Dave Brubeck: Take Five jazz pianist dies

  

Brubeck's most famous recording was Take Five

Pioneering jazz pianist and composer Dave Brubeck has died, aged 91. Born in California, Brubeck's mother was a keen pianist, and the musician later joked that he had been introduced to the instrument while still in the womb.

The musician, whose recordings included Take Five and Blue Rondo a la Turk, was once designated a "living legend" by the US Library of Congress.
He died on Wednesday morning in hospital in Connecticut, his manager Russell Gloyd told the Chicago Tribune newspaper.

The musician, who toured with the likes of Duke Ellington and Ella Fitzgerald would have turned 92 on Thursday.
Mr Gloyd said Brubeck died of heart failure after being stricken while on his way to a cardiology appointment with his son Darius.
Neil Portnow from The Recording Academy called Brubeck "an iconic jazz and classical pianist" and "a great legend".
He said the musician "showed that jazz could be artistically challenging yet accessible to large audiences".
Jazz standard Brubeck enjoyed phenomenal success with The Dave Brubeck Quartet in the 1950s and '60s, selling millions of albums.
Their 1959 album, Time Out, was significant for its use of uncommon, complex time signatures - influenced by the pianist's classical training.
The record spawned Take Five, the biggest-selling jazz single of all time - and used as the theme tune to several TV programmes throughout the years, including Channel 4's Secret Life of Machines, and NBC's Today programme.
It was, however, the one track on the album not written by Brubeck himself, having been composed by his long-time saxophonist Paul Desmond.
The song was a staple of the band's live set for the rest of their careers, with each musician leaving the stage one at a time after their respective solos, until only drummer Joe Morello was left.
Although Brubeck disbanded the quartet in 1967 to enable him to concentrate on composing, they reconvened regularly until Desmond's death in 1977.
The musician had several other touring bands over the years, and three of his five sons would regularly join him in concert in the 1970s.