PASSINGS

Longtime head of taxpayer group

Larry McCarthy, 59, the longtime president of the California Taxpayers’ Assn., a taxpayer rights group, died Saturday in Sacramento, the group announced. He was diagnosed with skin cancer in 2006.

McCarthy was responsible for the overall management of Cal-Tax and for the performance of information services, advocacy programs and policy research. From 1993 to 1995 he also served as chairman of the National Taxpayers Conference, a nationwide organization of state taxpayer associations.

A native of Los Angeles, McCarthy grew up in the San Fernando Valley and played varsity football at Crespi Carmelite High School in Encino. He earned a bachelor’s degree in government from St. Martin’s University, formerly St. Martin’s College, in Washington state.

McCarthy joined Cal-Tax in 1976 as a lobbyist and researcher on taxation, local government finance and spending issues. He came to the California post from the Washington Research Council in Olympia, which is that state’s counterpart to Cal-Tax.

During his years at Cal-Tax, McCarthy was lead negotiator and lobbyist representing the state’s employers on unemployment insurance legislation.

In 1983, he was named research director and staff director of the California Tax Foundation, the group’s research arm. In 1986, he was promoted to Cal-Tax vice president and legislative director. Three years later, he was appointed president.

Saxophonist was a master of bebop

Cecil Payne, 84, a baritone saxophonist and leading exponent of the bebop style of jazz, died Nov. 27 at a nursing home in Stratford, N.J., the Star-Ledger in Newark, N.J., reported. The cause of death was not announced.

Highly regarded by his peers, Payne spent most of his career as a sideman. He never led a band and recorded relatively few albums as a leader. But his mastering of bebop’s intricacies on the cumbersome baritone saxophone gave him a lasting place in jazz history.

A native of Brooklyn, Payne grew up in a musical family, playing guitar and studying alto saxophone. By the time he joined Dizzy Gillespie’s classic bebop band in 1946, he was playing baritone saxophone.

According to the All Music Guide, Payne made his reputation in Gillespie’s band and played on almost all of the orchestra’s famous recordings. His solos can be heard on Gillespie’s RCA Victor recordings “Ow” and “Stay On It.”

Payne later played with such jazz giants as Coleman Hawkins, Count Basie and Woody Herman and was a soloist with Machito’s Afro-Cuban band in the 1960s.

He continued to play into the 1980s, and his recordings as a leader can be found on the Savoy, Signal, Muse and Delmark record labels. His six-decade career was cut short by health issues.

Riverside school district trustee

Maxine Pierce Frost, 76, who served 40 years as a trustee in the Riverside Unified School District, died Nov. 27 of cancer at her home in Riverside, according to her son, Doug.

Elected to the board of trustees in 1967, Frost saw the Riverside district grow from about 23,000 students to 43,000 during her tenure.

A native of Janesville, Wis., Frost was a young girl when she moved with her parents to California. After graduating from Huntington Park Senior High School, she earned a bachelor’s degree in history from Stanford University.

While at Stanford, she met Matt Frost, who would become her husband. The couple settled in the Inland Empire, where he became a successful banker.

Before her election to the board of trustees, Frost served on the district’s desegregation committee, which supported the district’s 1965 decision to voluntarily integrate its schools, the Press-Enterprise in Riverside reported in its obituary of Frost.

In addition to her board work, Frost was past president of the California Assn. of Suburban Schools and president of the Affiliates of UC Riverside.

She was appointed by then-Gov. George Deukmejian to serve on the Education Commission of the States.

Conga player a leader in Latin jazz

Carlos Valdes, 81, a legendary conga player and a leading figure in Latin jazz in Cuba and the United States, died Tuesday in Cleveland of respiratory failure, according to the New York Times.

Valdes was hospitalized in Cleveland on Nov. 9 after becoming ill on a return flight to his New York home from a series of concerts in California.

Known as Patato, a reference from Cuban slang to his small size, Valdes was born in Havana and would later play with leading Cuban bands. He also starred on Cuban television in the early 1950s before moving to New York in 1954 and finding work with some of the leading names in jazz, including Dizzy Gillespie, Tito Puente, Machito and Art Blakey. He played for several years with the innovative flutist Herbie Mann.

According to the Times, Valdes was known “for his fluid, improvisatory melodies … [and] tuned his drums tightly to produce clear, precise tones.” He also popularized the use of multiple conga drums, playing “three, four or more to allow for a wider range of tones.”

From Times Staff and Wire Reports