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Remembering Len
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Last week, on Wednesday, July 8, the Mirror’s jazz critic Len Dobbin was hanging at his favourite haunt, the jazz club Upstairs on Bishop, when he suffered a stroke. Len was later pronounced dead at Royal Victoria Hospital, where he passed away surrounded by close friends and his three daughters. He was 74 years old. Over the course of half a century, Len had established an important spot for himself on the musical landscape of Montreal and beyond. He was this city’s champion of jazz—writing about and reviewing the music for the Mirror as well as the Gazette and Coda magazine, hosting Dobbin’s Den on CKUT 90.3FM (where he’s had a jazz show of one name or another since 1974), contributing essays to books and Web sites, and of course sharing his expansive body of photography, candid and simple yet highly effective shots of some of the biggest names in jazz (many from before they were big names). The thoroughness of his encyclopaedic knowledge of the whos, whens, whats and wheres of jazz were matched by his infectious enthusiasm for quality composition and playing in the jazz style. He kept an amazingly packed schedule of catching concerts in Montreal and out of town. Simply put, Len loved jazz—and the jazz community loved him back. Here at the Mirror, where Len’s tenure preceded most anyone currently on staff, we’ll remember him fondly not only for his love of music but also his good cheer and concern for us kids, for the new joke he always had to share and for his tender and empathic affection for cats (a topic he and I probably devoted far too much time to discussing in depth). While Len’s wishes were that no funeral be held, there will be a memorial brunch event on Sunday, Aug. 9, 11 a.m.–5 p.m. at l’Astral (305 Ste-Catherine W., in the Maison du Festival Rio Tinto Alcan). As well, plans are afoot for a week-long festival of great jazz in Len’s honour, at Upstairs sometime around Feb. 23 (Len’s birthday) next year. |
