Amid the craziness that was D.C. this week and weekend, some more sad news to report: Local jazz legend, bassist Edward Rudolph “Butch” Warren, passed away at the age of 74.

Warren’s storied jazz career began when he was just 14, playing bass in a band led by his father, pianist Edward Warren. After making a name for himself in the D.C. jazz scene in the ’50s, he moved to New York City where he became the house bassist for Blue Note Records, recording as a studio musician with hundreds of greats, including Miles Davis, Sonny Clark, Herbie Hancock, Thelonious Monk, ackie McLean, and more.

In the mid-’60s, Warren moved back to the District, where he became a fixture in the club music scene, playing weekly gigs in various venues around the city, including places like the old Twins on Colorado Avenue NW and Columbia Station in Adams Morgan (Warren was fired from Columbia Station in 2010 due to his erratic behavior). Warren’s professional career was often plagued by his personal life, in which he struggled with drug and alcohol addiction as well as paranoid schizophrenia. He was diagnosed with emphysema in 2012, which eventually led to his death.

I’ll admit my knowledge of jazz and the local scene is scarce at best, but Warren was one of the few jazz legends that I had came to know and respect. Growing up in the Washington, D.C. area, my father was a big listener of the local jazz station, WPFW, of which I remember hearing Warren’s name pop-up often. As Washington City Paper notes in their terrific obituary, “the loss of Warren to the D.C. jazz scene is incalculable.”

I can’t speak as an expert or aficionado of the local jazz scene, but, as a lifelong fan of D.C.’s vibrant, eclectic, and legendary music scene—from Go-go, to harDCore, to jazz—I can safely say this is a huge loss to the local music scene. Rest in peace, Butch.