The legendary trumpeter Donald Byrd died February 4 in Dover, Del. Byrd, whose career blended jazz, soul, funk and rhythm and blues, was 80.

Byrd’s family had tried to keep his death a secret for several days, though his nephew, the jazz pianist Alex Bugnon wrote on his personal Facebook page last week that Byrd had passed away, fueling many unconfirmed reports of the trumpeter’s death.

In his written statement, Bugnon wrote:

“Let’s remember Donald as a one of a kind pioneer of the trumpet, of the many styles of music he took on, of music education. In sum, Donald was an avid, eternal student of music, until his death. That’s what I try to be, everyday!! Rest in peace, uncle!”

Byrd’s passing was confirmed today by The New York Times.

Born in Detroit in 1932, Donaldson Toussaint L’Ouverture Byrd II got his big break in the 1950s, playing with drumming icon Art Blakey and his Jazz Messengers. Byrd forged a permanent connection with the District’s musical community in the 1960s, when he came to Howard University as the founding director of its jazz program. Later, in 1973, he assembled his best students to form The Blackbyrds, who recorded a number of songs that landed in the top 10 of Billboard’s R&B charts, including “Rock Creek Park,” a sultry ode to the verdant land in middle of the District.

“Rock Creek Park” and many other entries in Byrd’s discography have gone on to be sampled by many hip-hop artists, such as Nas, who memorably used Byrd’s “Flight Time” as the underlying track for his 1994 song “N.Y. State of Mind.”

Byrd had homes Dover, where he was most recently an artist-in-residence at Delaware State University, and in Teaneck, N.J. A cause of death has not been reported.