Many musical artists sadly passed from the scene in 2008. A motive for particular regret in the case of six of them is that they were genre-definers in their own musical styles, endlessly generous with other artists in sharing their musical experience, and active performers right up until the end of their lives. We have already featured the work of one of them — Odetta — extensively in an earlier blog post. Here is a small tribute to the other five:

Eddy Arnold — You Don’t Know Me
Eddy Arnold (w/Lynn Anderson) — Country Tunes Medley

Bo Diddley — Bo Diddley-itis
Bo Diddley (w/Ron Wood) — Who Do You Love?

Isaac Hayes — Shaft
Isaac Hayes (w/Dionne Warwick) — Deja Vu

Israel “Cachao” López (w/the Tito Puente Latin Jazz Ensemble) — Oye Como Va
Israel “Cachao” López (w/Bebo Valdés) — Lágrimas Negras

Miriam Makeba — Pata Pata
Miriam Makeba (w/Hugh Masekela) — Soweto Blues