77 year old Cleveland Berry Sr. succumbed to the symptoms of cancer this afternoon at Belize Healthcare Partners in Belize City. If, by chance you don't know his name, every Belizean knows the music that he popularized, including "Good Mawning Miss Lady", "Hurricane Hattie", and "Krismus Bum" - which are considered cornerstones of the Belizean songbook.

The Placencia resident known as "CK" had his heyday in the 1950s when he played with The Skylarks at the Fort George and the Bellevue Hotels in Belize City.

He also hosted his own jazz radio show on Radio Belize in the 1970s called the "Jazz Hour with Cleveland Berry". And fittingly, his family reports that he passed with plenty of family members at his side, while Dave Brubeck's "Take 5" - played in the background.