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Longtime jazz critic Phil Elwood dead at 79

Phil Elwood, who covered jazz, rock, blues and comedy for the San Francisco Examiner and later the Chronicle, died Tuesday (Jan. 10) of heart failure, only four weeks after the death of his beloved wife, Audrey, according to an obit in the Chron. He was 79. Rock musician Huey Lewis said, “Talk about old school. … He was a music lover. Imagine that. He actually loved the music. They don’t make ’em like that anymore.” Said jazz great Jon Hendricks, “Phil was the quintessential jazz critic … Most jazz critics love the music, but Phil knew the music as well as loved it.

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