Obituaries: Manitoba Fiddle Star Don Zueff, Grateful Dead Bassist Phil Lesh

Don (Donald Peter) Zueff, a renowned Manitoban fiddle player and songwriter best known for work in Prairie Dog and D. Rangers, died on Oct. 18, at age 73.

An extensive official obituary notes that the Manitoban born and raised Zueff showed a love of music at a very early age. "His brother Wally, 13 years his senior, recognized Don’s love and natural talent immediately. At age 5, Wally gave his younger brother a gift that shaped his entire life and the wonderful circle of friends and family he ever received… Wally convinced their staunchly stern immigrant father from the USSR to get Donnie a proper violin and support his growth as a musician.

"No one remembers exactly when the second violin was purchased, but Wally was influential with that purchase as well. Later, sometime in the early 60’s, when an full-sized violin was needed, Wally argued with his father that the $750 violin was necessary for Don to continue with his music. That is $7,830 today. Back in the '60s this was quite a feat."

Zueff took his music studies seriously, and he achieved his Royal Conservatory standing by age 16, qualifying him to audition for any orchestra. While at high school, he played in The Greater Winnipeg Schools Orchestra, sometimes performing alongside a young Burton Cummings, and eventually becoming concertmaster.

At 15, Zueff moved to B.C. for a short spell, working towards his grade ten violin in Vernon, and playing with the Okanagan Symphony. In his late teens, in Winnipeg, Zueff left home and flirted with a hippie lifestyle. The official obit recalls that "A new friend, Bob Purvis, taught Don how to play music without reading from the page. This was a defining moment for Don and he said once that if he ever made a big score in music, Bobby Star would get some of it because his musical freedom came from his hours with him - the ability to follow chords and create lead or harmony parts out of the chord structure."

In the late '60s, Zueff played in the Chicken Flat String Band and The Incandescent Saffron Jug Band with Bob Purvis and met his wife of 53 years, Sigrid, a fellow musician.

In 1970, Zueff toured with Rick (Noof) Neufeld as a duo, playing local schools for the Manitoba Centennial, and Zueff joined Neufeld's new band, Prairie Dog, in 1972. Roots music singer-songwriter Jay Aymar informs Billboard Canada that "a hit Rick Neufeld wrote was 'Moody Manitoba Morning.' It was later covered by The Bells, who turned it into an international hit. The success allowed Rick to form Prairie Dog and tour throughout the '70s with Don and others."

That band released two albums, the first with members of The Guess Who and then a live album in Brandon in 1975. Career highlights included performing for the athletes at the Montréal Olympics in 1976, and playing on a national summer series on CBC-TV called The Road Show.

Prairie Dog disbanded in 1978, but Zueff and Neufeld often performed together, playing their final gig in August 2024, at the Harvest Sun Music Fest in Kelwood, Manitoba.

To better support his young family, Zueff retired as a professional musician and became a power engineer for the Canadian National Railway, while living near Ste. Anne, Manitoba. In 1978, he learned that Kenny Rogers was looking to release one of Zueff's songs as a single, but chose another song instead, the soon to be mega-hit "The Gambler."

His obituary notes that Zueff "worked side jobs to supplement the family income over the years: small engine repair, piano tuning and giving music lessons. After his children were grown and out of the house, Don returned to the musical world when he was asked to join the D. Rangers in the 2002, launching a second music career, not only with the D. Rangers."

In the early 2000s, the Winnipeg-based D. Rangers became favourites on the Canadian folk and bluegrass circuit, playing both clubs and festivals. In one bio profile, Dollartone, theindependent record label that released two D. Rangers albums, wrote that "Their brand of musical joy is a somehow simultaneously dangerous-as-hell and brilliantly inventive blend of bluegrass, western swing, punk rock, and just about anything else that ever put a bulge in a tough little rock and roll Prairie kid’s pants.

"Described as 'mutant bluegrass,' 'un-country' and 'arm-swinging hillbilly-stomp,' their live shows are an engaging mix of originals, traditional classics, and off-the-wall covers. With a stage show featuring a 'muckbucket' bass (made from a plastic tub, some old lumber and two rope strings), a musical saw, and a rambunctiousness that would set Bob Wills spinning in his grave, they’ve built an increasingly loyal and devoted fan base playing folk festivals, bluegrass festivals, bars, halls and clubs throughout much of Canada."

An eponymous debut album released in Dec. 2001 elicited rave reviews in No Depression, The Winnipeg Sun and more, received airplay on the CBC and charted on the national campus charts.

An admirer of the band, roots star Fred Eaglesmith released the second D. Rangers album, We Stay High and Lonesome, on his AML imprint, also to critical acclaim. A third and final album, Paw Paw Patch, came out in 2006. The D.Rangers were also featured on a 2007 album, Beverley Street, alongside such other noted roots artists as David Essig, Romi Mayes and Scott Nolan.

Over the past decade, Zueff performed and toured extensively with Jay Aymar. On Facebook, Aymar posted this tribute: "Six days ago the Canadian roots music world lost a mighty presence (and many of us lost a great friend). Don Zueff passed away surrounded by family in his Beausejour, Manitoba home.

"When he wasn’t playing fiddle with the D. Rangers he often joined me on month long tours across Canada. Over the years we became musical brothers and eventually best of friends. A week didn’t go by where we didn’t pick up the phone to share a musical story or a bad joke. Always left us both laughing hysterically. A kinder soul one could never ever meet.

"Musically, Don was from the lineage of Gid Tanner, Vassar Clements, Django, Lenny Breau and other prodigious musicians who brought the dirt, scratch and jazz into their playing. He often played the unexpected notes that always served the song in brilliant ways. It was all about hearing him play live. Rest easy Fid. Widgetville will never be the same."

In 2018, Don Zueff released his only solo album, Widgetville, at Times Changed, in Winnipeg. Most songs were originals, with others co-written with a childhood friend.

Veteran Ontario roots singer-songwriter-guitarist Dan Walsh was one of many reminiscing about Zueff on Facebook: "I first met The D. Rangers back in the early 2000's when they joined us on a cross Canada train tour as we picked em' up in Winnipeg. My initial thought was these guys are energetic, excellent and pretty fkn nuts:)

"At one point, I became a brief part of the Winnipeg music scene.During this time, I befriended Don Zueff. I got to know him as an extraordinary Hillbilly Fiddle player. We also had in depth conversations on vintage instruments and in fact, I bought an old '50s Gibson Double 8 Lap Steel console that he sold me for a very generous price. I have never forgotten that generosity from this man. Winnipeg has lost a soldier. And that hole is gonna take some time to fill. RIP Donny. You are missed."

Manitoban sibling country duo Banned & Outlawed posted this Facebook tribute: "We’d like to take some time to pay tribute to Mr Don Zueff.. We had the pleasure of learning how to share our musical passion from you at a very young age. You taught us from the ages of 3 & 4 how to play fiddle music and the basics on guitar and drums. Without you it’s hard to say we’d be sharing our passion of music with people today. You’d tell us stories of the “good old days” growing up with Burton Cummings and Randy Bachman, playing across Canada, and when you got the chance to see 'Moody Manitoba Morning' get written. Playing with the Canadian greats like The D-Rangers. We had the pleasure to learn from you and be able to share some Crown Royal around Christmas time."

A Celebration of Life will be held at the Ukrainian Labor Temple, 591 Pritchard Ave, Winnipeg, on Saturday, November 23, starting at 1:30 pm. Contact Jaxon from the D-Rangers (204) 599-7612 if you would like to be added to the set list for the celebration of life.

In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to the Giving Tree or the Tune In free group music lessons provided by the West End Cultural Centre.

International

Phil Lesh, a founding member and longtime bassist for legendary rock outfit the Grateful Dead, died on Oct. 25, at age 84.

An announcement on social media stated that "Phil Lesh passed peacefully this morning. He was surrounded by his family and full of love. Phil brought immense joy to everyone around him and leaves behind a legacy of music and love." No cause of death was given.

ABillboard obituary reports that "as one of the co-founders and longest-tenured members of the Grateful Dead, Lesh was an essential part of a group that became synonymous with touring and live performance in rock music. With their singular instrumental interplay, their trademark iconography, their strong sense of community and their association with the hippie lifestyle, they became the forefathers of the jam band movement — with a fanbase of 'Deadheads' as singularly devoted as any other band of the 20th century, enduring well into the new millennium."

The Berkeley-born Lesh first played trumpet, and followed avant-garde classical and free jazz. He met bluegrass banjo player Jerry Garcia in 1962 and was persuaded to join Garcia’s new rock band, The Warlocks, as their bassist, forcing him to learn that instrument. The group was renamed Grateful Dead in 1965.

Billboard states that "once he became proficient in the bass, Lesh’s playing style became heavily influenced by his musical interests in jazz and classical, giving his sound a melodic and improvisational quality rarely heard from the four-string in rock before. He came to be considered one of the instrumental innovators of his era, and his playing became as critical to (and identifiable within) the Grateful Dead’s sound as the group’s lead guitar.

"Lesh was not a principal singer or songwriter in the band, but his tenor often contributed to the group’s three-part harmonies, and he did write and sing a handful of original Dead songs. The best-remembered of those was probably 'Box of Rain,' opening track to their classic 1970 album American Beauty — co-penned with lyricist Robert Hunter about Lesh’s then-dying father — which ended up being the last song played at the group’s final concert with Garcia in 1995.

"While the group sold steadily throughout the ’60s and ’70s — six of the group’s ’70s LPs reached the top 30 of the Billboard 200, with 1970’s Workingman’s Dead and American Beauty and 1972’s live triple album all being certified Platinum by the RIAA — they were a less-regular presence on the Billboard Hot 100.

Their lone pop hit came in 1987, with the top 10 smash “Touch of Grey.” After Garcia's death in 1995, the Grateful Dead disbanded. Lesh continued playing with offshoot The Other Ones (with original member Bob Weir, longtime percussionist Mickey Hart and keyboardist Bruce Hornsby), which gradually expanded its lineup to include more former Grateful Dead members and was rebranded as The Dead in 2003.

He founded Phil Lesh and Friends in 1999, and a decade later he created Furthur, another jam band co-founded with Weir. Lesh performed in some 50th anniversary stadium shows put on by the Grateful Dead's surviving members as the Fare Thee Well celebration, but did not write or record original songs in his later years, preferring to focus on his live show.

Grateful Dead will be honoured as the 2025 MusiCares Persons of the Year on Jan. 31.

Barbara Dane, a revered American folk and blues sing-songwriter, died on Oct. 20, at age 97, of heart disease.

An extensive obituary in The Guardianfeatures material from an interview Dane gave to writer Garth Cartwright just days before her death.

He writes that "As a singer, songwriter and activist over almost 80 years, finding kinship with everyone from Bob Dylan to Louis Armstrong, she demonstrated formidable quantities of courage and compassion, as documented in a new film, The 9 Lives of Barbara Dane."

"In U.S. folk and blues circles, Dane was venerated for breaking down racial and gender barriers and never compromising. 'She’s always been a role model and a hero of mine – musically and politically,' Bonnie Raitt, one of Dane’s many famous admirers, has said. A Dylan blurb graces the cover of her 2022 autobiography: 'Barbara is someone who is willing to follow her conscience. She is, if the term must be used, a hero.'”

A life-long Marxist, Dane started singing folk, then moved into blues, releasing a debut album, Trouble In Mind, in 1957. She became a pivotal figure in the Greenwich Village folk scene, befriending and encouraging Bob Dylan, while focusing strongly on her political activism. Dane performed in Cuba and North Vietnam and championed black artists wherever possible, recording with Lightnin’ Hopkins then the Chambers Brothers.

Her beliefs held back her career, so in 1969, Dane and her husband Irwin Silber founded Paredon Records, releasing her own work, including 1973 album I Hate the Capitalist System, and protest music by other artists she embraced.

There has been a renewed interest in her work, with Smithsonian Folkways releasing a double CD career retrospective, Barbara Dane: Hot Jazz, Cool Blues & Hard Hitting Songs, Jasmine Records reissuing her earliest albums, the re-release of her Northern soul anthem "I'm On My Way," and Maureen Gosling’s 2023 documentary, The 9 Lives of Barbara Dane. In 2022, Dane published an acclaimed autobiography, This Bell Still Rings: My Life of Defiance and Song.

As Cartwright noted, "it appears that Dane is finally receiving the respect she has long deserved.“

Paul Di’Anno (born Paul Andrews), the early frontman for English metal stars Iron Maiden, has died, aged 66.

His label Conquest Music confirmed that he died at home in Salisbury, England, adding: “Despite being troubled by severe health issues in recent years that restricted him to performing in a wheelchair, Paul continued to entertain his fans around the world, racking up well over 100 shows since 2023.”

Iron Maiden was formed by bassist Steve Harris in 1975, and Di'Anno joined after an audition in November 1978.

A Guardian obituary notes that "deploying an impressively forthright and raunchy holler, Di’Anno sang on the band’s 1980 self-titled debut which reached No 4 in the UK charts, as well as its follow-up in 1981, Killers."

Major substance abuse issues and personality clashes with Harris led to Di'Anno's firing from Iron Maiden after the world tour for Killers. He was replaced by Bruce Dickinson, who (aside from most of the 1990s) has been the band’s frontman ever since.

Iron Maiden have paid tribute to Di’Anno, writing: “Paul’s contribution to Iron Maiden was immense and helped set us on the path we have been travelling as a band for almost five decades. His pioneering presence as a frontman and vocalist, both on stage and on our first two albums, will be very fondly remembered not just by us, but by fans around the world.”

Di’Anno went solo, first with a self-titled project, then the equally short-lived supergroup Gogmagog, including former Iron Maiden drummer Clive Burr and future guitarist Janick Gers. His next band, Battlezone, fared better, releasing two studio albums in 1986 and 1987.

After a stint fronting metal outfit Praying Mantis, he formed another new band, Killers, who also released two albums. Further projects included the groups Nomad and RockFellas.

He was jailed in the US in the early 1990s after assaulting a girlfriend with a knife, and was also charged with drug and firearms offences. He was banned from touring in the US for a number of years, and in 2011 he was jailed for nine months for benefit fraud.

Despite major health problems, including sepsis in 2015, he continued to tour until recently.

DJ Clark Kent (born Rodolfo Franklin), a Brooklyn-bred DJ-turned-producer who worked with Jay-Z, 50 Cent, The Notorious B.I.G. & more, died on Oct. 24, at age 58, after a three-year battle with colon cancer.

Peers posting social media tributes included Questlove, Raekwon, Fabolous, Benny The Butcher, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Hit-Boy, Rob Markman and more.

Billboardreports that "The Supermen frontman got his start as a DJ in the ’80s before scoring his first major hit in 1995 producing Junior M.A.F.I.A. and The Notorious B.I.G.’s 'Player’s Anthem,' which peaked at No. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 and served as Lil’ Kim’s introduction to the world.

"Clark Kent connected with Jay-Z and went on to produce a handful of tracks from Hov’s acclaimed Reasonable Doubt debut album in 1996 such as 'Brooklyn’s Finest' featuring Biggie Smalls, 'Coming of Age,' 'Cashmere Thoughts' and more.

"The New York-bred DJ is also credited with discovering Bad Boy rapper-turned-politician Shyne in the late ’90s. He notched another commercial anthem when teaming up with Mariah Carey for Glitter‘s 'Loverboy' in 2001, which reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100."

DJ Clark Kent is also credited as a co-producer on Ye (Kanye West) and Lil Pump’s “I Love It,” which gave him another top 10 hit on the Hot 100 in 2018. Additional credits include Queen Latifah, Kanye West, Redman and more.

He was also known for his passion for sneakers and his extensive footwear collection, and collaborated with brands including Adidas and Nike.