(Photo is Roy Nathanson and Curtis Fowlkes in 1990 by Rick McGinnis)
RIP: Jimmy Buffett & Curtis Fowlkes
Both of these musicians died the day before yesterday—two extremes. I knew Curtis and never met Jimmy, but hard not to know Margaritaville. One a billionaire who built an empire around the concept of being chill; the other a working jazz musician who had the utmost integrity, worked tirelessly at his craft, and whose ambition was to be a kind human more than anything else. They both personified joy, were always smiling on and off stage, and tremendously talented. However, they certainly took different paths as musicians.
Curtis Fowkles passed away at 73 years old requiring a GoFundMe fundraiser which raised $55,000 very quickly to support his children Saadiah and Elisheba and the care needed for home palliative/hospice care. He left the planet with tremendous amount of love from the community around him—truly a life whose “memory is a blessing.“
Jimmy Buffet, died at 76 with millions of fans worldwide who are called “parrot heads”, had numerous hit songs, coffee mugs, and developed a song into a mission statement for a global business with hotels, adult communities, bars, and a lifestyle brand. What a contrast. One guy, the first call if you need a great trombonist for your gig; the other, who President Biden just called “the passing of the great poet of paradise”.
Curtis Fowkles founded the Jazz Passengers with Roy Nathanson and both came out of The Lounge Lizards. They had met at the Big Apple Circus. I worked with Curtis and Roy a lot at the Knitting Factory hosting at least 100 concerts, doing their records, tours, and hanging out. Curtis played with everyone from Lou Reed, John Zorn, Elvis Costello. Mark Ribot, Bill Frisell, Charlie Haden, Glen Hansard and so many more. I always saw a smile, a laugh and perhaps the most affable personality of any artist I ever worked with. He just played his trombone, sang a few songs and was truly the embodiment of “chill.” He just didn’t commercialize it.
Jimmy Buffett was chill too apparently and from what I am reading from celebrities and a really nice guy as well. His laid-back lifestyle created a net worth of over $1 billion according to Forbes, with only 5% coming from his music catalog, the rest of his fortune from his businesses. Looking at his company’s website, there is no headquarters listed, “It’s in the tropics somewhere between the Port of Indecision and Southwest of Disorder, but no parallels of latitude or longitude mark the spot exactly. Where is Margaritaville? It’s in your mind”.
Where is Curtis from--Brooklyn, NY! He lived in the house his grandfather bought in the 1920’s. Rest in Peace both of you.
The photo is from when I spent the most time with Curtis, as part of the Jazz Passengers, 1990, by Rick Mcginnis.