Pianist Claude Bolling, Creator Of Popular Jazz/Classical Suites, Has Died

French jazz pianist, bandleader and composer Claude Bolling, whose work spanned jazz clubs, the big screen, and Carnegie Hall, died Tuesday at the age of 90. His death was announced by his representatives.

Americans knew Bolling best for a recording project with noted French flutist Jean-Pierre Rampal which contained Bolling's sparkling "Suite for Flute and Jazz Piano." The album, which was released by CBS in 1975, remained on Billboard's classical charts for an astonishing 530 consecutive weeks.

Bolling was born in the southern city of Cannes, along the Mediterranean coast, on April 10, 1930 — just when "le jazz" was surging in France. The genre had first been introduced by Black American soldiers during World War I, continued to flourish in popularity as American expatriates settled in France, and began its own homegrown traditions with more local musicians like the Belgian-Romani guitarist Django Reinhardt developing their own "jazz manouche" style.