Over the weekend, MMR received the following from NAMM’s Dan Del Fiorentino regarding the passing of musician and author Guhther Schuller, who passed away on June 21:
Gunther Schuller passed away this morning while Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” was playing by his bedside.
He often said he always had a passion for music. When as a small boy he was photographed playing a conductor, a position he would later hold for many symphonies around the world. However, his passion for music was not limited to the classics but also with jazz. So, when he combined the two types of music together for what he called The Third Stream, his followers were not at all surprised. In addition to his composing, Gunther wrote several books that have not only documented his theories but of those of jazz and classical pioneers.
Here is a clip from his 2011 NAMM Oral History interview:
Looking Back on 2025: A Year of Controlled Chaos (Emphasis on “Controlled”)