On December 5, 2012, David Warren “Dave” Brubeck died aged 91. He was musician (piano), bandleader and composer, regarded as one of the great post-bop jazz innovators and one of the most influential and popular artists in the jazz history. Brubeck was author of numerous jazz standards, including “In Your Own Sweet Way”, “The Duke”. “Pick Up Sticks”, “Unsquare Dance” and “Blue Rondo à la Turk”. “The Dave Brubeck Quartet” album “Time Out” released in 1959, was based upon the use of time signatures that were unusual for jazz such as 9/8 and 5/4. The album featured Paul Desmond’s track “Take Five”, peaked at #2 on the “Billboard” pop albums chart, has been certified platinum by the “RIAA”, and became one of the best selling jazz albums of all time. As a recognition for his work, Brubeck received many awards, including:

• Connecticut Arts Award (1987)
• National Medal of Arts, National Endowment for the Arts (1994)
• Down Beat Hall of Fame (1994)
• Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (1996)
• Doctor of Sacred Theology, Doctorate honoris causa, University of Fribourg, Switzerland (2004)
• Laetare Medal(University of Notre Dame) (2006)
• BBC Jazz Lifetime Achievement Award (2007)
• Benjamin Franklin Award for Public Diplomacy (2008)
• Inducted into California Hall of Fame (2008)
• Eastman School of MusicHonorary Degree (2008)
• Kennedy Center Honor (2009)
• George Washington University Honorary Degree (2010)
• Honorary Fellow of Westminster Choir College, Princeton, New Jersey (2011)

Additionally, the main-belt asteroid “5079 Brubeck” was named after Brubeck.