Folks, Fred Ho passed away Saturday at approximately 7:30 a.m. Although we have been prepared to hear this for a long time, it is still surprising to experience knowing that a person we have laughed with, eaten a meal with, whose music we have enjoyed and whose discussion we have benefited from would suddenly no longer be on this earth. I was actually listening to Fred’s horn on the Tribute to Cal Massey when I read Marina’s email letting people know of his death.
I have had a lot of experience of death of loved ones, as have many of you. What always fascinated me about Fred, as a documentary subject and as a friend, is that he was always completely certain that his own life had meaning, and devoted his last years to achieving concrete goals in keeping with that vision. And it seems that this is why he was uniquely at peace with the thought of dying. Because he felt that he had truly lived, through the music he created, the provocative writings he had shared, the political goals he had achieved, and most especially the close friendships he maintained.
I will share some more of my archival stuff on the site when I have time. For now I just want to remember Fred on that wonderful evening last October at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, when he surprised everyone by getting up on stage in a crisp white suit and blowing an extensive solo, filling the concert hall with the boom and squeak of his baritone sax. I was in the back row, but I picked up my camera and filmed it, handheld, from 200 feet away. I thought that this might be the historic last recorded performance of Fred Ho, and I suppose it was. Here you can see the footage again, in the video (produced by Anne Lagamayo) which accompanies this NYT obituary.
NYT Obituary: https://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/13/arts/music/fred-ho-56-composer-and-radical-activist-dies.html
Please feel free to let us know your feelings on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/fredhoslastyear