My favorite jazz pianist of all time, the legendary Dave Brubeck, passed away yesterday at the age of 91, one day shy of his birthday.
(I must thank my sister here for introducing me to Dave’s music by pushing upon me a box set of his music from BMG’s now-defunct mail order service waaaaaaaay back when I was in high school.)
For those of you unfamiliar with Brubeck’s life and pioneering style of composition, here’s a sampling from the outpouring of remembrances published throughout the world as news of his passing spread yesterday (these writers sum up Dave much more eloquently than I ever could.)
- The obligatory New York Times obituary
- Take 5 (heh) facts from Mental Floss
- A view of the influential American musican from across the pond in The Guardian
- A remembrance from NPR, with links to previous features on the jazz giant
- A Spotify playlist from GalleyCat for those of you who want to listen while you read
- On Brubeck’s impeccable, innovative sense of time from the L.A. Times
- The Salt Lake Tribune compiled a list of Brubeck’s top 5 albums (whittled down from a incredibly prolific amount that dates back to the 1940s)