Dynamic Saint Louis saxophonist Luther Thomas—a member of the city’s influential Black Artists Group, who found brilliantly effective ways to fuse free jazz and hard funk—died Saturday at 59. In addition to playing in Saint Louis groups like the Human Arts Ensemble, he worked with Defunkt and James Chance. Earlier this decade the local Unheard Music Series released two killer albums he made as a bandleader: a reissue of Funky Donkey and a previously unreleased 1973 session, Banana.

Ramiro Musotto, a Brazilian percussionist and producer who pushed the distinctly tropical berimbau into new contexts, died Friday in Salvador from pancreatic cancer; he was 45. On his final album, Civilização & Barbarye (Circular Grooves, 2007), he transplanted Brazilian roots music into starkly modern settings, often enhancing the big grooves with electronics and dubby production.