On March 29, 2001, John Aaron Lewis died aged 80. He was musician  (piano), composer and arranger, best known as the founder and musical director of the Modern Jazz Quartet. Lewis recorded and performed with number of musicians, including Bill Perkins, Jim Hall, Percy Heath, Chico Hamilton, Sacha Distel,  Gunther Schuller, Svend Asmussen, Albert Mangelsdorff, Helen Merrill, Christian Escoudé,  Hank Jones,  Lew Tabackin, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis Nonet, Harold Farberman, Clifford Brown, Ruth Brown, Dizzy Gillespie, Milt Jackson, Joe Newman, Sonny Stitt and J. J. Johnson.