Danny Fitzgerald
BornJune 10, 1933
Kingston, NY
DiedFebruary 6, 2017 (age 83)
GenresBlues, Jazz
Occupation(s)Singer
Instrument(s)Washtub Bass
Websitehttp://www.lostwandering.com/

Danny Fitzgerald was a street musician, living and performing mostly between New York City and Paris. He led The Lost Wandering Blues and Jazz Band, most famous for its associations with young Madeleine Peyroux, who joined the band as a runaway teenager,[1][2] and Joan Osborne.[3]

Early life

Danny Fitzgerald was born in Kingston, NY in 1933. He was a member of the US Army and stationed in Germany in the 1950s, which began his alternation between traveling around Europe and traveling around the United States. He was associated with the beatnik scene in Greenwich Village. His writing was included in Abbie Hoffman's Steal This Book. Around the same time Bob Dylan regularly slept on his floor.[4]

Later life

Fitzgerald always maintained a migratory lifestyle. When in New York, he could often be found at Starbucks on Astor Place in New York City.[5] In Europe, he was often on or around his houseboat on the Seine in Paris, France.

Earlier in his life, he was friends with a street poet named Big Brown, who Bob Dylan called "the best he ever heard." His memories were recalled for a 2015 WNYC investigation by Jill Lepore into what happened to Big Brown.[6]

He made a lot of music, but recorded little. He had "little patience for the machinations of the music business." His preference was to have "fun and music. Not just music, fun and music."[7] His third and last album was released in December, 2013, with tracks alternating between recorded songs and excerpts of his stories, extracted from interviews he did with long-time collaborator, Joe Flood.[8]

He died on February 6, 2017, in Kingston, NY. He was 83.[9]

Film appearances

He and his band appeared in Henry Jaglom's 1983 film Can She Bake a Cherry Pie? with Karen Black and a young Larry David. He was the subject of two documentaries, Jazbo Gross' Busker, (2010)[10] which was nominated for a Danish DOX award,[11] and Working for the Good Life, for French Television. In the latter, he said the only people who could really live the lives they wanted were millionaires and buskers.[12]

Discography

With Lost Wandering

  • Having ourselves a Time
  • Spreading Rhythm Around
  • The Best Of
  • In Holland
  • Danny Fitzgerald and the Lost Wandering Blues and Jazz Band, 2013[13]

References

  1. ↑ Porterfield, Christopher (2005-05-29). "Music: Via Paris, with Snaps". Time. ISSN 0040-781X. Retrieved 2018-01-10.
  2. ↑ Knopper, Steve. "Madeleine Peyroux, from cobblestones to concert halls". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 2018-01-10.
  3. ↑ "Danny Fitzgerald and Lost Wandering Blues and Jazz Band coming to the Buttonwood Tree April 4". The Middletown Press. Retrieved 2018-01-10.
  4. ↑ "A traveling man and his roving band - The Boston Globe". BostonGlobe.com. Retrieved 2018-01-10.
  5. ↑ Dutton, Monte (1 December 2006). True to the roots: Americana music revealed. U of Nebraska Press. p. 58. ISBN 978-0-8032-6661-2. Retrieved 13 May 2010.
  6. ↑ The Search for Big Brown, Pt. 3, retrieved 2018-01-10
  7. ↑ "A traveling man and his roving band - The Boston Globe". BostonGlobe.com. Retrieved 2018-01-10.
  8. ↑ "Danny Fitzgerald and the Lost Wandering Blues and Jazz Band, by Danny Fitzgerald and the Lost Wandering Blues and Jazz Band". Joe Flood. Retrieved 2018-01-10.
  9. ↑ "Daniel Fitzgerald Obituary - Kingston, New York - Tributes.com". www.tributes.com. Retrieved 2018-01-10.
  10. ↑ Gross, Jazbo (November 2010), Busker, retrieved 2018-01-10
  11. ↑ "CPH:DOX 2010 INT catalog". Issuu. Retrieved 2018-01-10.
  12. ↑ "Danny Fitzgerald and the Lost Wandering Blues and Jazz Band". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2018-01-10.
  13. ↑ "CDs". www.lostwandering.com. Retrieved 2018-01-10.
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