In Memoriam|

DICK ORLEANS – JUNE 27, 1950 – MAY 12, 2014

Estes Park resident and local musician, Dick Orleans, died Monday May 12, 2014 in Estes Park. A Celebration of Dick’s life [took] place on May 17th at The Assembly Hall of the YMCA of The Rockies.

Singer/songwriter, Dick Orleans was a professional musician for most of his life. In the late 1970s, Orleans traveled the country with his guitar playing as a solitary act and on tour with such folk legends as Glenn Yarbrough.

Though Orleans came from a long line of settlers that arrived in Colorado in the 1850’s, he grew up on the East Coast and only discovered Estes Park in 1980 while on a tour with Yarbrough. After one summer’s stay, he fell in love with Rocky Mountain National Park and decided to make Estes his home.

For more than 31 years, Orleans had been singing and playing guitar at the many music venues in Estes Park and the Rocky Mountain region. He also produced music CDs for independent artists and released several CDs of his own, some of which are recordings of Rocky Mountain National Park’s birds and elk mating rituals.

Orleans, who also had a passion for nature photography was especially adept at capturing the delicate beauty of wildflowers, butterflies, wildlife, and hummingbirds in flight. Through photography and music, Orleans shared with everyone his love of the majestic mountain peaks, forests, fields, tundra and wildlife of Rocky Mountain National Park.

http://www.dickorleans.com

For more on Dick, read “An Interview with Dick Orleans” at http://www.zoominfo.com/p/Dick-Orleans/69033090

http://www.allnutt.com/obituaries/Dick-Orleans/

[Thank you to COMBO member Laurie Dameron for passing this news along.]

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JOSE “JOE” VIGIL – JANUARY 9, 1929 – MAY 15, 2014

Jose “Joe” Vigil, 85, of Lakewood passed away on May 15, 2014. He was born January 9, 1929, in Truchas, NM. He is survived by his loving wife, Beverly, one sister, Gloria Lopez, four children (Tony Vigil, Connie Lillibridge, Rita Torres, and Marco Vigil), six grandchildren (Myles, Cari, Adam, Denise, Lindsey and Jessica) and six great grandchildren. Joe proudly served in the Army as a paratrooper in Japan and worked at Gates Rubber Company for many years. Music was his life, playing percussion and bass as a professional musician. He has been a member of the Denver Musicians Association since 1955. Joe loved the mountains, fishing and camping. He filled our lives with music, poetry, philosophy and love. We will miss him dearly.

Services were held on May 20th at Fort Logan National Cemetery in Denver, Colorado with Military Honors provided by the United States Army.

[From the Denver Musicians Association’ newsletter: http://www.dmamusic.org ]

OTHER NOTABLE MUSICIANS’ DEATHS. . .

May 2014

28th: Maya Angelou, 86, American author (I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings), poet (“On the Pulse of Morning”) and civil rights activist.

27th: Malcolm MacDonald, 66, Scottish music critic.

26th: Father Shaheed, 45, American rapper, disc jockey and producer (Poor Righteous Teachers), traffic collision; Jayalakshmi, 82, Indian Carnatic singer (Radha Jayalakshmi); Percy Tuesday, 72, Canadian Ojibwe musician, leukemia.

25th: Tommy Blom, 67, Swedish radio host and singer (Tages); Herb Jeffries, 100, American jazz and traditional pop singer and actor, heart failure.

23rd: Anand Modak, 63, Indian musician and film composer, heart attack; Uña Ramos, 80, Argentine musician.

21st: Martin Lister, 51-52, British keyboardist (Alphaville); Suman Mahanta, 22, Indian singer, traffic collision.

20th: Randy Coven, 54, American musician (Steve Vai, Yngwie Malmsteen) (not much here but there is a photo) https://myspace.com/randycoven

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