0Jazz pianist and composer Dave Brubeck, who tinkered masterfully with rhythm and style and won millions of new fans around the world for the quintessentially American musical genre, died on Wednesday of heart failure at the age of 91.

A day shy of his 92nd birthday, Brubeck died in a hospital in Norwalk, Connecticut.

Brubeck won a slew of awards over the course of a career that spanned more than six decades. He was still playing as recently as last year. He played at the White House for presidents and visiting dignitaries, and was designated a “Living Legend” by the Library of Congress.

Brubeck’s 1959 album Time Out became the first million-selling jazz record of the modern era, as songs Take Five and Blue Rondo a la Turk defied the indifference of critics to become classics in the genre.

A big party had been planned for this Sunday to celebrate Brubeck’s 92nd birthday, but he fell ill on Wednesday and his son called for an ambulance, which took him to the emergency room.