Last week one of my fellow record collector friends passed away. He was more than a collector. He loved vintage jazz and big bands. He is the one that got me started on my You Tube channel. He was a wonderful man that will be sorely missed.
I never met Mark face-to-face, but in the eight years I knew him, he felt like a friend. A friend that always would be there. One of his favorite jazz artists was Lionel Hampton, and he reintroduced me to Hampton's music. We rarely talked about deep personal things, because our love of music that we shared was enough.
Here is Mark's obituary:
The world, in general, and the music world, specifically, suffered a sudden and unexpected great loss on Tuesday, 25 February 2020. Mark “Swingman” Cederquist passed away, peacefully, in his sleep of natural causes. He was 48 years young.
As an audio engineer, The Swingman was unrivaled in his restoration and remastering talents. His passion was always Big Band and Jazz artists and groups. His knowledge in those areas was amazing. Just by listening to the music of those genres, he could rattle off the artist(s), the group and members present when a recording was made, including where it was first recorded, the date, and many times the time of day.
He made great contributions to music fans by remastering, recording, and uploading more than 1000 YouTube videos for all to enjoy.
In addition, he was a passionate Phoenix Suns fan…and his knowledge of that organization and team was amazing. He could rattle off stats and stories better than most. His emotions regarding the Suns spanned the spectrum from complete elation to disgust…a sign of a true fan.
But…as extraordinary as those talents were, his greatest talent was the caring, compassion, and helpfulness he freely gave to his many friends and followers. Those who truly know him realize what an impact he had on them.
He is and will be truly missed, but his soul will always be with us and his memories will endure forever.
He is survived by his mother, Phyllis Duran, his father, Brent Cederquist; his step-mother, Kathleen Cederquist; his sister, Lisa Heidke; his step-sister, Monica Furst; two nephews, Connor and Shane Heidke; and his niece Nikoya Madsen.
RIP Swingman...
