Famed Jazz ambassador, pianist Dave Brubeck dead at 91 Honoree Dave Brubeck arrives on the red carpet of the Kennedy Center Honors in Washington on December 6, 2009. UPI/Alexis C. Glenn LOS ANGELES, Dec. 5 (UPI) -- Famed jazz pianist and songwriter Dave Brubeck died Wednesday at a hospital in Norwalk, Conn., his manager said. He was 91. Russell Gloyd told The Washington Post Brubeck was headed to a regular medical checkup when his heart failed, a day before his 92nd birthday. The California native and Kennedy Center honoree released nearly 100 albums and penned hundreds of tunes, including the classics "Take Five," "Blue Rondo a la Turk," "In Your Own Sweet Way" and "The Duke," during his seven-decades-long career, the Post noted. "For as long as I've been playing jazz, people have been trying to pigeonhole me," he once told the Chicago Tribune. Frankly, labels bore me. He is survived by his wife, Iola; four sons; and a daughter, the Tribune said.