Jimmy Cobb, the last surviving member of Miles Davis’ 1959 groundbreaking album “King Of Blue,” has passed away at the age of 91.

Fox News reported that Cobb’s death was confirmed by his wife Eleana Tee Cobb, who said he died of lung cancer at his home in New York City.

Cobb told The Associated Press last year that he grew up listening to jazz albums, and he often stayed up late to hear disc jockey Symphony Sid playing jazz in New York City before he was able to launch his own career. His life changed when saxophonist Cannonball Adderley recommended him to Davis, and he would go on to play on many of the star’s recordings.

It was Cobb’s role as a drummer on “Kind of Blue” jam session, which was led by Davis, that would be the highpoint of his career. Released on Aug. 17, 1959, the album completely transformed the genre of jazz, as it changed it from bebop into something cooler and less structured.

Cobb said that all the songs on the album were recorded only once, with the exception of the song “Freddie Freeloader,” which had to be recorded a second time because Davis didn’t like a chord change on the first try. While Davis, who died in 1991, had some notes written down about the music, he didn’t write much, meaning it was up to the musicians themselves to improvise.

“He’d say this is a ballad. I want it to sound like it’s floating. And I’d say, ‘OK,’ and that’s what it was,” Cobb recalled.

The album was a huge hit as soon as it was released, which Cobb said came as somewhat of a surprise to the musicians, who had known it was high quality but weren’t sure how audiences would feel about it.

“We knew it was pretty damned good,” he said.

“Kind of Blue” would go on to sell over four million albums and to be the best selling jazz album of all time. Cobb had a decades-long successful career after that, working with artists like Dinah Washington, Pearl Bailey, Clark Terry, Dizzy Gillespie, Sarah Vaughan, Billie Holiday, Wynton Kelly and Stan Getz.

Cobb continued performing well into his 80s,  performing  Albuquerque, New Mexico, in 2017, as part of the New Mexico Jazz Festival. Fans from all over the country came there to see him and pay their respects in what many felt was a goodbye.

Cobb released his final album,  This I Dig of You, with Smoke Sessions Records in August of last year.

This piece originally appeared in UpliftingToday.com and is used by permission.

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