R.I.P.

Jazz Pianist Dave Brubeck Dies

He was 91.

Legendary jazz musician Dave Brubeck died Wednesday morning at age 91. “For as long as I’ve been playing jazz, people have been trying to pigeonhole me,” Brubeck once said. “Frankly, labels bore me.” There are, however, some impressive labels that define his career. He’s a Kennedy Center Honors recipient. He received the National Medal of Arts and the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. His recordings of “Take Five” and “Blue Rondo à la Turk” crossed over to the pop world, he brought jazz into the academic world, and he was among the first to play in black jazz clubs in the deep South in the ’50s. He was one day short of his 92nd birthday.