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Composer and pianist Brubeck dies

Jazz composer and pianist Dave Brubeck has died at the age of 91.

Brubeck died on Wednesday morning of heart failure after being stricken while on his way to a cardiology appointment with his son Darius, said his manager Russell Gloyd.

The star would have turned 92 on Thursday.

Brubeck had a career that spanned almost all American jazz since World War II.

He formed The Dave Brubeck Quartet in 1951 and was the first modern jazz musician to be pictured on the cover of Time magazine, in 1954, and he helped define the swinging, smoky rhythms of 1950s and 60s club jazz.

The seminal album Time Out, released by the quartet in 1959, was the first ever million-selling jazz LP, and is still among the best-selling jazz albums of all time.

The album features Take Five, which became the Quartet's signature theme and even made the Billboard singles chart in 1961.

Brubeck and his wife, Iola, had five sons and a daughter. Four of his sons played with the London Symphony Orchestra in a birthday tribute to Brubeck in December 2000.

"We never had a rift," Chris Brubeck once said of living and playing with his father. "I think music has always been a good communication tool, so we didn't have a rift. We've always had music in common."

Source: music.uk.msn.com
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