The Crier notes with sadness the sudden passing of guitarist Bob Boss Sunday, February 18, in Idyllwild. Boss was a part of San Diego jazz life since 1983, but spent a lot of time, and made a lot of friends in Idyllwild, teaching at the Idyllwild Arts Academy (IAA) and being a part of many Jazz in the Pines festivals. He was 71.

Saxophonist Paul Carman played with Boss and Marshall Hawkins Friday at Cal Baptist University.

“We did the Black History Month concert, using all Cal Baptist students. Then Bob and Marshall played Saturday at IAA doing the same thing.

“Marshall and Bob got to play twice, Friday and Saturday. On Friday night, he was very sick, had a horrible cold, coughing. I told him, ‘Bob, you could have called in sick on this.’ Bob was so close to Marshall he wouldn’t just not show up for it.”

Hawkins was with Boss’ family in San Diego and unable to provide comment by press time, but Carman told us that it was Hawkins who discovered Boss had passed. His phone calls and texts unanswered Sunday, Hawkins went to check on his friend at the place he was staying.

Boss is survived by his wife of 44 years, Vicky, and their daughters Lucille and Rita.

Barnaby Finch described Boss’ passing as, “A real shame, a real loss. He was a sweet cat, very encouraging to the young players. We’re all in shock.

“He was a big advocate, always an absolutely loyal friend of Marshall, a dear human being.”

Carman described Boss as, “A master musician, and a master teacher, and a wonderful human being. He taught at San Diego State and several other colleges [including UCSD.] They all wanted him as a guitar teacher.

“Eventually, he was teaching at four at one point. He said, ‘I need to cut back.’ He was in very high demand. One thing I loved about his jazz guitar soloing, you could hear all those other styles in his solos. He’d be bebopping away and I’d hear a Jimi Hendrix riff, and he’d make it work. He was a master of all genres.”

A 2023 “San Diego Troubadour” profile quoted Boss about his family’s love of music: “My dad played drums all the way through high school, but he sold them to buy a better car. My mom played violin when she was really young but gave it up, although she kept a little practice violin. They both thought learning an instrument was a good thing, so they bought me a little Sears Silvertone (Dan Electro) guitar, and they bought my sister a spinet piano. This, a year before the Beatles came out on ‘The Ed Sullivan Show.’”

Born in Killeen, Texas, he finished a bachelor of arts degree in humanities and a Master of Arts degree in English at Cal State Chico, where he played clubs and concerts. His father had advised him to leave the guitar at home and focus on his grades, but he found he could do both.

After college, he worked as a musician full-time. He moved to Berkeley in 1977,and Oceanside in 1983. He performed across North America and Europe with a long list of artists including, in addition to Hawkins, Mundel Lowe, AJ Croce, Vince Wallis, Baomi, Smiley Winters, Ray Crawford, Daniel Jackson, Joe Marillo, Mike Wofford, Jimmie and Jeannie Cheatham, Eddie Harris, Richie Cole and Red Rodney.