Volume 13 - Issue 2 - October 2007

Remembering DougNot all the good guys live to aripe old age and the musicalcommunity was shocked recentlyby the sudden death from heartfailure of Doug Riley.He was born in Toronto onApril 24th 1945, had polio as achild but found his creative outletin the piano. He came to beloved and respected as a composer,arranger, pianist and organist,but most of all as a warm, lovingand generous human being. Histalents covered every aspect ofthe music business: his earlydays as a teenager playing Rhythm and Blues; a prolific career in the"jingle" business; television production; leader of his 16 piece "Dr.Music" (a name which became synonymous with him); and performingwith countless artists in the classical, jazz and commercialgenres.But Doug's real love was jazz. The family collection of 78s washis childhood introduction to some of the early piano giants such asJames P. Johnson and Fats Waller and he learned from thoserecords before going on to earn a Bachelor of Music in compositionfrom the University of Toronto, at the same time playing R &Baround Toronto with a group called the Silhouettes. He was open toall kinds of music. I don't know who said it first - it has been attributedto a lot of people including Richard Strauss and Duke Ellington- but it certainly held true for Doug. "There are only twokinds of music - good music and the other kind."As with many of us, a great part of his life was spent travellingand it was on August 27th on his way back from an engagement inCalgary to Little Pond in P.E.I. where he and his wife Jan hadmade their home that Doug suffered a fatal heart attack while sittingon the plane. It's hard to imagine that he is no longer with us.For the last few years of Toronto's Montreal Bistro, Doug and Ihad an annual gig there and it was always one of my favourite andmost enjoyable engagements. He leaves a wonderful legacy and thescene will not be the same without him.Jan and his sons Ben and Jesse have been in the thoughts of allof us. It was the poet Laurence Binyon who wrote, "They shall notgrow old, as we that are left grow old."Goodbye Doug. I'll miss you, your music and that lovely twinklein your eyes.WholeNote's live jazz listings can be found on page 48.Fri. Oct. 5Sat. Oct. 6Fri. Oct. 12Sat. Oct. 13Fri. Oct. 19Sat. Oct. 20Fri. Oct. 26Sat. Oct. 27Taylor, Leather &Carruthers TrioJasmin Bailey DuoKory Livingstone DuoPat LaBarbera TrioThe Beat BoysChase Sanborn TrioHeather Bambrick TrioStevie Vallance TrioFridays & SaturdaysJazz Sets begin8:30 pm - 11 :30 pmLimited Seating availableNo reservationsCove r: $12.00 per personLight menu availableFree onsite pa rkingFeaturing some of Toronto's best jazz musicianswith a brief reflection by Jazz Vespers ClergySunday, October 7th - 4:30 p.m.THE ROBI BOTOS TRIOcelebrates Thelonius MonkSunday, October 21st • 4:30 p.m.THE BRIAN O'KANE QUINTETCome relax and unwind inthe intimate surroundings ofThe Home Smith Bar. Enjoy themellow and soulful soundsthat emanate from theWWW.THEWHOLENOTE. COM25Back to Ad Index