Jon Lucien RIP

I awoke this morning to pick up this sad message from the Jon Lucien website:

JON LUCIEN DIED ON THE MORNING OF AUGUST 18, 2007 OF RESPIRATORY FAILURE and OTHER COMPLICATIONS. JON WAS ONE THE MOST REMARKABLE MUSICIANS, SONGWRITERS and SONG INTERPRETERS THAT GRACED OUR LIVES

The site has posted a fitting tribute to the man and his music:

"I would say my sound is a romantic sound...it's water...it's ocean...it's tranquility."

More than any other singer, Jon Lucien captures the essence of romance. His voice is rich and expressive, his best songs are perceptive poetic tales of devotion, trust, hope, harmony and spirituality. Three dimensional parables of love lost and love found and relationships filled with the promise of a new day. He seems to possess an innate ability to evoke an atmosphere and create images not only through his lyrics but the colors of his music.In the 28 years since the release of his debut album, connoisseurs and assorted in-the-know types have spoken his name with the utmost hushed reverence. His seamless melding of jazz, R and B, Caribbean rhythms and Brazilian music proved to be a decisive early influence on what would be simplified and marketed as the twin formats of "quiet storm" and "smooth jazz," although very few artists working in either format approach Lucien's level of artistry or innovation, not to mention originality...