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BOB ENOS |
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BOB ENOS, ROOMFUL OF BLUES TRUMPET PLAYER JULY 4, 1947 – JANUARY 11, 2008
Bob Enos, longtime trumpet player for Roomful of Blues, died in his
sleep in his hotel room in Douglas, Georgia, early Friday morning,
January 11, 2008 of suspected heart failure. He was 60. Roomful of
Blues had played the Douglas Country Club the previous night. The band
was on its way to Fort Lauderdale, Florida on Sunday to perform on The
Legendary Blues Cruise. Roomful is continuing its current tour with
former band member John Wolfe taking Enos’s place.
Enos joined
Roomful Of Blues in September, 1981. Only saxophonist Rich Lataille had
been with the band longer. He appeared on every album that Roomful made
apart from its first three releases, including a new CD, “Raisin’ A
Ruckus, ” set to be released on January 15, 2008. Enos can also be
heard with the Roomful horn section on recordings by Pat Benatar,
Stevie Ray Vaughan, Colin James, Jimmy “T99” Nelson and others.
Influenced by Louis Armstrong and Roy Eldridge, Enos’ driving delivery
and punching high notes put a sparkle atop the Roomful horn section and
frequently drew gasps from the audience.
Born in Boston,
Massachusetts, on July 4, 1947, Bob took up the trumpet at age 14,
studied at the Boston Conservatory of Music, and spent the late sixties
and early seventies playing in R&B and soul bands. After studying
with John Coffee and Ray Copeland, he spent two of years working with
the legendary Platters (led by Herb Reed) before joining Jack Radcliffe
and the New Viper Revue. He then founded the award-winning band Channel
One and was with this jazz fusion group for three years. After a period
of freelance work he joined Roomful, literally on the eve of the band’s
first coast-to-coast tour.
“Bob was one of a kind, ” said
Roomful of Blues bandleader Chris Vachon, “a unique talent. The band
obviously feels devastated. When you work as closely together as a band
like Roomful does, each person is family -- we’re like brothers. It
makes this kind of thing hard, very hard indeed.”
“He could
always hit those high notes, ” said Roomful’s former bandleader Greg
Piccolo. “It was an amazing thing -- I had never worked with a trumpet
player who was so consistent. It didn’t matter how tired the band was,
how long the drive to the job had been. He was always there, right on
the money. He was a bull.”
“He was a pro through and through,
” commented Bob Bell who managed Roomful for over 20 years. “He loved
the music and he loved the band. Outside of his family, it was his
life. He brought a lot of joy to an awful lot of folks. And he was a
really sweet guy.”
He is survived by his wife Jill, sons Louis, Jude and Joseph, and daughter Elizabeth.
Contributions for Bob Enos’ son Louis' education may be sent to: Bob Enos memorial Scholarship Fund c/o TD Bank North 127 South Street Wrentham, MA 02093
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