Jazz pioneer Dave Brubeck dies aged 91

Jazz composer and pianist Dave Brubeck, whose pioneering style in pieces such as Take Five caught listeners’ ears with exotic, challenging rhythms, has died. He was 91.

Brubeck died of heart failure after being taken ill while on his way to a cardiology appointment with his son Darius, said his manager Russell Gloyd. He would have turned 92 today.

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

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He formed The Dave Brubeck Quartet in 1951 and was the first modern jazz musician to be pictured on the cover of Time magazine – on November 8, 1954 – and he helped define the swinging, smoky rhythms of 1950s and 1960s 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.

In later years Brubeck, who 
was still touring at the age of 88, composed music for operas and ballet.

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