Lawson, AlanBlow, Gabriel, blow your horn because multi-instrument master Alan Lawson has joined the heavenly gig after 71 years that spanned the East Coast to the sands of Nevada. He was born on Nov. 18, 1945, to Walter and Muriel Lawson in Greenwich, Conn. He died Dec. 8, 2016, at his home in Las Vegas after a near six-year battle with cancer. Alan was considered a prodigy as he moved to Baltimore and the Peabody Conservatory of Music, which awarded him a bachelor's degrees in music theory and woodwind performance. Though trained as a classical musician, he segued into the orchestra pits for a number of Broadway shows, then rolled the dice and headed for Vegas. In the interim, he married Gloria Fuoco, a Baltimore-area music teacher, in Grand Junction, Colo., in July 1974. Alan wasted no time after arriving in Vegas in 1978 to display his talents as a woodwind specialist who performed on clarinet, bass clarinet, flute and saxophone. He also picked up a master's degree in jazz performance at UNLV. And he was versatile, teaching computer classes while also directing jazz band programs for the Clark County school system. His Las Vegas Academy High School of Performing Arts and International Studies jazz bands won several first-place awards. Alan was a staff musician for local headliners Frank Sinatra (senior and junior), Dean Martin, Don Rickles, Natalie Cole, Tony Bennett and Barbra Streisand, as well as the Jerry Lewis National Telethon, Cheap Tricks "Sgt. Pepper" Orchestra, and Casino De Paris. SuperStyk, his contemporary clarinet quartet, has recorded several of his arrangements. A program of Alan's compositions was held in April at the Winchester Cultural Center, where a holiday concert featuring his arrangements is scheduled for Saturday (Dec. 17) at 2 p.m. He is survived by Gloria , his loving wife, daughters Maria of Denver, and Arianna of Chicago, and brother Jeff of Pensacola, Fla. Cremation has been carried out by McDermott Funeral Home and Crematory. Memorial gifts should be sent to Harmony Hospice, 6990 S. Fort Apache Road, Las Vegas. A Requiem Mass will take place on Monday, Dec. 19. For information on time and location please visit http://alanlawsonmusic.comWe encourage friends and family to help celebrate Alan's life by sharing a story – please e-mail: [email protected]