Heath, Percy Leroy

▪ 2006

      American musician (b. April 30, 1923, Wilmington, N.C.— d. April 28, 2005, Southampton, N.Y.), became renowned for his melodic bass playing in the Modern Jazz Quartet (MJQ), one of the longest-lived of all jazz groups, and in the popular Heath Brothers combos. During World War II he was a fighter pilot with the Army Air Forces' Tuskegee Airmen; after the war he gradually became noted as one of the outstanding bassists in the then-new bop idiom. The MJQ's elegant ensemble sound and far-reaching repertoire offered uncommonly wide latitude for his buoyant, swinging accompaniments and lyric soloing; he played steadily with the group from 1952 to its disbanding in 1997. During the MJQ's 1974–81 hiatus, he also began playing cello, as well as bass, with his brothers—Jimmy on saxophone and Albert (“Tootie”) on drums. He played in the Heath Brothers for the rest of his life. He also was bassist on classic recordings by Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis, and Ornette Coleman.

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