CLEVELAND, Jan. 14 (UPI) -- Bebop jazz guitarist Bill DeArango has died in a nursing home in Cleveland at age 85.
DeArango had Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease and died Dec. 26, the Washington Post reported.
He became one of the first guitarists to join the bebop movement led by saxophonist Charlie Parker and trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie in 1944.
He was named to Esquire magazine's All-American Jazz Band in 1946.
He was a member of saxophonist Ben Webster's group from 1945 to 1947 and went on to lead his own group in New York. Among the stars he recorded with were vocalist Sarah Vaughan, saxophonist Don Byas and vibraphonists Milt Jackson and Red Norvo.
He became fed up with the commercial pressure on New York's music scene and abruptly left for Cleveland, his hometown, in 1948.
After making a well-received record in 1954, he dropped off the national radar and opened a music store in Cleveland.
His final recording was "Anything Went" with saxophonist Joe Lovano in 1993.
He has no known survivors.
