Stefan George, a longtime Tucson blues and jazz guitarist and songwriter who could translate a song so deeply you felt as if he was singing about you, died on Monday.
George, a member of the Tucson Musicians Hall of Fame and The Arizona Blues Hall of Fame, reportedly collapsed at home. He was in his early 60s, friends said.
“We called Stefan one of our legends," blues singer and pianist Lisa Otey said Tuesday. "He’s one of those masters you go to and say, 'How is this supposed to sound?' How would Stefan do it?'"
"He was so knowledgeable," added Otey's partner and jazz singer Diane Van Deurzen. "And he just knew everything about the song. You just felt every single note that he sang and every single note that he played. And the way he held the guitar it was such a part of his body. It was wonderful the way he and his guitar became one being.”
People are also reading…
KXCI radio personality Marty Kool said that George had been experiencing health problems recently and was not the same since his wife and musical partner Lavinia White died in February 2014. George's mother died a few months later.
“Lavinia was really half of him. The two of them together was one," Kool said. "Without her he was half a man.”
