Percy Heath - Musician
Heath Brothers

Percy Heath ranks among the great bop bassists. He was a bedrock member of the Modern Jazz Quartet, a student of Charles Mingus, a sidemen of greats like Red Garland, Howard McGhee and Dizzy Gillespie, and with his brothers Jimmy (saxophone) and Albert (drums) a member of the Heath Brothers. A versatile player for twenty years with the MJQ he was the picture of subtlety, restraint and formalism, but in more than 300 freelance projects showed explosive range and creativity that his quartet work barely hinted at. Heath died in 2005.