FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM JUNE 18, 2020 • BUZZ • THE QUEENS COURIER 51
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Photo courtesy of Flushing Town Hall
Join a virtual tribute celebrating Queens Jazz legend Jimmy Heath
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
cmohamed@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Flushing Town Hall is celebrating the
life and legacy of NEA Jazz Master Jimmy
Heath, the music director of the Queens
Jazz Orchestra, in a virtual tribute on
Friday, June 19.
Th e tribute “I’m Back Swinging Again”
will be livestreamed at 7 p.m. on Flushing
Town Hall’s Facebook page. Th e event will
feature excerpts from a previous concert
by the Queens Jazz Orchestra, testimonials
from family and friends, snapshots of
Heath throughout his career and performances
by several former colleagues.
Heath had etched a longstanding
relationship with Flushing Town Hall.
A dozen years ago, they launched the
17-piece big band Queens Jazz Orchestra,
a project of Flushing Town Hall, which
had performed for thousands of jazz lovers
under his direction.
“We are carrying on the American tradition
of jazz by playing contemporary
and historic compositions,” Heath said
last year about the Queens Jazz Orchestra.
“Jimmy always felt at home at Flushing
Town Hall,” said his wife Mona Heath.
“Th e audience always gave him a warm,
friendly reception and he treasured that.
Th e best gift of my life was meeting him,
and it means a great deal to me to know
that his life story and his music will be
shared this evening. Th ank you for keeping
his memory alive.”
Ellen Kodedek, Flushing Town Hall
executive and artistic director, said Heath
was an iconic presence at Flushing Town
Hall.
“Whenever we would announce that
our Queens Jazz Orchestra would return,
performances would sell out — because
people wanted to come together to experience
the music and the man,” Kodedek
said. “Even though we now must stay
apart, this event will bring people together
online; it will be an evening to celebrate
his life and his legacy, but also to support
future generations of jazz artists, something
Jimmy Heath cared so deeply about.
His spirit will shine this evening.”
Th e special event will feature appearances
by many celebrated musical artists
who have crossed paths — and taken the
stage — with Heath throughout his storied
career. Among those who are participating
are Heath’s wife, Mona, jazz legends
Albert “Tootie” Heath, Barry Harris,
Jimmy Owens, and Dorthaan Kirk; and
members of Queens Jazz Orchestra,
including Antonio Hart, David Wang, Jeb
Patton and Douglas Purviance.
Th ere also will be testimonials about
Heath from special guests, including
Councilman Francisco Moya. Heath was
born on Oct. 25, 1926, in Philadelphia.
He was the second of the illustrious
Heath Brothers to receive an NEA Jazz
Master Fellowship and was the fi rst to
choose music as a career path.
Starting on alto saxophone, one of his
fi rst professional jobs came in 1945-46
in the Midwest territory band led by
Nat Towles, out of Omaha, Nebraska.
Returning to Philadelphia, he briefl y led
his own big band with a saxophone section
that included John Coltrane and
Benny Golson. Gigs followed with
Howard McGhee in 1948 and with Dizzy
Gillespie’s big band from 1949-50. As
Gillespie once quipped, “All I can say is, if
you know Jimmy Heath, you know Bop.”
During his storied career, Heath —
who lived in Queens for many years —
has performed on more than 100 record
albums, including seven with Th e Heath
Brothers and twelve as a leader. Heath
has also written more than 125 compositions,
many of which have become jazz
standards. He has also composed extended
works — seven suites and two string
quartets — and he premiered his fi rst
symphonic work, “Th ree Ears,” in 1988.
In the early 1950s, he switched to tenor
sax, playing with Miles Davis among others,
and in the 1960s, he began his own
recordings as a leader.
By combining his versatile style of performing
and his outstanding writing and
arranging abilities, he has set a high standard
of accomplishment in the jazz fi eld.
He has made more than 100 recordings
and composed more than 100 original
works.
In 1993, his Verve album “Little Man,
Big Band” was nominated for a Grammy,
and that same year he jammed with
President Bill Clinton at a White House
jazz concert produced by the Th elonious
Monk Institute. He received the highest
award in jazz a decade later: in 2003,
the National Endowment for the Arts
named him a Jazz Master. As an educator,
Heath taught at Jazzmobile, Housatonic
Community College, City College of New
York and Queens College, where he had
taken over the jazz program in 1986, and
helped to create its master’s curriculum
up until his retirement a decade later.
Still, he continued to conduct workshops
and clinics throughout the United
States, Canada and Europe. He held honorary
degrees from Sojourner-Douglass
College and the Juilliard School, and has
a chair endowed in his name at Queens
College. Th e tribute will raise funds to
support the Jimmy Heath Fund at Queens
College.
Donations can be sent to: Th e Jimmy
Heath Fund, c/o Mike Lipsey, Queens
College Music Department, 65-30
Kissena Blvd., Flushing, Queens,
11367. Donations to the Jimmy Heath
Scholarship Fund at Queens College can
be made by writing a check to the QC
Foundation (and putting “Jimmy Heath
Scholarship” in the memo), and mailed to:
Queens College Foundation, Keily Hall,
Queens College, Queens, NY, 11367, or by
calling Joann Acquista, Queens College,
Director, Donor Relations, at 718-997-
5864.
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