Dave Brubeck, the pianist, bandleader and composer whose "Take Five" (1959) became the first million-selling jazz single, has died a few days shy of his 92nd birthday.
Later in his career, Brubeck, who had sytudied with Darius Milhaud, produced a number of long-form classical and jazz-classical ("third stream") compositions.
An obituary by Ben Ratliff in The New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/06/arts/music/dave-brubeck-jazz-musician-dies-at-91.html?hp