Melbourne music took another blow yesterday with the passing of Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds' keyboard player Conway Savage. His bandmates pay tribute on Facebook, and we pay musical tribute with a rare and beautiful solo track.

It was less than two weeks ago that we commented on the passing of Melbourne singer-songwriter and Johnnys, Beasts of Bourbon and Paul Kelly guitarist Spencer P Jones. Our tribute to Spencer included the wonderful live video for his song “Execution Day”, and we noted how, of all the musicians featured – which meant Spencer, Rowland S Howard, who died in 2009, bass player Brian Hooper, who died in April of this year, drummer Peter Jones, who died in 2012,  and Conway Savage - only Conway remained. Sadly now the 58-year-old keyboard player, pianist and organist, who was diagnosed last year with a brain tumor, is gone too.

Savage had been a Bad Seed since 1990; before that he played had played in a number of Prahran/St Kilda bands including the pioneering inner-city country band the Feral Dinosaurs with drummer Jim White, later of the Dirty 3. In addition to his work with Nick Cave and co he recorded with the likes of David McComb, Robert Forster, Dave Graney, Kim Salmon and of course Spencer, as well as making collaborative releases with the Fallin’ Joys Suzie Higgie and Melbourne musicians Amanda Fox and Robert Tickner. He released a self-titled solo EP in 1993, his first solo album Nothing Broken in 2000, and subsequent solo albums Wrong Man's Hands in 2004, Rare Songs & Performances 1989-2004 in 2005, and Live In Ireland in 2008.

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds paid tribute to Conway on Facebook early yesterday evening.  

ILYOS remembers Conway Savage with the wonderful “Too Dark To See” from his 1993 EP.