VALRICO, FL (CelebrityAccess) – Meghan Stabile, promoter and producer whose advocacy helped spark a mainstream interest in jazz and audiences of color, died on Sunday (June 12) in Valrico, FL. She was 39. Her counselor, Bikbaye Inejnema, confirms the cause of death was suicide.
Inejnema was authorized to speak on behalf of Maureen Stabile, Meghan’s maternal grandmother. “She knows she didn’t meet any of Meghan’s community,” Inejnema says. “But she does want Meghan’s memory to be honored in the way that reflects who she really was, not what she went through.”
As the founder of Revive Music Group, she brought a vision to promoting Black American music — organizing shows and making connections. News of her passing first came via an Instagram post by electric bassist, vocalist, and producer Thundercat.
For a time, Revive Music Group generated not only live shows but also an online publication, The Revivalist, in association with Okayplayer; its roster featured emerging talent like Kyla Marshell and Natalie Weiner. Another outgrowth of the organization is The Revive Big Band, led by Igmar Thomas, now in the process of finishing its debut album.
Stabile was born in July 1982 in Corpus Christi, TX, and grew up in Dover, NH. She was raised by her grandmother and an aunt and had no connection to her father. Her mother, whom she didn’t have a relationship with, died last year. She attended Berklee, in Boston, as a guitarist and a singer but soon changed to the music business.
And some of her most formative experiences took place outside the conservatory, at a local institution called Wally’s Cafe, where jazz musicians held regular sessions. “That was the moment for me that was like, ‘OK, hold on a minute. Why am I just discovering this right now?'” Stabile told Jazz Night in America.
She is survived by a sister, Caitlin Chaloux, and a brother, Michael Skidds. According to the GoFundMe page for her funeral services, $15,862 has been raised, and any funeral plans will be posted as they’re organized.
