Jimmy Heath - Biography

Jimmy Heath has long been recognized as a brilliant instrumentalist and a magnificent composer and arranger.  Jimmy is the middle brother of the legendary Heath Brothers (Percy Heath/bass and Tootie Heath/drums), and is the father of Mtume.   He has performed with nearly all the jazz greats of the last 50 years, from Howard McGhee, Dizzy Gillespie, and Miles Davis to Wynton Marsalis.  In 1948 at the age of 21, he performed in the First International Jazz Festival in Paris with McGhee, sharing the stage with Coleman Hawkins, Slam Stewart, and Erroll Garner.  One of Heath’s earliest big bands (1947-1948) in Philadelphia 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.

During his career, Jimmy Heath has performed on more than 100 record albums including seven with The Heath Brothers and twelve as a leader.  Jimmy has also written more than 125 compositions, many of which have become jazz standards and have been recorded by other artists including 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.  Jimmy has also composed extended works - seven suites and two string quartets - and he premiered his first symphonic work, “Three Ears,” in 1988 at Queens College (CUNY) with Maurice Peress conducting.

After having just concluded eleven years as Professor of Music at the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College, Heath maintains an extensive performance schedule and continues to conduct workshops and clinics throughout the United States, Europe, and Canada.  He has also taught jazz studies at Jazzmobile, Housatonic College, City College of New York, and The New School for Social Research.  In October 1997, two of his former students, trumpeters Darren Barrett and Diego Urcola, placed first and second in the Thelonious Monk Competition.

Heath’s enduring dedication to jazz as well as his musicianship prompted the following tributes:

“All I can say is, if you know Jimmy Heath, you know Bop.”

— Dizzy Gillespie

“Trane was always high on Jimmy’s playing and so was I. Plus, he was a very hip dude to be with, funny and clean and very intelligent. Jimmy is one of the thoroughbreds.”

— Miles Davis

“My pick from the world’s talent would be Diz as leader, John Lewis or Hank Jones on piano, Ray Brown bass, Milt Jackson vibes, Jimmy Heath tenor, and Sonny Stitt alto.”

— Kenny Clarke

“I had met Jimmy Heath, who - besides being a wonderful saxophonist - understood a lot about musical construction.  I joined his group in Philadelphia in 1948.  We were very much alike in our feeling, phrasing and a whole lot of other ways.  Our musical appetites were the same.  We used to practice together, and he would write out some of the things we were interested in.  We would take things from records and digest them.  In this way, we learned about the techniques being used by writers and arrangers.”

— John Coltrane, Downbeat, 1960

Grammy Nominations

Received Grammy nomination for box set liner notes of The Heavyweight Champion, John Coltrane, the Complete Atlantic Recordings (Rhino), 1995
Received Grammy nomination for Little Man Big Band (Verve), produced by Bill Cosby, 1994
Received Grammy nomination for Live at the Public Theatre (Columbia), with The Heath Brothers, 1980

Selected Recordings & Liner Notes

Recorded with Gerald Wilson Big Band, 1/04
Recorded with Angela Hagenbach "Poetry of Love" 3/04
Re-issued Heath Brothers "Expressions of Life/In Motion" Col 6896 9/11/01 Collectables Rec
Re-issued First Heath Brothers Album on CD "Marachin On" Strata East Records 10/10/01.
Released 2001 "Jam Gems" Live at Left Bank - Label M - Freddie Hubbard & Jimmy Heath
Recorded The Heath Brothers, Jazz Family (Concord) with The Heath Brothers, May 29 – 31, 1998; released September 1998
Recorded As We Were Saying . . . (Concord) with The Heath Brothers, February 23 – 25, 1997; released August 1997
Recorded TS Monk on Monk (N2K) with T. S. Monk to celebrate the 80th Birthday of his father, Thelonious, February 16, 1997
Wrote box set liner notes for The Heavyweight Champion, John Coltrane, the Complete Atlantic Recordings (Rhino), 1995
Wrote liner notes for Antonio Hart’s CD, Here I Stand (Impulse), 1995
Recorded You or Me (SteepleChase) with Jimmy Heath Quartet, April 23, 1995; released October 1995
Recorded Hi-Fly (Milestone/Fantasy) with The Riverside Reunion Band at the Pori International Jazz Festival in Pori, Finland, July 25, 1994
Recorded Mostly Monk, A Tribute to Thelonious Monk (and Wes Montgomery & Cannonball Adderley) (Milestone/Fantasy), with The Riverside Reunion Band, September 20, 1993
Recorded “Ellington’s Stray-Horn” on Jazz at Lincoln Center Presents: The Fire of The Fundamentals (Columbia/Sony Music), February 14, 1993
Arranged and conducted a Brass Choir for “Prelude to a Kiss” and “Darn that Dream” selections on Sonny Rollins’ recording, Old Flames (Milestone/Fantasy), 1993
Recorded 41st Anniversary Album (Atlantic) with The Modern Jazz Quartet, 1993
Recorded Dedicated to Diz (Telarc), with Slide Hampton and The Jazz Masters, 1993
Recorded Soul Connection (Enja) with Dusko Goykovich, trumpet, 1993
Recorded with Densil Pinnock, vocalist, Uptown Records, 1993
Recorded Little Man Big Band (Verve), original composition and arrangements, produced by Bill Cosby, 1992
Released "Turn Up The Heath” with the Jimmy Heath Big Band (www.PlanetArts.org), 10/9/2007

Jazz & Education

Master Classes at University of North Florida 9/01 and Julliard School, New York City 9/01.
Featured in the AT&T Jazz Tour of 10 southern schools that are members of the Organizations of Jazz at African American Colleges and Universities, 1997-1998; taught and performed extensively at college workshops and seminars throughout his career
Conducted the National Guild Youth Jazz Band at the National Festival of the Arts, Philadelphia, November 23, 1997
Adjudicated Saxophone Competition at the Annual Thelonious Monk Competition, Washington, D.C., November 25, 1996, and November 1991

Commissioned Works

Conducted Birmingham Youth Jazz Ensemble;Commission Project April 21,01
"Sweet Jazzmobile" performed at Lincoln Center on 10/28/99 for choir and big band.
Received a commission from NYSCA through Jazzmobile of New York City, August 24, 1998
Recorded commissioned work with J. J. Johnson on Summer Solstice, 1997
Performed commissioned work, “Leadership,” for installation of Howard University’s new president, H. Patrick Swygert, April 11, 1996
Performed commissioned work “In Praise (from J. to J.)” with Joe Henderson, The Heath Brothers, Wynton Marsalis, and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, August 4, 1994
Premiered commissioned symphonic work, “Three Ears,” to celebrate 50th Anniversary of Queens College, Maurice Peress conducting, 1988
Premiered and conducted commissioned work, The Afro-American Suite of Evolution, for Creative Artists Program, Town Hall, New York City, 1973
Performed a commissioned suite “The Endless Search” with Seattle Jazz Orchestra, Nov. 4-5, 2007

Awards & Honors

Giants of Black History Award, Greater Harlem Chamber of Commerce NYC 2/9/04
Duke Ellington Fellowship at Yale University 9/5/03
Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation Legacy Award 2/7/03
Honored by The National Visionary Leadership Project 2003
Named 2003 American Jazz Master by the National Endowment for the Arts 1/10/03
Artist of the Year, Flushing Council on Culture and the Arts 12/14/02
Proclaimed "Jimmy Heath Day" at concert in Wilmington,NC by Mayor 10/19/02
Heath Bros received The Diamond Award for Excellence from Intl Association of African
American Music & A citation from the Mayor of Phila June 8th 2002
First Jazz person to receive Honorary Doctor of Music degree at Julliard School of Music 5/24/02
Received Benny Golson Jazz Master Award at Howard University Wash,DC March 14 2002
75th Birthday Tribute concert at Lincoln Ctr 10th &11th of October 2001 with LCJO+Guests
Heath Bros honored at tribute concert at Artist Collective in Hartford CT March 24, 2001.
Received 2000 New York State  Governor's Arts Award from George Pataki on 11/20/00
Received Jazz Masters Award,S.Orange Dept. of Recreation & Cultural Affairs 10/14/00
ReceivedTribute and Proclamation"Jimmy Heath Day" Westchester Board of Legistrators 5/21/00.
Honored at JazzTimes Convention, “Give My Regards to Broad Street, Salute to the Heath Brothers,” New York City, November 2, 1998
Received Dorie Miller Award from the Dorie Miller Co-ops, Corona (Queens), New York, June 25, 1998
Elected to the South Carolina State University Hall of Fame, April 10, 1998
Received (with Percy and Albert “Tootie” Heath) the Count Basie Award from Queens Symphony, April 2, 1998
Honored at “A Tribute to Jimmy Heath,” concert at Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, January 9, 1998; hosted by Bill Cosby, to establish The Jimmy Heath Chair at the Aaron Copland School of Music, Queens College, New York City
Also received the QC Presidential Award.
Received Life Achievement Award from Jazz Foundation of America, March 7, 1997
Received Phineas Newborn, Jr. Award of Excellence at Jimmy Heath Tribute Concert, Merkin Hall, New York City, January 6, 1997
Received The Carter Woodson Foundation Award, May 10, 1996
Received Living Legends Jazz Award from Afro-American Historical & Cultural Museum, Philadelphia, February 2, 1996
Received Afro-American Classical Music Award, Northern New Jersey Alumni, Spelman College, March 18, 1995
Appointed to the Board of Trustees of the Thelonious Monk Institute, 1995
Received New York Newsday Front Page Award, November 22, 1994
Received Founder’s Award, Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, November 21, 1994
Received The Dizzy Gillespie Achievement Award, New York City, September 11, 1994
Received Greater Jamaica Development Corporation Award, September 1994
Elected to the Hall/Walk of Fame with The Heath Brothers, Philadelphia Music Alliance, April 2, 1993
Received Celebration of North Carolina Artists Award, Greensboro Cultural Center, September 15, 1990
Received Honorary Doctorate, Sojourner-Douglas College, Baltimore, Maryland, 1985
Appointed to the Advisory Board of the Louis Armstrong House and Archives
Received The Barry Award from Barry Harris, 1989
Received Jazz Pioneers Award from BMI
Received Beacon's of Jazz Award at the New School NYC, 2/22/05
LCJO performed "Passion or Fashion" dedicated to Lyndon Johnson, narrated by Glen Close, 10/28-30/04
The Mt Airy Cultral Ctr Award 2004, 9/4/04
Received 3rd Honorary Doctorate at Queens College CUNY, 6/3/04
Giants of Black Music Award 2004; Greater Harlem Chamber of Commerce, 2/9/04
Honored by Oberlin Conservatory of Music Jazz Studies Dept., 5/14/05
Received Humanitarium Award from IAJE, 1/14/06
Received Don Redman Heritage Award along with Hank Jones, 6/24/06
Heath Brothers Documentary DVD “Brotherly Jazz” DanSun Productions (www.brotherlyjazz.com)
Elected to Temple University,s Jazz Hall of Fame, 10/17/06
Heath's Symphonic composition “Three Ears” was performed the second time for his 80th Birthday Celebration, 10/18/2006

Jazz & History

Participated on panel, Rhythm and Myth, The Paintings of Bob Thompson, at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York City, October 6, 1998; discussion to examine how Thompson painted using the rhythms and improvisational techniques of jazz; part of an overall workshop focusing on mythology, symbolism, jazz, color, relationship between art, literature, and music, and the social and historical context in which Thompson (1937 – 1966) painted

Participated on panel, Windows and Mirrors: African - American and Jewish American Connections in Jazz, with Artie Shaw, Joe Wilder, Loren Schoenberg, David N. Baker, and Rep. John Conyers, Jr. (moderator), at the DC Jewish Community Center’s Cecile Goldman Theater in Washington, DC, July 19, 1998; panel supported concerts that were performed at the Lincoln Theatre and that featured the music of four of the twentieth century’s most celebrated African -American and Jewish jazz artists: Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, and Artie Shaw

Hosted Jazz Talk for Jazz at Lincoln Center, “To Be or Not To Bop,” a behind-the-scenes look at Dizzy Gillespie’s small band music and the birth of Bebop, December 2, 1997

Completed Interview, Smithsonian Institution’s Oral History Program, March 4, 1995

Participated in Louis Armstrong Oral History Project at the Schomberg Center, New York City, July 17, 1996

Television / Radio

Heath Brothers from New Orleans Jazz and Blues Festival 4/18/2002
Dizzy Gillespie Biography on A&E Channel, May 22nd, 2001
Appeared on ABC, televised from The Kennedy Center, 2nd Annual Nissan Presents A Celebration of America’s Music, Washington, D.C., January 3, 1998
Performed on CBS, televised from The Kennedy Center, The Kennedy Center Honors Ceremony for Benny Carter, Washington, D.C., December 28, 1996
Performed on ABC, televised from The Kennedy Center, 10th Anniversary Celebration of the Thelonious Monk Competition, Washington, D.C., November 25, 1996
Profiled on CBS Sunday Morning, May 5, 1996
Performed at The Kennedy Center with Billy Taylor Trio for National Public Radio broadcast, 1996
Participated in National Public Radio panel discussion of “Race and Culture in Jazz” with Wynton Marsalis, December 1995
Performed at the White House for PBS Special, July 18, 1993
Performed on The Joan Rivers Show, 1991
Performed on The Cosby Show, 1985

Affiliations

Appointed to the advisory panel of NYSCA April 1, 2002
Member of Advisory Board of International Association of Jazz Educators 2000
Serves on Board of Advisors for Louis Armstrong House and Archives, Queens College, and Flushing Town Hall NYC
Board of Trustees Thelonious Monk Instutute of Jazz, Wash.DC.
Jimmy Heath plays an RPC mouthpiece, Vandoren reeds, and Mark VI tenor and soprano saxophones.

Tours & Performances

Toured domestically and internationally on many occasions, including the following noted tours:

Jazz cruise on the Norweigian Sun 10/26 thru 11/2/02
Chicago Fest on 9/31 and Monterey Festival 19th thru 21st of September 2002
North Sea Festival in Holland,Pori Finland and Bucharest,Romania 7/2002
Toured Europe with Heath Brothers, July 2000
QE2 J.Heath Qt and Big Band 10/99
West Coast with The Heath Brothers, January 1998
Europe, Japan, and Canada with The Faddis-Hampton-Heath Sextet, Summer 1997
Japan with the New York Jazz All Stars, July 1995
Europe with The Riverside Reunion Band, July 1994
Europe with Slide Hampton & the Jazz Masters, July 1993 (also California, Sept 1993)
Philip Morris’ Super Band International Tours, 1992 & 1986
Performed with The Heath Brothers on the SS Norway’s Floating Jazz Festival, October 24 – 31, 1998
Led The Jimmy Heath Big Band featuring The Heath Brothers, Grand Hyatt at Grand Central Station, New York City, for WBGO New Year’s Eve Gala and NPR Live Broadcast, 1997-98
Directed “Birks’ Works: Dizzy Gillespie’s Small-Band Masterpieces” for Jazz at Lincoln Center, December 11 and 13, 1997
Performed at Benny Carter’s 90th Birthday Tribute at the Hollywood Bowl, August 1997
Performed in The Heath Brothers Reunion Concert, Columbia University, New York City, November 22, 1996
Led The Jimmy Heath Big Band on the SS Norway’s Floating Jazz Festival November 2 – 9, 1996, and October 28 – November 4, 1995
Led The Jimmy Heath Big Band in Birthday Salute to Jimmy Heath: 70th Birthday at the Blue Note, New York City, October 25, 1996; also 69th Birthday Week at the Iridium, New York City, October 17 – 23, 1995
Featured with the Ellington Band at Orchestra Hall, Detroit, Michigan, October 4, 1996
Led The Jimmy Heath Big Band at the 4th Annual Charlie Parker Festival, New York City, August 25, 1996; performed with The Heath Brothers at the 3rd Annual Festival, 1995
Performed with Jon Faddis at Dizzy Gillespie Tribute Concerts in Atlanta, Georgia, and Villingen, Germany, June 1996
Performed music of The Jimmy Heath Big Band, The Kennedy Center, January 28, 1995
Performed Ellington’s “Three Black Kings” with the Kalamazoo Symphony, March 1994