Tributes to Gene
Gene was passionate, larger than life and had a wicked edge to him. But his intelligence and laugh won him many friends among writers, musicians and others in the world of music. He is sorely missed by many.
How It Actually Sounded: Gene Santoro, 1950–2002
by Gene Seymour, The Nation
“A good music critic can make readers recognize the way something sounds. A great one illuminates this acknowledgement with something readers didn’t notice or hear beforehand. The latter quality made Gene Santoro not only an outstanding music critic but also superb reporter whose journalism will remain a vivid and reliable record of its time.”
(Still) Thinking About Gene Santoro
by Bill Milkowski
“Gene connected the dots in his writing like an ethno-musicologist, describing not only how something sounded but how it came to sound that way. His observations were always pointed, well-informed, erudite and often laced with an acerbic, observational wit that was his calling card. And at his best, whether it was the numerous columns he wrote for The Nation or passages from Myself When I Am Real, his prose was infused with a kind of poetry that few other critics ever touched.”
“[Gene] listened and understood what I was doing on such a deep level. Way, way back… when I was first trying to fire out what to do. [He] encouraged me. Definitely one of the angels in my life. He sure did put a lot of good out into the world. Lifted things up..”
– Bill Frisell, jazz guitarist
“One of the greatest writers you'll ever read.”
– Cassandra Wilson, singer and songwriter