Just read on Ethan Iverson's Twitter feed that tenor legend Jimmy Heath has passed away, at the age of 93. RIP.
-
all words are trains for moving past what really has no name -
From the New York Times obituary just now...
"An avid communicator, Mr. Heath was particularly wily with wordplay. He called the trumpeter Roy Hargrove “Roy Hardgroove.” The drummer Grady Tate became “Gravy Taker” because he snatched up so many good-paying gigs.
Mr. Heath titled his autobiography, written with Joseph McLarin and published in 2010, “I Walked With Giants,” a playful reference to his 5-foot-3 stature as well as to the fact that he spent much of his life working alongside the most lauded names in jazz.
Reflecting on his long career, Mr. Heath often said that although he never achieved as much renown as some of his contemporaries, he was satisfied. “You become an icon when you’re dead,” he told NPR Music in 2014. “I always say I’d rather be an acorn, and be alive.”
Yet from the 1990s, he did enjoy recognition as a jazz eminence. In 2003, the National Endowment for the Arts named him a Jazz Master..."
A great player and a well fulfilled life. As Ian says on another thread, he seemed to be universally liked and genuinely respected by his peers. RIP JH. -
And the Brazilian/US tumpet/flugelhorn player Claudio Roditi has also passed...
RIO — Brazilian trumpeter Cláudio Roditi, aged 73, died in the early hours of Saturday in New Jersey. He had been battling cancer for the past five years. The funeral and funeral will be held in the United States, according to music producer Claudio Sion, Roditi's cousin, who confirmed the death of the musician.
Considered one of the fathers of jazz samba, Roditi started his career early in the 1960s, when he joined the group of composer and arranger Ed Lincoln. At the beginning of the following decade, he left Brazil for the USA, to attend the renowned Berklee College of Music, in Boston. Then he moved to New Jersey, where he stayed until the end of his life.Comment
-
That was a thorough and fair assessment of Jimmy Heath. He was a relatively late discovery for me and someone who impressed me as much as a composer / arranger as a soloist. His charts crop up in all sorts of scenarios including recordings by others. I had forgotten he had plated with Nat Towles' big band - one of the legendary territory bands of the 30s and 40s which had a reputation as the best never to have recorded.Comment
Comment