Iola Brubeck, the widow of jazz legend Dave Brubeck, died Wednesday morning in her Connecticut home at age 90, according to Dave Brubeck’s longtime manager-producer-conductor, Russell Gloyd.

Dave Brubeck died in December of 2012, a day short of his 92nd birthday.

Iola Brubeck had been waging “a brave battle with cancer,” according to a Brubeck family statement.

“Iola was a brilliant person who collaborated with our father over their 70 year marriage,” read the statement, which was posted on Dave Brubeck’s Facebook page. “She was a gifted lyricist whose poetry was sung by the likes of Louis Armstrong, Carmen McRae, Frederica von Stade and many others. Early in Dave’s career, she was the visionary manager of the Dave Brubeck Quartet who pioneered the presentation of jazz concerts in colleges across the country.”

“The Life & Music of Dave Brubeck” will be celebrated April 7-12 at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York.

By Howard Reich
Originally published at chicagotribune.com