American-born Jazz trumpet player Marcus Belgrave passed away on Sunday, aged 78 of heart failure.

His legendary career included playing with huge names of jazz like Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Joe Cocker, Dizzy Gillespie, Max Roach and Charles Mingues. Mingus had even told people, back in 1975 that “If I had Marcus Belgrave, my band would be the best”.

Belgrave started playing music, professionally, aged 12. In the mid-50’s he played in Ray Charles’ band, while in 1962 he moved to Detroit, the city which he fell in love with. He was a huge part of the Detroit jazz scene and kept on playing almost up to his death. He helped record huge hits such as “The Way You Do the Things you Do”, “My Girl” and “Dancing in the Street”.