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QUEENS WEEKLY, JANUARY 26, 2020
Jazz pioneer with deep
ties to Queens dies at 93
Jazz impresario Dr. Jimmy Heath, a Corona resident for half a century, died at age 93.
BY BILL PARRY
Jazz legend and longtime
Corona resident Dr.
Jimmy Heath died Sunday
after a long fight with
bladder cancer at his home
in Loganville, Georgia, at
age 93.
From the big-band era
through bebop and fusion,
Heath’s career played out
over seven decades of jazz
history. Heath was a tenor
saxophonist who played in
bands led by Miles Davis,
Dizzy Gillespie, Chet Baker,
Ray Charles, Wynton
Marsalis and many others.
In 2003, the National
Endowment for the Arts
named him a Jazz Master.
Born in Philadelphia in
1926, James Edward Heath
said he was “raised up with
the big bands such as Glen
Miller, Tommy Dorsey and
Duke Ellington,” and had
a big band of his own before
moving to New York.
Heath moved to Corona
with his wife Mona, where
they stayed for more than
50 years.
He was not just a musician
and band leader but a
composer and educator as
a professor of music at the
Aaron Copland School of
Music at Queens College
for two decades, where
he helped launch the jazz
studies program in 1986.
Although he stood just
5 feet 3 inches tall, he was
a towering figure at Flushing
Town Hall at their annual
NEA Jazz Masters
concert or the Queens Jazz
Orchestra, a project he
conceived of and led for 12
years.
“We are incredibly saddened
by the passing of
NEA Jazz Master Dr. Jimmy
Heath. An astounding
musician, composer and
educator, he has touched
the lives of so many, leaving
behind an incomparable
legacy,” Flushing Town
Hall Executive and Artistic
Director Ellen Kodadek
said. “We are so grateful
that Dr. Heath had performed
so many concerts
at Flushing Town Hall
over the years, gracing our
Photo by Norm Harris
stage with his genius and
joyful presence, whether it
be at our annual NEA Jazz
Masters concert or our
Queens Jazz Orchestra, a
project he conceived of and
led for 12 years. There are
insufficient words to express
our condolences to
his wife Mona Heath and
family, friends and students.”
Heath went by the nickname
“Little Bird” in reference
to fellow jazz legend
Charlie Parker. In 1993,
his “Little Man, Big Band”
album was nominated for
a Grammy.
Heath brought his band
to perform at the Louis
Armstrong House Museum
when it was named as
a landmark in 1988.
Heath is survived by
Mona Brown, his wife of
nearly 60 years; by their
daughter, Roslyn, and son,
Jeffrey.
Reach reporter Bill Parry
by e-mail at bparry@schnepsmedia.
com or by phone
at (718) 260–4538.
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