Jimmy ‘Jazz’ Flanigan, of Stone Ridge
Jimmy “Jazz” Flanigan has left the bandstand for the final time. He reluctantly (which was his style) passed through the Exit Door on May 6, 2018, surrounded by his devoted and loving wife Judy and their spirit animal family while recordings of 1920s headliner bands provided his play-off music.
Jimmy devoted his life to his passion for music and entertainment. He was a multitalented musician, playing a variety of instruments during his career. His primary instruments were all percussion and a 1920s “Speakeasy Style” piano. Throughout his career, he organized and led a number of dance bands, both large and small, playing in dance halls and ballrooms around the country and in Europe. He was devoted to his dancing audiences, speaking to them through his opening theme, “Snuggled On Your Shoulder.” While in Europe, Jimmy hosted a weekly prime time radio program performing music from the 1920s. He applied his percussion skills at a pit drummer for a number of popular musical shows and variety acts. Throughout his music career, he enjoyed the company of many of the popular musicians and entertainers of the ’20s, ’30s, ’40s, and ’50s. He was always at home “sitting in” with their bands. While residing in the New York City metro area, Jimmy lectured on and performed 1920s music weekly at the original New York City Jazz Museum. For several years, he applied his talents as music director for a regional theater company, performing original Broadway-style shows.
As a young child, Jimmy understood that his mission in life was to bring laughter, positive memories, and the joy of ballroom dancing to his audiences, immersing them in the romantic sounds of the 1920s and 1930s popular music. He managed to live his life to the fullest, crediting that accomplishment to his being surrounded by the ’20s and ’30s music from his birth throughout his life.
Jimmy would often say that he had drunk deeply of the cup of life. His capacity to add consecutive careers, including extended active duty as a senior Air Force officer, achieving the rank of colonel, and a number of senior executive positions with four international corporations, attests to the meaning of his statement. He was always quick to clarify that music was his number one priority.
In his retirement years, Jimmy created his Old Memory Lane Concerts, performing in homes for the aged and for a variety of senior groups, bringing them the popular music of the 1920s and 1930s and enabling his audiences to connect with the memories of their lives.
Jimmy “Jazz” will fondly be remembered for his big smile, his Vaudevillian sense of humor, his driving rhythms, and his dedicated love of his ballroom dancers. In saying “Good night,” he always expressed his love for them through the words of his closing theme, “Whispering (That I Love You).” Jimmy has left us to join the music he loved so much that has been gone for decades. Most likely a new dance band is forming on the other side of the Exit Door and it will be booked into that big ballroom in the sky.
Jimmy is survived by his beloved wife of 39 years, Judy L. Flanigan, and much loved daughters, Kathleen and Patricia.
Let’s remember Jimmy’s sage advice in words and song: “Always Leave Them Laughing When You Say Goodbye,” and keep a song in your heart while “Painting The Clouds With Sunshine.”