Jazz musician; born in Plainfield, N.J. He was a classically-trained pianist whose delicate, introspective style established him as one of the few major white innovators in jazz history. Beginning in 1955, he played with George Russell, Charles Mingus and Miles Davis, collaborating on the latter's historic 1959 recording "Kind of Blue." From 1961 until his death, he led a succession of highly interactive trios.