Celebrated arranger and keyboardist Doug Riley, considered to be a pillar of the Canadian music industry, has died of a sudden heart attack.
He was 62.

Riley, known as “Doctor Music,” died Monday while sitting on a plane that was preparing to leave Calgary, his wife Jan said Tuesday from their home in Little Pond, P.E.I.

The legendary performer was returning to the Island after headlining a jazz and blues festival. “It was a massive heart attack and he died instantly,” said Jan Riley, adding that she last heard from her husband on Sunday.

“He sounded totally fine the last time I talked to him.”

Riley’s best friend, singer David Clayton-Thomas, said the death was a sudden blow to everyone who knew the musician, an accomplished artist whose work included collaborations with Ray Charles, Placido Domingo, Ringo Starr, Gordon Lightfoot, Anne Murray, Sylvia Tyson, Dan Hill and Bob Seger.

“Canada just lost a musical giant,” Clayton-Thomas said by phone from Montreal, his voice shaking with emotion.

“And as a person, anybody who knew Doc knows that he had a heart that was just so big. It’s hard to imagine him gone. I can’t imagine my life without him.”

Riley’s diverse career began in his teens when he played R&B with the Silhouettes in Toronto, but went on to include keyboard and production work for a who’s who in the Canadian music industry and accomplished forays into musical genres including jazz, classical, film scores and ballet.

He wrote more than 2,000 jingles, arranged music for several television programs in the late ’60s and ’70s and appeared as an arranger and second keyboard player on Ray Charles’ 1968 LP Doing His Thing.

He found more success with his soulful music ensemble, Doctor Music, and made a name as an accomplished jazz musician. He was awarded the Order of Canada in 2004.

Canadian keyboardist Paul Shaffer said Riley was a big influence on his playing, noting he admired him for getting a doctorate in music at the University of Toronto in the ’60s.

They met in 1968 during auditions for the musical Hair, when both accompanied would-be performers on piano.

“He really was an inspiration for those of us thinking about going into music ourselves,” Shaffer said from New York, after taping an episode of the Late Show with David Letterman, where he serves as music director.

“I think that the world of funk and R&B is a poorer place now that we’ve lost Doug Riley.”

When Shaffer was honoured with a star on Canada’s Walk of Fame in Toronto last year, he asked Riley to be part of an “organ summit” that performed at the festivities.

Clayton-Thomas, himself a celebrated jazz musician and former lead singer for Blood, Sweat and Tears, noted that jazz innovator Herbie Hancock was a fan, too.

He recalled an encounter earlier this year when Hancock appeared in Toronto for a Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame gala.

“First thing he asked was: `You still play with Doug Riley? He’s amazing.’ ” said Clayton-Thomas. He noted that Riley was gifted in numerous genres.

“He’s a brilliant technician who could play everything from Tchaikovsky to Thelonious Monk and then could get down and rock ’n’ roll and play the blues, too. He’s irreplaceable. There’s only one Doc Riley.”

A heavy-set man who suffered from diabetes, Riley had long been in frail health, noted Clayton-Thomas, adding that Riley suffered polio as a child.

Nevertheless, his sudden passing was unexpected, said Clayton-Thomas, who broke down with emotion several times while recounting his memories.

“It’s hard to say what he meant to me, my God, he was my closest musical collaborator and my dearest friend and I loved him beyond what I could tell you,” said Clayton-Thomas, noting that Riley was on nearly every album he ever recorded.

Veteran Toronto music journalist Larry LeBlanc called Riley “a Canadian mix of Duke Ellington, Allen Toussaint, and Henry Mancini.”

“He left a rich legacy,” said LeBlanc, who booked Riley’s band the Silhouettes at high school dances in the 1960s.

“If Toronto had a Music Row or a Broadway, its lights would be dimmed for the week.”

Jan Riley said she and sons Ben, a 31-year-old drummer, and Jesse, a 28-year-old Toronto police officer, would be in Toronto on Wednesday to meet the body and return it to Prince Edward Island.

Clayton-Thomas said Riley would be cremated but that funeral arrangements had yet to be set.

Ian
sorry to hear that....never heard of him...but my prayers sympathies go out to "One of Our Own"

take care

Oh my. He was here in Edmonton not too long ago at the Jazz Festival and I was unable to get to see him play. A major loss indeed at a relatively young age, too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdJeCjIwGFk

[This message has been edited by renig (edited 08-29-2007).]

That's a great video, renig...old Doug could really burn.

Shaffer, in spite of being a talky little bugger, can definitely hold his own with these guys.

Ian

this is a great example where the musician and instrument become one. the band only shines these guys true b-3 greatness. jimmy smith would be proud, god i miss my b-3. no arranger could even touch this.

I don't know of the man, but he will be in my prayers tonight.....
t.

Followed the accomplishments of the man over the years. Shows what can be done with three chords. Great performance by all and a lasting tribute to a lesser known but massively talented player. He's a major contributor to hip, sophisticated music. Not everyone "get's it", but the ones who do have placed him into a place of honor in the evolution of modern music.


Eternal thanks to him and his peers.

R.

Hadn't realized that's who Doug Riley was. Saw that you tube video a few months ago. May he RIP.