Lew Soloff, a trumpet player who was an early member of Blood, Sweat and Tears and whose jazz career included performances with his own ensembles and with 
Gil Evans
composer / conductor1912 - 1988
Lew Soloff dies at 71; trumpet player for Blood, Sweat and Tears
1912 - 1988
Ornette Coleman
saxophone, alto1930 - 2015
Chuck Mangione
flugelhorn1940 - 2025
Maynard Ferguson
trumpet1928 - 2006
Soloff suffered an apparent heart attack as he walked down a New York City street Saturday night with his daughter Laura Solomon, her husband, and their children. He died early Sunday, Solomon said.
Soloff joined Blood, Sweat and Tears in 1968, about a year after the mega-group formed. He performed on their hit “Spinning Wheel" shortly after signing on with them. He played trumpet and flugelhorn on numerous Blood, Sweat and Tears recordings and was featured on the group's eponymous album that in 1970 won a best-album Grammy.
Soloff traveled the world with Blood, Sweat and Tears until he parted with the jazz/rock band in 1973, grateful for the exposure he had gained but yearning for the kind of free-form musical invention that he felt more accurately defined him.
“It gave me the life experience of once having been a sort of rock star—not individually but certainly as a member of the band," he told the Jerusalem Post in 2002. “At one point, it was the second biggest band in the world. I'm thankful for that, but there was never enough improvisational freedom in the band for me to consider that as one of my jazz gigs."
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Obituary
Lew Soloff
Michael Ricci
United States
Gil Evans
Ornette Coleman
Chuck Mangione
Maynard Ferguson
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