Jimmy Heath

Biography

Jimmy Heath was born in Philadelphia on October 25, 1926. His father, an auto mechanic, played clarinet on weekends; his mother sang in a church choir. The family often played big band jazz recordings at home. Heath's sister was a pianist, his older brother Percy was a bassist, and his youngest brother Albert was a drummer.

During World War II, Heath was rejected for the draft for being below the minimum weight. He originally played alto saxophone. After working with Howard McGhee and Dizzy Gillespie in the late 1940s, he earned the nickname "Little Bird" because his playing showed influences from Charlie Parker (nicknamed "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, a fixture on the Philadelphia jazz scene until 1949. 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.

The band performed at venues such as the Apollo Theater in Harlem. Heath recalls the band recorded a few demos on acetate, but never released any recordings, and its arrangements were lost at a Chicago train station. The band dissolved in 1949 so Heath could join Dizzy Gillespie's band. Heath was arrested and convicted twice for the sale of heroin; he was an acknowledged addict.

The first time, in spring 1954, he was sent to the Federal Medical Center in Lexington, Kentucky. 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 spent much of his time engaged in music, composing most of the Chet Baker and Art Pepper album Playboys (1956) while in prison. He was released early on May 21, 1959, and remained clean for the rest of his life.

He briefly joined Miles Davis's group in 1959, replacing Coltrane, and also worked with Kenny Dorham and Gil Evans. 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. 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. He also served on the board of the Louis Armstrong Archives on campus and the restoration of the Louis and Lucille Armstrong Residence in Corona, Queens. He taught at Queens College for more than 20 years and also taught at Jazzmobile.

Personal life

At a coming-home party the night after his release from Lewisburg Penitentiary, Heath met his eventual wife, Mona Brown, whom he married in 1960. They had two children, Roslyn and Jeffrey. Heath was also the father of R&B songwriter/musician James Mtume. In 2010, his autobiography I Walked With Giants was published by Temple University Press. Heath stood 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.

Awards and legacy

Heath 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). He was a recipient of the 2003 NEA Jazz Masters Award. In 2004, he was awarded an honorary Doctorate in Human Letters. 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.