HEATH

Grammy nominated jazz saxophonist and big band leader, Jimmy Heath has long been recognized as a brilliant instrumentalist and a magnificent composer and arranger. 

During his career, Jimmy has recorded extensively as leader and sideman. He has performed on more than 100 albums including seven with the legendary Heath Brothers (formed by Jimmy and his brothers, Percy and Albert) and twelve as a leader. He has also written more than 125 compositions, many of which have become jazz standards and have been recorded by other artists. 

Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on October 25, 1926, Jimmy has performed with nearly all the jazz greats of the last 50 years, including Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, Wynton Marsalis, Milt Jackson and Art Farmer. 

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. The band included John Coltrane, Benny Golson, Specs Wright, Cal Massey, Johnny Coles, Ray Bryant and Nelson Boyd. The band performed at venues such as the Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York.

In 1948 at the age of 21, he performed in the First International Jazz Festival in Paris with Howard McGhee, sharing the stage with Coleman Hawkins, Slam Stewart and Erroll Garner.

He briefly joined Miles Davis’ group in 1959, replacing John Coltrane, and also worked with Kenny Dorham and Gil Evans.

In the 1980s, Jimmy 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. In addition to teaching at Queens College for more than 20 years, he also taught at Jazzmobile.