Legendary drummer Jimmy Cobb dies aged 91

Legendary drummer and NEA jazz master Jimmy Cobb has passed away at the age of 91. The drummer's career spanned over seven decades, having played with jazz titans including Miles Davis, Cannonball Adderley, Dizzy Gillespie, John Coltrane, Billie Holliday, Sarah Vaughan and Joe Henderson. Cobb was the last surviving player Miles Davis' legendary Kind of Blue album.

Earlier this year, Jimmy Cobb's family launched an online fundraiser to help Cobb with medical issues that the family were struggling to pay. The news broke on Monday morning via a social media post released by the jazz producer and plugger Todd Barkan, with tributes emerging from contemporary jazz stars such as Christian McBride. His wife - Eleana Tee Cobb - confirmed that he had passed away after being diagnosed with lung cancer.

Cobb, known for his keen sense of dynamics, subtlety and finesse, was born in Washington D.C in 1929. The largely self-taught musician first recorded and played with figures such as Dinah Washington, Billie Holiday, Dizzy Gillespie and Cannonball Adderley before joining forces with Miles Davis. Cobb worked with Davis' group between 1957 and 1963, and played on many iconic albums including Sketches of Spain (1960), Someday my Prince will Come (1961) and Kind of Blue (1959), often penned as the best selling jazz album of all time. The modal jazz also featured saxophonists Cannonball Adderley and John Coltrane, pianists Bill Evans and bassist Paul Chambers.

After his work with Davis came to an end in 1963, Cobb went to work with pianist Wynton Kelly until the late 1960s, before working with Sarah Vaughan for nearly a decade, before going freelance with many more great players like Ron Carter, Dave Holland, Freddie Hubbard and Pee Wee Elllis.

• Miles Davis