Denver Resident, Guitarist, and Good Friend Tony Ross Passes
UPDATE: Donnie Crisp posted the info on services for Tony:
Tuesday, April 28th at 10:00 a.m., Cure D’ars Catholic Church, 3201 Dahlia St., Denver 80207 – 303-322-1119.
Gregory Abbott on Fb, 4/21/15: My good friend Tony Ross passed away Sunday night. He was a great friend and a good man. I love and miss him, and all his friends will always miss and love him. I and his family are heart broken and need prayers to help us get through this.
Kristin Conroy Harding shared this from Tony’s family on Facebook, 4/20/15:
Friends and family: On 04-19-2015 we lost a great man – a father, brother, uncle, grandpa, hard worker and the most loving man I have ever known. My father was a great man who was taken too soon. We ask that you help us raise the money to put him to rest and celebrate his amazing life where he touched many hearts and souls. Any thing helps . Thank you
Go Fund Me set up for Tony Ross Memoriam:
http://www.gofundme.com/rz6stw?fb_action_ids=883779745015945
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Troy “Tree” Kramer Passes
Gregory Abbott on Fb, 4/21/15:
Prayers needed for my friend Troy J. (“Tree”) Kramer whom we also lost last week. Two great guys we’ve lost. Such a tough time. Please no more. I can’t believe this happened. I love and miss them. I can’t stop crying for my friends.
Lisa Ecklund: Oh my gosh…..I just learned of Tree’s passing! My heart is breaking! He was a HUGE man with a HUGE heart! With an equally HUGE smile for everyone who crossed his path!! Strength, love, and deepest sympathies to his family and friends!!! RIP Tree!!!!
In Memory of Troy “Treez” Kramer
September 25, 1975 – April 13, 2015
Survived by his parents Larry and Eydie Kramer, many aunts, uncles, cousins and by his faithful canine companion, Misty. He was preceded in death by his grandparents. He was an avid sports fan and was passionate about the Broncos, Avalanche, Mammoth and the Rockies. He collected sports cards, enjoyed cooking (with the direction of Rachel Ray) and played Playstation. He will be lovingly remembered.
Memorial service Sat, 4/25, 10:00am at Olinger Highland Chapel, 10201 Grant St.,Thornton CO 80229. Donations may be made to the ASPCA.
[Treez was a HUGE fan of the music scene. Went to every show he could. He will truly be missed.]
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Mike Poe, Formerly of Apochrypha, Passes
From Adrian English on Fb, 4/20/15:
I just found out that a long time friend and close collaborative musician has passed away last night. Mike Poe, formerly of Shrapnel recording artists Apochrypha, passed away.
There are a few speculations to his passing and I’m not at liberty to say, but I have had the amazing chance over years past to write endless riffs and endless moments of musical enjoyment behind closed doors creating some really sick and heavy stylish groove. I’m saddened at this loss because Mike was a really true and amazing man of conviction, effortless drum technique, and recognized in the late 80’s as the first Metal Quadruplet double bass kick player out there on the global circuit and all at the young age of 17 with Apochrypha. I might add he was a lefty and I remember when, during one of our jams, I bought him a huge bundle of Danny Carry (Tool) custom drum sticks for his birthday, the kind with no actual tip. Mike was so psyched! I think we jammed endlessly for 3½ hours without stopping, and there was nothing but wood chip shavings 2 inches high around his ankles. He hit so bloody hard and loved it. Mike Poe – You will be missed!!!
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Bahamas R&B Singer Johnny Kemp of ‘Just Got Paid’ Fame Dies
KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) — Bahamian R&B singer Johnny Kemp, who is best known for the hit song “Just Got Paid,” has died in Jamaica. He was 55.
Jamaica police said Friday that Kemp was found floating at a beach in Montego Bay on Thursday morning. It had not yet been determined how he died.
Police said Kemp arrived in Jamaica on a cruise ship but added that they did not have further details.
Reach Media Inc. said Kemp had been scheduled to be on a Caribbean cruise this week, but the U.S.-based parent company of the “Tom Joyner Morning Show” said it did not have further details.
Kemp was nominated in 1989 for a Grammy Award for “Just Got Paid” in a category that included Bobby Brown and Luther Vandross. The song was a No. 1 hit on the U.S. Billboard R&B chart.
Kemp appeared on a 2007 Keith Sweat DVD called “Sweat Hotel Live” and had been performing at musical events across the U.S. in recent years.
Associated Press | 04/18/15
https://www.yahoo.com/music/bahamas-r-b-singer-johnny-kemp-of-just-got-paid-116705131556.html
[Article contains the video… ]# # #
Johnny Kemp (August 2, 1959 – April 2015) was a Bahamian singer
He began singing in nightclubs in the Bahamas at 13. He moved to New York in 1979 with the band Kinky Fox. His self-titled debut album came out in 1986 and he scored a minor hit with “Just Another Lover”. True success came the following year, however, with the release of his Secrets of Flying album, which contained a pair of Top 5 hits on the US Billboard R&B chart: “Dancin’ with Myself” and “Just Got Paid”, the latter hitting #1. “Just Got Paid” also cracked the Top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1988, and went to top the Hot Dance Music/Club Play. It provided his only UK Singles Chart entry, peaking at #68 for one week in August 1988. His only other Hot 100 entry was “Birthday Suit”, a tune from the soundtrack to the movie, Sing which climbed to #36 in 1989.
Kemp appeared on the 2007 DVD release by Keith Sweat entitled Sweat Hotel Live. This DVD featured live performances by Sweat in a sort of reunion with other R&B/new jack swing era pioneers of the late 1980s, including Teddy Riley. Kemp appeared on the final track, an “all-star finale” rendition of “Just Got Paid”, originally recorded at a February 2006 concert in Atlanta, Georgia. Incidentally, Sweat had initially passed on the instrumental track that would eventually become “Just Got Paid”, when it was first offered to him in the mid-1980s. Kemp listened to it, added his own lyrics to the melody, and “Just Got Paid” was born.
Kemp was the featured performer (singing “Just Got Paid”) at the NJS4E event in New York on September 8, 2007. As the name implied, the show celebrated and commemorated 20 years of new jack swing, and took place at Ashford & Simpson’s Sugar Bar.
Kemp was married and the father of two sons.
According to new reports, Johnny Kemp died the week of April 13, 2015; his body was found floating in the water of Montego Bay, Jamaica. The cause or exact date of death has not yet been determined. There was speculation that he had been aboard the Tom Joyner Foundation-hosted annual Fantastic Voyage cruise at the time, as he was scheduled to perform as part of this year’s lineup; however, other accounts say he never joined it and therefore died elsewhere.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Kemp
UPDATE: It looks like Johnny died from a fall but authorities still do not know from where or when. Reports said he never checked onto the cruise ship so the accident probably happened sometime before he was due to board.
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Other Notable Musicians’ Deaths…
April 2015
20: Richard Anthony, 77, Egyptian-born French singer.
19: Bernard Stollman, 85, American record label founder (ESP-Disk), colon and spine cancer.
17: Gary Ignacio, 49, Filipino rock musician (Alamid), bone cancer.
16: Johnny Kemp, 55, Bahamian singer (“Just Got Paid”), fall.
15: Billy Ray Hearn, 85, American record label chairman, heart disease; Margo Reed, 73, American jazz musician, complications from dementia.
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