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Jimmy Heath Speaks
The Composer Looks Back On A Landmark Career
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Jazz isn’t known for having a low bar of entry. Few genres can lay claim to the degree of dedication and unique musical flavor required to become a name in the jazz world. Virtuoso instrumentalists are rare. Trailblazing composers are even harder to find. It’s a minor miracle to find both in the same body. Jimmy Heath has filled this niche for a lifetime, playing and arranging decades of jazz standards and classics. On June 19 the musician will have a personal conversation at Manhattan’s 92nd Street Y before a live audience, reflecting on the road that took him to fame.
It hasn’t been a short road. Heath has contributed to over a hundred albums as a performer, and has written over 125 jazz compositions. On the way to building this prolific discography, Heath has worked as player and leader alongside icons like Miles Davis, Wynton Marsalis, and John Coltrane. In the 1970’s he formed his own group alongside siblings Albert and Percy, aptly named the Heath Brothers, which performs to this day. Later, as a Professor of Music, Heath helped train a new generation of jazz musicians at Queens College. He continues to perform to this day, but has recently taken the time to write about his long career in the world of jazz.
A year after releasing his memoir, Jimmy Heath is ready to tell his story in person. I Walked with Giants: the Jimmy Heath Autobiography detailed his long career in a voice marked by both endearing humor and serious insight. It’s more than a story of big bands and bigger names; Heath wrote of a side of America some would like to forget. No detail is spared in depicting dealing with Jim Crow America, from the bars he played to the jail he stayed in. The perspective colored by a career that’s been in the gutters and the marble halls of high academia can now be heard in person.
The co-author of I Walked with Giants, Joseph McLaren, will appear beside Heath at 92nd Street Y. Tickets to the dialogue can be purchased in person or ordered via telephone. Bring an ear for music history.
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