Obituaries

Originally from Osaka, Japan, Akiko Tsuruga became a world-class jazz organist, touted by soul-jazz originals like Lou Donaldson. She died on Sept. 13, after a short terminal illness.

Pascoal said he had composed thousands of pieces. "I am 100 percent intuitive," he once told NPR. Miles Davis called him one of the most important musicians in the world.

Known for his intellectual and illuminating touch on the podium, the refined conductor was also surprisingly outspoken when it came to politics and his peers.

She recorded a magical debut album on Blue Note and was later named a Jazz Master by the National Endowment for the Arts.

The bandleader and pianist was one of the leading Latin musicians of his generation. He won multiple Grammys and was recognized as an NEA Jazz Master.

David F. Gibson, whose precise and hard-driving beat powered legacy editions of the Duke Ellington, Count Basie and Cab Calloway orchestras, and other bands big and small, died on July 30. He was 72.

An accomplished harpist and educator, Jill Pasternak led a distinguished career in radio, including 18 years at WRTI.

With his beard, long hair and brown felt fedora, the jazz flugelhorn player and composer cut an unforgettable figure in American culture.

Argentine pianist and composer Lalo Schifrin, best known for his scores for Mission: Impossible and more than 200 other films and TV shows, including Bullitt, Mannix and Cool Hand Luke, has died.

Routinely called a "musician's musician," the pianist had an atypical career that even he called mysterious. He spent it returning to a handful of favorite composers, with acclaimed results.