Hod O'Brien, a ruggedly handsome and soft-spoken bebop pianist who came to jazz in the late 1950s, left jazz for 10 years in the 1960s and early 1970s, only to return to the music, becoming one of the most highly regarded and tasteful pianists of his generation, died on Nov. 20. He was 80.
Born in Chicago in 1936, Walter "Hod" O'Brien was deeply influenc…