Percy Heath
| Percy Heath | |
|---|---|
Percy Heath NYC June 1977
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Percy Heath |
| Born | April 30, 1923 |
| Origin | Wilmington, North Carolina, United States |
| Died | April 28, 2005 (aged 81) |
| Genres |
Bebop Hard bop Cool jazz |
| Occupation(s) | Double bassist |
| Instruments | Double bass, Cello |
| Associated acts | Dizzy Gillespie, Jimmy Heath, Miles Davis, Johnny Griffin, Modern Jazz Quartet, The Heath Brothers |
Percy Heath (April 30, 1923 – April 28, 2005) was an American jazz bassist, brother to tenor saxophonist Jimmy Heath and drummer Albert Heath, with whom he formed the Heath Brothers in 1975. Heath played with the Modern Jazz Quartet throughout their long history and also worked with Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Wes Montgomery and Thelonious Monk.
Heath was born in Wilmington, North Carolina, and spent his childhood in Philadelphia. His father played the clarinet and his mother sang in the church choir. He started playing violin at the age of eight and also sang locally. He was drafted into the Army in 1944, becoming a member of the Tuskegee Airmen, but saw no combat.
Deciding after the war to go into music, he bought a stand-up bass and enrolled in the Granoff School of Music in Philadelphia. Soon he was playing in the city's jazz clubs with leading artists. In Chicago in 1948, he recorded with his brother on a Milt Jackson album as members of the Howard McGhee Sextet. After moving to New York in the late 1940s, Percy and Jimmy Heath found work with Dizzy Gillespie's groups. Around this time, he was also a member of Joe Morris's band, together with Johnny Griffin.
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