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Gary Giddins- Backstage Interview on Percy Heath
Gary Giddins | Percy Heath
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. |
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Description: The 4th Master class in the fall series featured two of the incredible Heath Brothers, Percy and Jimmy. The third brother Albert was not attending that day. Coming from a musical family and known as one of the first families of jazz, the Philadelphia brothers are known for their impeccable compositions, arrangements and love of bebop. Each brother became musically successful in their own right and played with many of the bebop pioneers such as the Dizzy Gillespie Big Band. The rhythm section became known as the famous Modern Jazz Quartet after Percy succeeded Ray Brown, launching a 43 year career. Jimmy also played with Gillespie, exchanging his alto sax for a tenor and is a talented composer-arranger. All through the master class, you can sense the love of music the brothers still have and their smiles alone light up the stage.
Shoot Date: Nov-04 |
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