Savannah, Ga. — Musician Ben Tucker performed with stars from Quincy Jones to Peggy Lee before he settled in the 1970s in Savannah, where the jazz bassist became one of the Georgia city's best-known working musicians.
He was killed in a car crash Tuesday at age 82.
Tucker was driving a golf cart across a road on Hutchinson Island when a car slammed into him at high speed, said Savannah-Chatham County police spokesman Julian Miller. Tucker was pronounced dead at a local hospital. The driver of the car that struck him was charged with vehicular homicide and other criminal counts.
The news stunned musicians and jazz enthusiasts in Savannah, where Tucker had been a musical fixture for roughly four decades. Tucker made his living playing upright bass – an instrument he'd named Bertha and claimed was 240 years old – in all sorts of settings from jazz festivals to wedding receptions, from nightclub gigs to bar mitzvahs.
He was killed in a car crash Tuesday at age 82.
Tucker was driving a golf cart across a road on Hutchinson Island when a car slammed into him at high speed, said Savannah-Chatham County police spokesman Julian Miller. Tucker was pronounced dead at a local hospital. The driver of the car that struck him was charged with vehicular homicide and other criminal counts.
The news stunned musicians and jazz enthusiasts in Savannah, where Tucker had been a musical fixture for roughly four decades. Tucker made his living playing upright bass – an instrument he'd named Bertha and claimed was 240 years old – in all sorts of settings from jazz festivals to wedding receptions, from nightclub gigs to bar mitzvahs.
- 6/5/2013
- by AP
- Huffington Post
Beth Grant, Los AngelesThis is my last visit with you, and I wish I could give you every last piece of my experience, my joy, my successes, my ups and downs, so that you will have an easier time of it. I want you to know that if I can do it, you can do it. But these last few thoughts will have to do."Slow and steady wins the race" is my motto. I thought I was a sprinter; turns out I'm a long-distance runner. I just keep showing up, doing what's in front of me, what is indicated. It really is all good. We can have a life, we can breathe; we are artists, not machines. Last year, when my mother was dying, I was overcome with guilt about all the things I hadn't done for her, all the times I "set my boundaries" in a mean way,...
- 12/2/2009
- backstage.com
As the year comes to a close on these Take Fivers' adventures, Back Stage seeks five working actors to take their places and write monthly about their 2010 experiences. If you are interested, contact Back Stage Executive Editor Dany Margolies at dmargolies@backstage.com, with "Take Five" in the subject line. Let us know a bit about you and your interest in writing, and include a headshot and résumé. We are seeking working actors from anywhere in the country.Beth Grant, Los AngelesOn the plane, headed back to L.A. from the Austin Film Festival, where the movie I helped produce, the sweet-hearted "Herpes Boy," the kid with a birthmark and an unfortunate nickname, had its world premiere. Our modestly budgeted, truly independent little movie was a great big fat hit. We sold out both screenings, sadly having to turn people away. We got great reviews and did many press interviews,...
- 11/11/2009
- backstage.com
Beth Grant, Los AngelesLine-Item BudgetingI am in the throes of readying for a "personal appearance" trip for the Human Rights Campaign in Cleveland. Then on to the Wilmington, N.C., Azalea Festival; East Carolina University; and the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. As soon as I return, I leave for San Diego to begin rehearsals for Mark V. Olsen's new play, Cornelia, at the Old Globe. While preparing for my trip, I am writing this column and my speech for Hrc, rewriting my script, continuing to have business appointments, and consulting with the filmmakers of Herpes Boy, the independent comedy I helped produce last summer. We now have a website, Herpes Boy; a terrific trailer; and a film. We are submitting to festivals and looking for the perfect salesperson.I am also helping my daughter pack for her camping trip and attempting to eat well and exercise,...
- 4/6/2009
- backstage.com
Beth Grant, Los AngelesRewrites and PrivilegesI've been writing almost daily on my multimedia extravaganza, The New York Way. I am shocked to say that my writing partner, Judy Nagy, and I have actually been working on it for almost 12 years. It all started when I was working on a movie called Dance With Me, starring Vanessa L. Williams, Chayanne, Kris Kristofferson, Jane Krakowski, and Joan Plowright. It's a wonderful romantic movie about competition ballroom dancing, a bit ahead of its time.One night Jane and I were having dinner with Lora Kennedy, our casting director, who is now senior vice president of features casting at Warner Bros. We were laughing and telling stories, and I told them the story of my first New York audition, which was pretty bizarre and very funny. Lora suggested I write the story as a short film script, saying she might direct it. Jane thought she might play the heroine.
- 3/5/2009
- backstage.com
New Attitudes, Old ProjectsBeth Grant, Los Angeles Passion Play My 16-year-old daughter, Mary, a self-described musical theatre geek, is in the kitchen, dancing and singing wildly to Godspell. Mary is just under 6 feet tall and in 10th grade. Alas and alack, she wants to be an actor like her mom and dad. I have mixed emotions. We went to the closing night of Wicked at the Pantages. It was Mary's 10th time seeing the show as a paying audience member, but last year she got a job ushering so she could study the performances. It is her dream to play Elphaba. She has my strong angular features, a natural four-octave range, and huge passion. That's what I need, that’s what I'm looking to rekindle this year: passion. How do we keep the passion going? I'm lucky in that I almost always have passion in the moment of the work.
- 2/5/2009
- backstage.com
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