Jimmy Heath

{{Short description|American jazz saxophonist, composer, and band leader (1926–2020)}}

{{Infobox musical artist

| image = Jimmy_Heath_1998.jpg

| alt =

| caption = Heath in 1998

| background = non_vocal_instrumentalist

| birth_name = James Edward Heath

| alias = Little Bird

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1926|10|25}}

| birth_place = {{nowrap|Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.}}

| death_place = Loganville, Georgia, U.S.

| death_date = {{Death date and age|2020|1|19|1926|10|25}}

| instrument = {{hlist|Saxophone||flute}}

| genre = {{hlist|Jazz|bebop|hard bop}}

| occupation = {{hlist|Musician|composer|arranger|educator}}

| years_active = 1940s–2020

| label = {{hlist|Riverside|Limelight|Impulse|Atlantic|Verve|Xanadu|Landmark|SteepleChase}}

| past_member_of = Heath Brothers

| website = {{url|jimmyheath.com}}

| module = {{Infobox person

| embed = yes

| relatives = {{ubl|Percy Heath (brother)|Albert Heath (brother)}}

}}

James Edward Heath (October 25, 1926 – January 19, 2020), nicknamed Little Bird, was an American jazz saxophonist, composer, arranger, and big band leader. He was the brother of bassist Percy Heath and drummer Albert Heath.

Biography

Heath was born in Philadelphia on October 25, 1926.[{{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p6707|pure_url=yes}} Allmusic biography] His father, an auto mechanic, played the clarinet, performing on the weekends. His mother sang in a church choir. The family frequently played recordings of big band jazz groups around the house. Heath's sister was a pianist, while his brothers were bassist Percy Heath (older) and drummer Albert Heath (his youngest sibling).{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/2020/01/19/535609079/jazz-saxophone-legend-jimmy-heath-has-died?t=1579512784581&t=1579620083012|title=Jazz Saxophone Legend Jimmy Heath Has Died|publisher=NPR|date=January 19, 2020|access-date=January 21, 2020}}

During World War II, Heath was rejected for the draft for being below the minimum weight.

Heath originally played alto saxophone. He earned the nickname "Little Bird" after his work for Howard McGhee and Dizzy Gillespie in the late 1940s, during which his playing displayed influences from Charlie Parker (Parker's nickname was "Bird"). He then switched to tenor saxophone.

From late 1945 through most of 1946, he performed with the Nat Towles band. In 1946, he formed his own band, which was a fixture on the Philadelphia jazz scene until 1949.{{Cite web|url=https://www.pressdemocrat.com/entertainment/6996531-181/jazz-legend-jimmy-heath-stars|title=10 days of jazz at the Healdsburg Jazz Festival|date=May 25, 2017|website=Santa Rosa Press Democrat}} The band included John Coltrane, Benny Golson, Specs Wright, Cal Massey, Johnny Coles, Ray Bryant, and Nelson Boyd. Charlie Parker and Max Roach sat in on one occasion.{{Cite web|title=Blue Note JIMMY HEATH BIG BAND - 2019-01-12|url=http://www.bluenote.net/newyork/schedule/moreinfo.cgi?id=16542|website=www.bluenote.net}} The band performed at venues such as the Apollo Theater in Harlem. Although Heath recalls that the band recorded a few demos on acetate, it never released any recordings, and its arrangements were lost at a Chicago train station. The band dissolved in 1949 so that Heath could join Dizzy Gillespie's band.Porter, Lewis. John Coltrane: His Life and Music Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1999. {{ISBN|9780472101610}}.

Heath was arrested and convicted twice for the sale of heroin; he was an acknowledged addict. The first time, in the spring of 1954, he was sent to the Federal Medical Center, Lexington, Kentucky, where many musicians and celebrities (and other people) were given treatment. After release, In early 1955, still an addict, he was arrested again, and served most of a six-year prison sentence in Lewisburg. He went cold turkey, and was able to spend a lot of his time engaged in music. While in prison he actually composed most of the Chet Baker and Art Pepper album Playboys (1956). He was released early, on May 21, 1959, and remained clean for the rest of his life; conditions of probation made it difficult, but he managed to start rebuilding his career.{{Cite book|title=I Walked With Giants: The Autobiography of Jimmy Heath|last1=Heath|first1=Jimmy|last2=McLaren|first2=Joseph|publisher=Temple University Press|year=2010|isbn=978-1-4399-0198-4|location=Philadelphia|pages=98–101}}

He briefly joined Miles Davis's group in 1959, replacing Coltrane, and also worked with Kenny Dorham and Gil Evans. Heath recorded extensively as leader and sideman. During the 1960s, he frequently worked with Milt Jackson and Art Farmer.

In 1975, he and his brothers formed the Heath Brothers, also featuring pianist Stanley Cowell.

Jimmy Heath composed "For Minors Only", "Picture of Heath", "Bruh' Slim", and "CTA" and recorded them on his 1975 album Picture of Heath.{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/picture-of-heath-mw0001881017|title=Picture of Heath - Jimmy Heath {{!}} Songs, Reviews, Credits {{!}} AllMusic|website=AllMusic|access-date=January 1, 2018}}

In the 1980s, Heath joined the faculty of the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College, City University of New York. With the rank of Professor, he led the creation of the Jazz Program at Queens College and attracted prominent musicians such as Donald Byrd to the campus. He also served on the board of the Louis Armstrong Archives on campus, and the restoration and management of the Louis and Lucille Armstrong Residence in Corona, Queens, near his own home.Berman, Eleanor. [http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06001/629777.stm "The jazz of Queens encompasses music royalty"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120102055101/http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06001/629777.stm |date=January 2, 2012 }}, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, January 1, 2006. Accessed October 1, 2009. "When the trolley tour proceeds, Mr. Knight points out the nearby Dorie Miller Houses, a co-op apartment complex in Corona where Clark Terry and Cannonball and Nat Adderley lived and where saxophonist Jimmy Heath still resides." In addition to teaching at Queens College for more than 20 years, he also taught at Jazzmobile.{{cite news |title=A Jazz Colossus Steps Out |first=Will |last=Friedwald |author-link=Will Friedwald |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704518904575366003370572496?KEYWORDS=jimmy+heath |newspaper=The Wall Street Journal |publisher=Dow Jones & Co. |location=New York |issn= 0099-9660 |date=July 19, 2010 |access-date=July 20, 2010}}

Personal life

At a coming-home party the night after his release from Lewisburg Penitentiary, he met his eventual wife, Mona Brown, whom he married in 1960; they had two children, Roslyn and Jeffrey.{{Cite book|title=I Walked With Giants: The Autobiography of Jimmy Heath|last1=Heath|first1=Jimmy|last2=McLaren|first2=Joseph|publisher=Temple University Press|year=2010|isbn=978-1-4399-0198-4|location=Philadelphia|pages=80–90}}

Heath was the father of R&B songwriter/musician James Mtume.{{cite web|url=http://www.arts.gov/honors/jazz/jmCMS/master.php?id=2003_01 |title=NEA Jazz Masters: Jimmy Heath |author=National Endowment for the Arts |author-link=National Endowment for the Arts |publisher=National Endowment for the Arts |access-date=July 20, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120320130811/http://www.arts.gov/honors/jazz/jmCMS/master.php?id=2003_01 |archive-date=March 20, 2012 }}

In 2010 his autobiography I Walked With Giants was published by the Temple University Press.{{Cite web|url=http://tupress.temple.edu/book/0317|title=Temple University Press|website=tupress.temple.edu}} Heath stood just 5 feet, 3 inches.

He notably played in a jazz concert at the White House, when President Bill Clinton borrowed his saxophone for one number.

Heath died on January 19, 2020, in Loganville, Georgia, of natural causes.{{cite web |title=Jazz Saxophone Legend Jimmy Heath Has Died |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/therecord/2020/01/19/535609079/jazz-saxophone-legend-jimmy-heath-has-died |website=NPR.org |access-date=January 19, 2020 |language=en}}

Awards and legacy

He received a Grammy nomination for box-set liner notes of The Heavyweight Champion, John Coltrane, the Complete Atlantic Recordings (Rhino, 1995), and Grammy nominations for Little Man Big Band (Verve, 1994) and Live at the Public Theatre with The Heath Brothers (Columbia, 1980).{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2020/01/20/us/ap-us-obit-jimmy-heath-.html|title=Jazz Composer and Saxophone Player Jimmy Heath Dies at 93|agency=Associated Press|date=January 20, 2020|via=NYTimes.com}}{{cite web |url=https://www.grammy.com/grammys/artists/jimmy-heath |title=Artist: Jimmy Heath |publisher=grammy.com |year=2020 |access-date=January 21, 2020}}

Heath was a recipient of the 2003 NEA Jazz Masters Award. In 2004, he was awarded an honorary Doctorate in Human Letters.{{Cite web|url=https://www.qc.cuny.edu/Pages/NotFound.aspx|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060908185445/http://www.qc.cuny.edu/nis/Releases/viewNews.php?id=69|url-status=dead|title=Queens College, City University of New York|archive-date=September 8, 2006|website=www.qc.cuny.edu}}

Heath worked on over 100 albums and wrote more than 125 compositions. Many have since become jazz standards, recorded by artists such as; Art Farmer, Cannonball Adderley, Clark Terry, Chet Baker, Miles Davis, James Moody, Milt Jackson, Ahmad Jamal, Ray Charles, Dizzy Gillespie, J. J. Johnson, and Dexter Gordon. Heath also composed suites and string quartets, and a symphony, Three Ears, which premiered in 1988 at Queens College, with Maurice Peress conducting.{{Cite web|title=Blue Note JIMMY HEATH BIG BAND - 2019-01-12|url=http://www.bluenote.net/newyork/schedule/moreinfo.cgi?id=16542|website=www.bluenote.net}}

Books

{{cite book |last1=Heath |first1=Jimmy |last2=McLaren |first2=Joseph |title=I Walked With Giants: The Autobiography of Jimmy Heath |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MSqCZBIKcJoC |publisher=Temple University Press |year=2010 |isbn=978-1-4399-0198-4}}

Discography

Sources:{{Cite book|title=I Walked With Giants: The Autobiography of Jimmy Heath|last1=Heath|first1=Jimmy|last2=McLaren|first2=Joseph|publisher=Temple University Press|year=2010|isbn=978-1-4399-0198-4|location=Philadelphia|pages=296–300}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/jimmy-heath-mn0000120241/discography|title=Jimmy Heath | Album Discography|website=AllMusic}}

= As leader =

1959: The Thumper (Riverside, 1959)
1960: Really Big! (Riverside, 1960)
1961: The Quota (Riverside, 1961)
1962: Triple Threat (Riverside, 1962)
1963: Swamp Seed (Riverside, 1963)
1964: Fast Company (Milestone, 1975)[2LP]
1964: On the Trail (Riverside, 1964)
1965: Jam Gems: Live at the Left Bank with Freddie Hubbard (Label M, 2001) – Live
1972: The Gap Sealer (Cobblestone, 1973) – also released as Jimmy (Muse, 1979)
1973: Love and Understanding (Muse, 1973)
1974: The Time and the Place (Landmark, 1994)
1975: Picture of Heath (Xanadu, 1975)
1985: New Picture (Landmark, 1985)
1987: Peer Pleasure (Landmark, 1987)
1991: You've Changed (SteepleChase, 1992)
1992: Little Man Big Band (Verve, 1992)
1995: You or Me (SteepleChase, 1995)
2004, 06: Turn Up the Heath (Planet Arts, 2006)
2007, 10: Endless Search (Origin, 2010)
2011: Togetherness: Live at the Blue Note (Jazz Legacy Productions, 2013) – Live

2020?: Love Letter (Impulse!, 2020)

Compilation

Nice People - The Riverside Collection (Original Jazz Classics) – rec. 1959–64

With the Heath Brothers

Marchin' On (Strata-East, 1975)
Passin' Thru (Columbia, 1978)
Live at the Public Theatre (Columbia, 1979)
In Motion (Columbia, 1979)
Expressions of Life (Columbia, 1980)
Brotherly Love (Antilles, 1981)
Brothers and Others (Antilles, 1981)
As We Were Saying (Concord, 1997)
Jazz Family (Concord, 1998)
Endurance (Jazz Legacy Productions, 2009)

= As sideman =

With Kenny Dorham

Kenny Dorham Quintet (Debut, 1953)
Showboat (Time, 1960)

With Art Farmer

The Time and the Place: The Lost Concert (Mosaic, 1966) - released 2007
The Art Farmer Quintet Plays the Great Jazz Hits (Columbia, 1967)
The Time and the Place (Columbia, 1967)
Homecoming (Mainstream, 1971)

With Curtis Fuller

Soul Trombone (Impulse!, 1962)
Smokin' (Mainstream, 1972)

With Milt Jackson

Vibrations (Atlantic, 1961)
Big Bags (Riverside, 1962)
Invitation (Riverside, 1962)
Statements (Impulse!, 1962)
Milt Jackson Quintet Live at the Village Gate (Riverside, 1962)
Jazz 'n' Samba (Impulse! 1964)
In a New Setting (Limelight, 1964)
Ray Brown / Milt Jackson with Ray Brown (Verve, 1965)
Born Free (Limelight, 1966)
Olinga (CTI, 1974)

With Sam Jones

The Soul Society (Riverside, 1960)
The Chant (Riverside, 1961)
Down Home (Riverside, 1962)

With Herbie Mann

Latin Mann (Columbia, 1965)
Big Boss Mann (1970)

With Blue Mitchell

Blue Soul (Riverside, 1959)
A Sure Thing (Riverside, 1962)

With others

Nat Adderley, That's Right! (Riverside, 1960)
Donald Byrd, Up with Donald Byrd (Verve, 1965)
Benny Carter, Over the Rainbow (MusicMasters, 1989)
Stanley Cowell, Regeneration (Strata-East, 1976)
Continuum, Mad About Tadd (Palo Alto, 1980)[{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r33823|pure_url=yes}} AllMusic review: Continium - Mad About Tadd]
Miles Davis, Miles Davis Volume 2 (Blue Note, 1953) – reissued mostly on Miles Davis Vol 1 - 12 inch LP
Charles Earland, Black Drops (Prestige, 1970)
Red Garland, The Quota (MPS, 1971)
Bunky Green, My Babe (Vee-Jay, 1965) – rec. 1960
Johnny Hartman, I've Been There (PErception, 1973)
Albert Heath, Kwanza (The First) (Muse, 1973)
Elmo Hope, Homecoming! (Riverside, 1961)
Freddie Hubbard, Hub Cap (Blue Note, 1961)
J. J. Johnson, All Stars (with Clifford Brown) (Blue Note, 1953) – reissued as The Eminent Jay Jay Johnson Volume 1 (1957)
Carmell Jones, Jay Hawk Talk (Prestige, 1965)
Howard McGhee, Howard McGhee and Milt Jackson (Savoy, 1948)
The Modern Jazz Quartet, MJQ & Friends: A 40th Anniversary Celebration (Atlantic, 1994)
Kanji Ohta & The Jazz Family, Our Jazz Family (JZAZ, 2012) – rec. 2002
Don Patterson, These Are Soulful Days (Muse, 1972)
Pony Poindexter, Pony's Express (Epic, 1962)
Julian Priester, Keep Swingin' (Riverside. 1960)
Don Sickler, The Music of Kenny Dorham (Reservoir, 1983)
Don Sleet, All Members (Jazzland, 1961){{Cite web|url=https://news.allaboutjazz.com/don-sleet-all-members.php|title=Jazz news: Don Sleet: All Members|first=All About|last=Jazz|website=All About Jazz News| date=November 17, 2009 }}
Cal Tjader, Soul Sauce (Verve, 1965)
Charles Tolliver, Music Inc. (Strata-East, 1970)
Diego Urcola, Viva (Cam Jazz, 2007)
Gerald Wilson, New York, New Sound (Mack Avenue, 2003)
Nancy Wilson, Turned to Blue (2006)

References

External links

[http://www.jimmyheath.com Official website]
{{IMDb name|1183016}}
[http://www.brotherlyjazz.com Brotherly Jazz:The Heath Brothers] - DVD Documentary
[http://www.visionaryproject.com/heathjimmy Jimmy Heath's oral history video excerpts] at The National Visionary Leadership Project
[http://www.cubaencuentro.com/cultura/articulos/el-itinerario-musical-de-bebo-valdes-chico-rita-263176 B.S.O Chico y Rita Film.]

Category:1926 births

Category:2020 deaths

Category:African-American saxophonists

Category:American jazz tenor saxophonists

Category:American male saxophonists

Category:Cobblestone Records artists

Category:Columbia Records artists

Category:Hard bop saxophonists

Category:Landmark Records artists

Category:Mainstream jazz saxophonists

Category:Miles Davis

Category:Milestone Records artists