from Pioneer Press (photo from The Chicago Tribune)
Dave Brubeck, legendary jazz composer and pianist, dies at 91 (w/ video)
By Richard Scheinin / Mercury News
To see pianist Dave Brubeck in recent years — up on stage, say, at the Monterey Jazz Festival, striding with his band through “Take Five,” his seminal tune — one might have thought he would play forever. That thick shock of white hair. That electric smile. Those sturdy fingers on the keys.
But Brubeck, one of the legends of jazz and American music, generally, died today in Connecticut, one day short of his 92nd birthday. He was on his way to a doctor’s appointment with his son, Darius, also a musician. And so ended the life of this musical voyager, who was born in Concord, California, grew up the son of an East Bay cattle rancher, took piano lessons from his mother, and went on to become the composer of jazz standards, ballet music and oratorios, active until a fine old age. He was a legend, on the cover of Time magazine in 1954, the recipient of many honors, including the National Medal of Arts in 1994.