![](https://cdn.statically.io/img/static01.nyt.com/packages/flash/multimedia/ICONS/transparent.png)
Muhal Richard Abrams at Alice Tully Hall in Manhattan in 2004.
Hiroyuki Ito for The New York Times; thumbnail, Joshua Bright for The New York Times, 2010
Muhal Richard Abrams
Died on October 29, 2017 at age 87
An autodidactic pianist, composer and educator, Mr. Abrams was known both for his diverse, unclassifiable compositions and improvisations and for establishing and sustaining the influential Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians.
Notable Deaths 2017
Remembering Mary Tyler Moore, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lewis, David Rockefeller, Trisha Brown, Glen Campbell, Dick Gregory, Edith Windsor, Sam Shepard, Tom Petty and many others who died this year.