Malachi Thompson dies from leukemia

CHICAGO, July 19 (UPI) -- Jazz musician Malachi Thompson has died at 56 in Chicago from leukemia.

The jazz great's leukemia had been remission for 20 years, but struck down the musical innovator last Sunday, All About Jazz reported.

"Jazz is the music of freedom," Thompson once wrote in one of his album's liners. "In my reality, time moves in one direction, ever forward. I've got to live and create in the present in order to shape the future."

Thompson was regarded as a man of purpose and vision throughout the musical community, All About Jazz said. His former band, Africa Brass with Billy Harper, will honor his memory on Sept. 1 with a performance at the Chicago Jazz Festival.