Free improvising bassist Simon H. Fell has died. He was 61. The bassist, who in the 1980s also set up his own label Bruce's Fingers, was a prolific collaborator and he performed for instance with Simon Rose and Mark Sanders in Badlands, with Carlos Zingaro, Marcio Mattos and Mark Sanders in ZFP and in SFQ, his own quartet with Alex Ward on reeds and in a string trio with Rhodri Davies and Mark Wastell. He was also a member of the London Improvisers Orchestra. Recent albums of his were Virtual Company, released earlier this year, and a duo album with long time collaborator Paul Hession titled Reconstructed Fragments.
Tributes from fellow musicians online include from trombonist Sarah Brand who writes on Twitter: ''I was in a few of Simon’s groups and on some of his records. He was a lovely man, this is terrible news''. And this from Mark Wastell, a contributor of Fell's who wriote on Facebook yesterday: ''It is with a very heavy heart that I pass on the news that Simon H Fell passed away at lunchtime today. His wife Jo would like to thank everybody that has shown love and support over the course of the last few weeks.''
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