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Buddy Charles Remembered
Buddy Charles Remembered
Date Posted: December 19 2008
Written By: steve hashimoto
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I’m very sad to have to inform you that the great pianist Buddy Charles has moved on.
For those of you who somehow don’t know who he was (and there aren’t many of you; you’re probably young, because what Buddy did wasn’t considered au courant of late; an indictment of our culture if ever there was an indictment), he was a marvelous pianist and probably the greatest living repository of knowledge concerning American popular music of the Golden Age of Songwriting, and I don’t mean Bob Dylan or Buddy Holly, as much as I admire those artists.
Mr. Charles knew more about Harold Arlen and Cole Porter and Jerome Kern and Irving Berlin and Yip Harburg and Lorenz Hart and Duke Ellington and hundreds of other composers than anyone except for, perhaps, the late Bobby Short or the late Dave McKenna who, ironically, also died last week. I won’t pretend that I was pals with Buddy or that I even knew him very well, but I did have the good fortune to play a gig with him once, and it was a humbling experience indeed. I didn’t even recognize, let alone know, any of the tunes we played (well, that he played and that I tried to catch) until he took mercy on me well into our second set and called a couple of Ellingtons.
And yet he was extremely gracious about the whole thing, as he was about the gig in general, which, due to the criminal cluelessness of the venue and the venue’s audience, was about as nightmarish as a gig can get. The man was a scholar and a gentleman, and there won’t be many like him anymore. Following is information concerning services for him, courtesy of Anne Burnell and the Cabaret Society people; thanks for passing it along. I believe that Buddy’s true name was Charles Gries, in case his obituaries are not listed as Buddy Charles.
Here are details sent on behalf of Buddy's family regarding services:
Visitation:
Sunday, December 21, 3-9 pm
Skaja Funeral Home
7812 N. Milwaukee Avenue
Niles
847-966-7302
Funeral:
There will be a prayer service at the Funeral Home on Monday from 9-10 with a procession to the church
St. Isaac Jogue
8149 West Golf Road
Niles
847-967-1060
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