NEAL CONAN, HOST:
Pianist and composer Dave Brubeck died in Norwalk, Connecticut this morning, one day shy of this 92nd birthday. Dave Brubeck toured his immensely popular quartet in black jazz clubs in the Deep South in the '50s and early '60s. He gets credit for introducing jazz on college campuses. He wrote choral and symphonic works, but he will best be remembered for one album issued in 1959 that introduced two great hits: "Take Five" and this tune, "Blue Rondo a la Turk," where the pianist and composer traded solos with Paul Desmond on sax.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC, "BLUE RONDO A LA TURK")
CONAN: The Dave Brubeck Quartet, "Blue Rondo a la Turk." Dave Brubeck died today at the age of 91. Much more on his life and career later today on ALL THINGS CONSIDERED and at NPR Music. Tomorrow, Ari Shapiro is here. I'll talk to you again on Monday. It's the TALK OF THE NATION from NPR News. I'm Neal Conan in Washington. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.