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FYI
Obituaries: Strawbs Leader David Cousins, Canadian Jazz Drummer Norman Marshall Villeneuve
"Born May 29, 1938, in Montreal's St. Henri district — the heartbeat of Little Burgundy — Norm was baptized in rhythm before he ever sat behind a drum kit. The neighbourhood, pulsing with jazz legends like Oscar Peterson, Oliver Jones and Claude Ranger, was the perfect incubator for a young boy who started as a tap-dancing, singing dynamo by the age of eight. The drumsticks just made it official.
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"By 17, Norm was already making a name for himself in the clubs of Montreal. Rockhead’s Paradise, Café La Boheme, Biddles — places that no longer exist but live on in the memories of those who heard that signature ride cymbal skipping across a groove like stones on water. They called him 'Canada’s Art Blakey' — and not just for the chops, but for his fire, leadership and fierce devotion to the next generation of jazz voices.
"Norm’s musical passport was filled with the names of legends. He kept time for Duke Ellington, Junior Mance, Wayne Shorter, Curtis Fuller, Cootie Williams, Oliver Jones, Charlie Biddle, Nelson Symonds, Junior Mance and more. He was just as comfortable driving a small group as he was anchoring big band arrangements. Vocalists from Anita O’Day and Blossom Dearie to Sheila Jordan and Jackie Richardson found a rhythmic ally in Norm."
Villeneuve relocated to Toronto for 30 years, and became a popular fixture of that city's jazz scene, prior to returning to Montreal in 2013. Bee notes that "he became a mentor and father figure to younger players, schooling them not just in rhythms but in life. His 2002 release Jazz Message remains a high point — featuring Dave Restivo, Kieran Overs, Ken Fornetran, Jake Wilkinson and Shawn Nykwist — a tight, swinging session that still feels fresh today.
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"During this time I got to book NMV on numerous occasions. He was always in a great mood, like an Ascended Master of Light - and loved to play bebop and swing with wild, joyous abandon. I played his music on JAZZ.FM91 for the full 22 years I hosted Jazz In The City. From his earliest demo in 1992, to Jazz Message in 2002 to his last recordings, 2017's King Dog and Montreal Sessions."
Bee concludes his tribute this way: "To know him was to love him. That gravelly voice, the razor wit, the booming laugh that could lift a room, and that beat — oh, that beat. He could light a fire under a bandstand or hush a crowd with a brush whisper on the snare. He leaves behind not just recordings, awards, or accolades — but a whole generation of Canadian jazz artists who stand a little taller because Norm gave them a groove to lean into. Rest easy, Norman Marshall Villeneuve. The downbeat is yours."
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Villeneuve created the Norman Marshall Villeneuve Scholarship in 2013 to recognize percussion students with a passion for jazz who demonstrate outstanding musicianship and academic achievement. It was awarded to Humber College students in Toronto until 2019 and to Concordia University students from 2016-19.
In 2018, Villeneuve received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the International Drum Fest in Quebec City.
Of note: Villeneuve is the cousin of legendary jazz pianist Oliver Jones, who told CBC that Villeneuve "was the most natural drummer that I've ever ran into." The two worked together for decades, earning a Felix Award and travelling the world together.
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Major Canadian jazz artists quickly posted their tributes on Facebook.
Richard Underhill (Shuffle Demons): "Sad to hear of the passing of great jazz drummer Norman Marshall Villeneuve. He played with all the greats over the years and was a real mentor to young musicians as he held court at the Rex Hotel. Hard swingin' with a big heart, he will be greatly missed."
Canadian jazz journalist and author Mark Miller: "Honouring the memory of Norman Marshall Villeneuve on word today of his passing in Montreal at the age of 87. Norm was one of Canada’s great bop drummers — surely its most enthusiastic — and equally, during the 40-some years after he moved from Montreal to Toronto in 1974, a mentor to many younger musicians as the leader of what he came to call the Jazz Message, a band in the style and spirit of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. Respect."
Jane Bunnett: "Norman Marshall Villeneuve, Norm , Normy , and Janitor on a Drum ,which he jokingly called himself when he was going through lean times working as a janitor. Kind , funny ,tough and always ready to play and swing his ass off. Love you Norm and Larry [Cramer] and I will miss you . A beautiful cat and an important Canadian artist 
."
Toronto jazz musician and journalist Bill King: "Just saw that Norman passed at 87. That’s a hell of a lot of gigs by a hell of a guy. So many summers playing in front of Seagulls during the Beaches Jazz Festival. Archie Alleyne and Norm were that link to the late ‘40s and hard bop."
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A visitation for Villeneuve has been organized at the JJ Cardinal Funeral Home in the Lachine borough on July 19.
International
David Cousins (born David Joseph Hindson), an English folk-rock singer-songwriter and radio entrepreneur best known as leader of popular folk-rock band the Strawbs, died on July 13, at age 85.
A Bangor University obituary reports that "Born into a working-class family in West London, Cousins had a unique, varied and distinguished career. He was one of the most distinctive singer-songwriters to emerge from the British scene in the 1960s before becoming a pioneer of independent local radio in the 1980s and 1990s. After twenty years in the radio business, musical composition and performance once again became his main focus. His contribution to British songwriting is immense. He has left us with a rich, deep and varied body of finely crafted songs and recordings."
Cousins co-founded the Strawberry Hill Boys with Tony Hooper in 1963, with that name shortened to the Strawbs in 1967, who released their first album in 1969. Over a 60-year period, the Strawbs underwent frequent personnel changes, with Cousins being the one ever present constant in all the Strawbs’ published recordings: David Cousins. He also released a series of solo and collaborative albums with other artists between 1972 and 2015.
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After finishing grammar school, Cousins and friend Tony Hooper played in a skiffle group, the Gin Bottle Four. While studying at the University of Leicester, Cousins was heavily involved in the student music scene, founding the University Folk Society and serving as president of the Jazz Club.
The Strawberry Hill Boys had their first appearance on BBC radio in June 1963 in a line-up that included the Beatles. In 1965, Steve Benbow and the Strawberry Hill Boys released an album called The Songs of Ireland, marking Cousins' first credit on a record sleeve.
In 1967, he recorded All Our Own Work with Sandy Denny and the Strawbs, but it was shelved when vocalist Denny joined Fairport Convention. It was later released in 1973 at the height of the Strawbs’ fame.
In 1968 the Strawbs released the single "Oh How She Changed," which persuaded the American label A&M to sign their first British band. This led to the release of Strawbs’ eponymous debut album in 1969, one marking them as a group to watch.
At this period in his career, in addition to being the leader of the Strawbs, Cousins also worked as an accomplished session player with artists such as Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell, Mary Travers, Mary Hopkin, the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, ran the Centreplan advertising company and the White Bear folk club, and launched the Hounslow Arts Lab while continuing in his role as a radio producer.
The growing popularity of the Strawbs then forced him to cut back on these other activities. Following the release of their second album, Dragonfly in 1970, Rick Wakeman (Yes) joined the band but left after releasing just two albums (Just a Collection of Antiques and Curios in 1970 and From the Witchwood in 1971).
The Strawbs built a growing following and their breakthrough album came in 1972, with the release of Grave New World. It was a No. 11 hit and sold over 94,000 copies in the U.K. in addition to being the first Strawbs album to enter the Billboard 200. Cousins songwriting skill and unique vocal delivery was at the fore of the band's sound. He found time to release his first solo album, Two Weeks Last Summer, later in 1972.
Cousins first toured the U.S. and Canada with the Strawbs for the first time in 1972. Their commercial success peaked with the release of Bursting at the Seams in January 1973, which charted at No. 2 in the U.K., and included the hit single "Lay Down," based on the 23rd Psalm and written and sung by Cousins. That track peaked at No. 12 in the U.K. and was followed by a No. 2 U.K. hit single in January 1973 with "Part of the Union."
Hero and Heroine in 1974 saw Cousins' songwriting take a more progressive direction, and it was the first Strawbs album to have a major impact in the U.S. and Canada, selling platinum in Canada. The following album, Ghosts, reached No. 47 in the U.S. charts.
After a split with A&M, following albums never duplicated that level, of success and 1978 album Deadlines failed to make the Billboard 200 for the first time since Grave New World.
The Bangor obituary reports that "In early 1980, Cousins resigned from the Strawbs, taking a job as programme controller at Radio Tees. In 1983, he joined DevonAir Radio as station controller, moving up to Managing Director. He became a senior executive of Capitol Radio and became an expert at applying for and winning independent radio licenses. In 1996, Cousins played a leading role in winning the last available London FM licence for a radio station called Xfm, and in 1999, he launched a new radio station called Radio Victory, becoming Chairman of the Board. Six weeks after the establishment of the station, it was sold for £3.1M."
Cousins still performed occasionally, both solo and with the Strawbs. In 1987, the Strawbs released Don’t Say Goodbye, their first album for nine years. Subsequent albums included 1991's Ringing Down the Years and the eventual 1995 release of Heartbreak Hill (recorded in 1978).
Around the turn of the century, Cousins formed Witchwood Media, an independent record and publishing company, and employed the label to release a long line of Strawbs albums together with his own solo and collaborative projects. The Acoustic Strawbs released their first album, Baroque and Roll, on the label in 2001. The Strawbs’ 40th anniversary was held over two days at Twickenham Stadium in 2009 and the label released two albums to capture this event.
The group's most recent albums were released on the Cherry Red Records label (it had taken over Witchwood), including The Magic of it All in 2023. Cousins kept writing and recording new songs until the end of his life.
In December 2021, Cousins announced his withdrawal from live performance for health reasons, but he did manage some later shows. His last concert with the Strawbs was at the Cropredy Festival in August 2023. His final concert performance came as a guest artist at a Rick Wakeman concert in Folkestone in late 2024, and his final public performance was during a visit to Bangor University this past March. There he gave two lectures in the Music Department and performed excerpts from some of his songs to illustrate his technique to an appreciative audience of students and staff.
Cousins received significant awards and recognition for his outstanding contribution to music and radio. In 2002, he was invited to be a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. In 2014, his autobiography Exorcising Ghosts: Strawbs and Other Lives was published by Witchwood Media.
Over his long career, Cousins and the Strawbs performed extensively in Canada, making a major impact. They were frequently a popular attraction at noted Toronto club venue Hugh's Room, who provided this tribute to Billboard Canada: "We at Hugh's Room mourn the loss of Dave Cousins after having the privilege and pleasure to host Dave and the Strawbs on a number of occasions over the years.
"We always looked forward to, and loved their concerts - Dave was a consummate artist, so professional and always SO much fun. We look back so fondly on the times he and the Strawbs played Hugh's Room and extend our sympathy to Dave's family and members of the Strawbs."
Ottawa musician and songwriter Frank Smith (Sills and Smith, Halcyon Phase) tells Billboard Canada that "David Cousins was a musical hero to me and a huge influence." In a Facebook post, Smith added that "He’s left us with so much great music that lives on. I’ll cherish the Strawbs and solo albums and continue listening in awe."
On Facebook, Grammy-winning music historian Rob Bowman recalled that "I saw the Strawbs twice at Massey and interviewed Dave Cousins in 1975 and then in the 2000s when he asked me to write liner notes for a Strawbs DVD. They were a great band up until the end."
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