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Old 01-12-2011, 10:56 PM
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Ken Smith Ken Smith is offline
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Join Date: 01-18-2007
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Default Services..

Services were held yesterday on 1/11/11 in Philadelphia. It was fairly well attended by family members, musicians and friends. Many people came up to speak about him and was quite emotional.

One of the earlier speakers was Stanley Clarke who was a childhood friend and became his brother in law when Charles married his sister Grace. They were married for quite sometime but the life of a musician was not the easiest back then for having a family of which Charles also had a Daughter from that first marriage. The last speaker after maybe 20 people was his wife Dolores. She mentioned that Charles wanted music all day at his service and there was. I even saw bassist Buster Williams playing on stage as well as many other musicians that had known him throughout the years.

After the services which ran from 11am to past 2PM, more music, food and gatherings were held at the near by Clef club, the same place they held two benefit concerts for Charles, one just weeks before his passing and the first about a year earlier.

"The Morning Call

Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers
Jazzman Charles Fambrough, Muhlenberg teacher, dies
January 10, 2011
Allentown resident Charles Fambrough, 60, a bassist who had a 40-year career playing with some of the greatest names in contemporary jazz, died on Jan. 1.

Fambrough, who was a sideman and recorded with the likes of Wynton Marsalis, McCoy Tyner, Grover Washington Jr. and many others, was close to many jazz artists and fans in the Lehigh Valley

He was an adjunct professor at Muhlenberg College and performed several times a year on campus.

He suffered from kidney failure and had been on dialysis. He died of a heart attack, according to an obituary in the Philadelphia Inquirer.

A memorial service for Fambrough, a Philadelphia native, will be at 11 a.m. Tuesday at Lutheran Church of the Holy Communion, 2110 Chestnut St., Philadelphia. Following the service, family and friends are invited to the Clef Club, 738 Broad St. At 7 p.m., Chris's Jazz Cafe, 1421 Samson St., will hold a jam session.

A memorial concert will be held at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday Jan. 25 at Muhlenberg in the Recital Hall at Baker Center. Performers will include Gary Rissmiller on drums and Tom Kozic on guitar.

In December, the Philadelphia jazz community paid tribute toFambrough at the Clef Club. Among those performing were guitarist Pat Martino and bassists Stanley Clarke and Gerald Veasley.

According to the Philadephia Inquirer obituary, Fambrough began working in pit bands for traveling Broadway shows like Bye Bye Birdie after he graduated from high school. He landed a job in 1968 with The Mike Douglas Show, the TV talk show syndicated to a national audience from a theater at 16th and Walnut Streets.

From there, he began working as a sideman. In 1970, he joined Philadelphia sax man Washington's band. In the mid-1970s, he joined Tyner's band and played on three of his albums. In 1980, he joined Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, whose lineup then included Marsalis and his older brother Branford.

When Wynton Marsalis left Blakey to form his own group, he took Fambrough with him. Fambrough played on Marsalis' 1982 album Fathers and Sons.

Fambrough debuted as a leader in 1991 with The Proper Angle, which included guest appearances by the Marsalis brothers. He released his seventh and final album, Live at Zanzibar Blue, in 2002.

He had a lifelong friendship with fellow Philadelphian and electric bassist Clarke.

He lived in Allentown and taught at Muhlenberg for about 10 years.

He is survived by his wife Dolores, his daughters Maria, Carla, Andrea, and Alycia; a son, Mark; and a granddaughter."


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