Those We Lost — September 2

Honoring those we lost on September 2 — remembered for what they gave, and for what they left behind.

Gerald Wilson

Born September 4, 1918 — died September 2, 2014

Jazz trumpeter, composer, arranger, bandleader, and educator.

Wilson wrote for Ellington, Basie, Dizzy Gillespie, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, and Ray Charles, led his own celebrated Los Angeles orchestra for more than fifty years, and earned Grammy nominations across six decades. He died two days before his ninety-sixth birthday, after teaching jazz history to thousands of university students.

Billy Davis

Full name: Roquel Billy Davis

Born July 11, 1932 — died September 2, 2004

Songwriter, producer, and advertising pioneer.

Under the pen name Tyran Carlo, Davis co-wrote Jackie Wilson’s "Reet Petite" and "Lonely Teardrops" with Berry Gordy before Motown existed, then became a legendary music director in advertising — creating "I’d Like to Buy the World a Coke" and the Mean Joe Greene "Have a Coke and a Smile" campaign. Few careers ever bridged Black music and Madison Avenue so completely.