Joe Bonner, 66 of Denver, Colorado, a great piano legend who worked with giants from the jazz world on over 40 albums, passed away in Denver, Colorado on November 20, 2014.

Born in Rocky Mount, North Carolina on April 20, 1948, Bonner was an internationally renowned pianist who was born in the same town of Rocky Mount, N.C., as Thelonious Monk. He played with jazz masters like Roy Haynes, Freddie Hubbard, Woody Shaw, Pharoah Sanders, Billy Harper, Harold Vick and Max Roach. He had a distinguished roster of albums as a leader, as well. And though the above gives context to his accomplishments, it doesn't tell all of Bonner's story.

Denver was Bonner's adopted home on and off for decades after he arrived in 1976. I didn't know Joe well, but, starting in the early '90s, I saw him play often at clubs and after-hours jam sessions, and occasionally ran into him at Capitol Hill bars. No one else matched his symphonic style of playing. Beyond his technique, Joe was a complex composer and relentless in pursuit of his aesthetic.

Joe leaves behind a sister, Carrie Taylor of New York, New York.