammond-6000443
Friends say Colombo was returning to his winter home after a performance last night.
Born and raised in Brockton, Colombo began playing trumpet at age 12. He joined the military as a young man and had dreams of becoming a professional baseball player. He played for seven years, but a badly broken ankle forced his retirement from the Brooklyn Dodgers at the age of 24. Baseball's loss became music's gain.
Colombo played with some of the world's great jazz musicians including Louis Armstrong and Dizzy Gillespie. He taught generations of musicians through his love of jazz, played performances in clubs, restaurants, schools and nursing homes on the Cape.
In a July 1988 interview with Eric Jackson on WGBH, Gillespie said of him, "Lou Colombo is what I would call a trumpet painter, he resolves. He starts playing and the notes keep going, but the chord keeps changing all the time. He's a marvelous trumpet player.
"I went one night to hear him play. Boy, he asked me to play with him and I said ‘No- you got it Brother. I'm not going to jump into that hot water'. Lou's pretty weird the way he plays because he plays with just one hand. He plays the valves with his right hand but doesn't hold the horn with his left hand. This guy's amazing. I've been preaching his name ever since that night I first heard him down on Cape Cod ."
Locally Colombo was renown as a teacher and generous performer who frequently asked young musicians to play with him, said Paul Nossiter, veteran jazz musician and long time friend of Colombo who makes his home on the Cape.
"He was a giant..an open-hearted, generous man and musician who loved his family, his friends, music and food," Nossiter said. "This is a terrible loss for his family and friends, a real loss for Cape Cod."
Read more in tomorrow's Cape Cod Times
Tragic, greatest bandleader, Trumpet Player, Louis Colombo, Leo Ball, Fort Myers, South Yarmouth, Harwich Port, Tip O'neill, Jon Hammond, Musicians Union
Lou Colombo on trumpet at the Wychmere Harbor Club. Photo used with the permission of Jon Hammond, organ on the right.
