Legendary Jamaican jazz pianist, Whylie Lopez, died on Sunday (November 9) in the Cayman Islands where he had been living for several years. He was 96. Lopez' death continues the current trend that sees on a monthly basis, the passing of a veteran musician.

He was among the more prominent bandleaders during the big band era when orchestral music held sway in Jamaica in the 1940s and '50s. His contemporaries include Baba Motta, Roy Coburn, Eric Deans, George Moxey, Milton McPherson, Frankie Bonnitto, and Ivy Graydon, the lone female dance-band musician at the time.

The musical outfits led by these stalwarts were staple attractions at a time playing American "swing music" was in. The nightclubs of choice were Bournemouth in east Kingston, the Colony, Glass Bucket, and Silver Slipper in Cross Roads. In addition to the music, there were added attractions including famous rumba dancers such as Madame Sugar Hips, Madame Temptation and Madame Wasp. Whylie Lopez, as well as his contemporaries, also provided music for the popular dance craze of that period. These were jitterbug and buggy-riding.

Noted bandleader Sonny Bradshaw, who is the last exponent of that era, has over the years preserved the retention of Whylie Lopez' tradition of live music. "His (Whylie Lopez) was a top-class band. He could play the piano very well. He really had a nice little swing," recalled Bradshaw.

Asked what time did Lopez actually stop playing, Bradshaw explained that he didn't give up playing, but that he was overtaken by evolution of a distinctly Jamaican music form. And even when he was no longer in demand, he would play at special social events.

"I don't believe he actually stop playing as such. It was just that the music changed," Bradshaw added, "And when music changed, he was not in demand but occasionally you have events on which he would appeared, such as the women's clubs and other nice uptown functions. And my band got into it afterwards."

Not a contemporary of his, but a long-standing jazz musician who came a generation later, trumpeter Micky Hanson, attested to the fact that Whylie Lopez laid a foundation for live music in Jamaica. "He was part of that first wave of musicians who laid a foundation in live music. He certainly was a formidable musician who formed the basis for people like myself," Hanson told Splash.

Whylie Lopez leaves behind wife Edna, and Whylie 'Chunky' Lopez Jr, of Caymanas Golf Club.

Lopez' passing follows closely on that of the legendary Alton Ellis, who was buried last week, and Byron Lee, who will be laid to rest next week Saturday.

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