Jazz pianist, composer and Mercury Prize nominated Stan Tracey has died at the age of 86 after a long battle with an illness.
According to The Associated Press, Tracey was a huge figure in the British jazz scene and is most known for his work Under Milk Wood, which was inspired by Dylan Thomas.
"Stanley William Tracey passed away peacefully this afternoon. Finally the pain has gone and he can rest in peace," his son, Clark Tracey," said in an announcement. A note on his website read: "After a struggle with illness, he passed away having recently celebrated his 70 year professional career."
After Under Milk Wood, Tracey provided the soundtrack for Sir Michael Caine's Alife and also released his own album Alice in Jazzland.
Tracey's mother played the violin and piano, but his father wasn't into music. The Telegraph reports the jazz pianist once spoke of his influence in music, saying, "My first profound influence - once I had decided I wasn't going to be a boogie-woogie player - was Thelonious Monk."
In addition to releasing several albums, Tracey, with Ronnie Scott, toured the U.S. in the 1950s, but did not particularly enjoy it and instead returned to London and became a resident pianist for Scott's club.
image: Wikimedia Commons
