Grammy-winning jazz flutist Paul Horn dead at 84

Paul Horn, the Grammy-winning jazz flutist and New Age music pioneer, has died at the age of 84.

Horn's son Marlen said his father died Sunday in Vancouver, British Columbia, after a brief illness. He declined to provide further details.

"He passed away very peacefully and did not suffer," Marlen said. "He wasn't in any pain."

Horn's career spanned five decades, 50 albums and five Grammy nominations. He played the flute, clarinet and saxophone in concert tours and recording sessions with artists like Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Nat King Cole, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington and Chico Hamilton.

His album "Jazz Suite on the Mass Texts" won Grammys in 1966 for best original jazz composition and photographic cover album.

Horn studied transcendental meditation alongside the Beatles with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Horn's albums "Inside the Taj Mahal" and "Inside the Great Pyramid" laid the groundwork for the New Age music genre and earned him the nickname "Father of New Age Music."

Horn is survived by his wife, two sons, a stepson and four grandchildren.