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ALBUMOn Riverside: Jimmy HeathJimmy Heath
Albums by Jimmy Heath
ALBUMLove LetterJimmy Heath
ALBUMThe ProfessorJimmy Heath
ALBUMYou Or MeJimmy Heath
ALBUMYou've ChangesJimmy Heath
ALBUMTenor Tribute - Vol.1Arnett Cobb, Jimmy Heath & Joe Henderson
ALBUMTenor Tribute - Vol.2Arnett Cobb, Jimmy Heath & Joe Henderson
ALBUMPicture Of Heath (feat. Barry Harris, Sam Jones & Billy Higgins)Jimmy Heath
ALBUMSwamp SeedJimmy Heath
ALBUMTriple Threat (feat. Freddie Hubbard, Julius Watkins, Cedar Walton, Albert Heath & Percy Heath)Jimmy Heath
Artist Playlists
Jimmy Heath Essentials
An overlooked jazz giant who left his mark through indelible tunes.
Artist Biography
Although he earned the nickname Little Bird for the way he evoked the bebop sound of Charlie “Bird” Parker, saxophonist Jimmy Heath ended up with a reputation as one of the strongest and most influential composers of the post-bop era, writing standards like “For Minors Only” and “Gingerbread Boy.” Born in Philadelphia in 1926, he grew up in a deeply musical family that included his older brother, the bassist Percy Heath, and younger brother, the drummer Albert “Tootie” Heath. Jimmy formed a big band in Philadelphia in 1946 that included future greats like John Coltrane, Benny Golson, and Johnny Coles during its four-year run, which ended when he moved to New York City to join Dizzy Gillespie’s band. Heath switched from alto to tenor to avoid the Parker comparisons before spending the second half of the ’50s serving two prison terms for drug possession, quitting cold turkey, and elevating his commitment to the music. While incarcerated, he wrote tunes that appeared on the popular 1956 Chet Baker and Art Pepper album Playboys, later reissued as Pictures of Heath. Following his release in 1959, he worked briefly with Miles Davis and made a few albums in the 1960s. In the mid-’70s he re-emerged with his family group the Heath Brothers and spent the next several decades as a gray eminence of jazz, continuing to cut small- and big-band albums until his death at age 93 in 2020.
Hometown
Philadelphia, PA, United States
Genre
Jazz