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Percy Heath R.I.P.


sheldonm

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Indeed. I've actually got a bit of BBC video with Slim Gaillard interviewing Percy at the Northsea Fest (back in the early 1990s I guess) and the subject of the WW2 service comes up. Percy is unbelievably modest in his response to Slim. Incidentally, I think Brother Jack McDuff and Milt Jackson are also on this particular interview.

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He lives on Long Island, very close to me. He's been at a couple of festivals around here. His cohort, Connie Kay, would also be celebrating his birthday this week.

What part on Long Island?

For some reason, I'm thinking Montauk, but that might of been where the festival he was going to be at was. I'm sure someone can help you with this.

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82 is a good run for anybody, and Percy HEath's run was a damn good one. So, although I will miss his presence as a still-great living link to a day gone by, I can't curse the inevitable, and will instead celebrate his legacy, which is indeed immense.

R.I.P., Percy Heath, and much thanks!

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I think the MJQ was the first jazz recording I listened to real close, Percy's bass solo on La Ronde (the European Concert version) was the first jazz bass solo I was exposed too, and I still remember (and have) the first jazz musician photo where I saw deep expression in the music, showing Percy Heath. So you see how deeply connected I feel to him. A sweating player, almost in trance, was seen on that photo. I had heard elegant MJQ before - what a contrast, but what an introduction to the wide span jazz covers!

Thanks, Percy, and RIP .....

This is a tough week - three great jazz bassists passing, and two of them meant an awful lot to me :(

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It was Percy's solo on Bags' Groove, on The Last Concert album, that hooked me.

Me too! In fact Percy signed a plaqued photo taken from The Last Concert LP jacket for me (prized gift from a friend) when I had the opportunity to hang with the guys a bit during the MJQ reunion tour of '84. Percy was so obviously a *very* warm soul. This departure is difficult to take on a number of different levels, but like Jim I'll choose to celebrate his legacy.

FWIW, pianist/vocalist Paul Broadnax who works in Massachusetts was an airplane mechanic for The Tuskeegee Airmen.

Edited by James
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