Editing Percy Heath (section)

==Biography==
Heath was born in [[Wilmington, North Carolina]], United States, and spent his childhood in [[Philadelphia]].<ref name="LarkinJazz"/> His father played the [[clarinet]] and his mother sang in the church choir. He started playing [[violin]] at the age of eight and also sang locally. He was drafted into the [[U. S. Army|Army]] in 1944, trained with the [[Tuskegee Airmen]], graduating as a 2nd Lieutenant pilot,<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.tuskegee.edu/support-tu/tuskegee-airmen/tuskegee-airmen-pilot-listing| title = Tuskegee Airmen Pilot Listing| publisher = Tuskegee University| access-date = 2023-01-19}}</ref> but saw no combat.<ref name="AMG"/>

Deciding after the war to go into music, he bought a stand-up bass and enrolled in the [[Granoff School of Music]] in Philadelphia.<ref name="AMG"/> Soon he was playing in the city's jazz clubs with leading artists.<ref name="LarkinJazz"/> In Chicago in 1948, he recorded with his brother on a [[Milt Jackson]] album, as members of the [[Howard McGhee]] Sextet.<ref name="LarkinJazz"/><ref name="jazzdisco">[http://www.jazzdisco.org/milt-jackson/catalog/ Milt Jackson discography]. ''The Howard McGhee Sextet with Milt Jackson'' – [[Howard McGhee]], [[Jimmy Heath]], [[Milt Jackson]], [[Will Davis (musician)|Will Davis]], Percy Heath, Joe Harris, (Savoy MG 12026)</ref> After moving to New York in the late 1940s, Percy and Jimmy Heath found work with [[Dizzy Gillespie]]'s groups.<ref name="AMG"/> Around this time, Percy was also a member of [[Joe Morris (trumpeter)|Joe Morris]]'s band, together with [[Johnny Griffin]].

It transpired that other members of the Gillespie [[big band]], pianist [[John Lewis (pianist)|John Lewis]], drummer [[Kenny Clarke]], Milt Jackson, and bassist [[Ray Brown (musician)|Ray Brown]], decided to form a permanent group; they were already becoming known for their interludes during Gillespie band performances that, as AllMusic.com stated, gave the rest of the band much-needed set breaks – that would eventually become known as the [[Modern Jazz Quartet]] (MJQ).<ref name="LarkinJazz"/> When Brown left the group to join his wife [[Ella Fitzgerald]]'s band, Heath joined and the group was officially begun in 1952, with [[Connie Kay]] replacing Clarke, who left in January 1955. The MJQ played regularly until it disbanded in 1974;<ref name="AMG"/> it reformed in 1981 and last recorded in 1993.

In 1975, Percy Heath and his brothers formed the [[Heath Brothers]] with pianist [[Stanley Cowell]].<ref name="LarkinJazz"/> Percy would sometimes play the [[cello]] instead of the bass in these later performances.

As a sideman, he performed on approximately 300 recording dates in a career of more than 57 years.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://brotherlyjazz.com/|title=BROTHERLY JAZZ / THE HEATH BROTHERS DVD|website=Brotherlyjazz.com|access-date=July 28, 2021}}</ref>

In 1989, he received an Honorary Doctorate of Music from [[Berklee College of Music]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://eu.ocala.com/story/news/2005/05/12/jazz-bassist-percy-heath-succumbs-to-cancer/31334254007/|title=Jazz bassist Percy Heath succumbs to cancer|author=Frank Grace|website=Ocala.com|date=May 12, 2005|access-date=May 22, 2024}}</ref>

In 2003, at the age of 80, Heath released his first album as a leader through the Daddy Jazz label.<ref name="AMG"/> The album, entitled ''A Love Song'', garnered rave reviews and served as a fitting coda for his illustrious career. It featured brother Albert Heath on drums, bassist [[Peter Washington]] and pianist Jeb Patton.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/a-love-song-mw0000327714|title=A Love Song - Percy Heath &#124; Songs, Reviews, Credits|website=[[AllMusic]]|access-date=July 28, 2021}}</ref>

Percy Heath died, after a second bout with [[bone cancer]], two days short of his 82nd birthday, in [[Southampton (town), New York|Southampton]], New York.<ref name="AMG">{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/percy-heath-mn0000256575/biography|title=Percy Heath &#124; Biography & History|website=[[AllMusic]]|access-date=July 28, 2021}}</ref> The month after his death, bassist [[William Parker (musician)|William Parker]] recorded the tribute album ''[[For Percy Heath]]''.

Heath was an avid striped bass fisherman, and surfcaster, who could be found on many a day, along the surf line of his beloved [[Montauk Point]]. He was well respected by the community, and his fellow fishermen. He also relished time away from the stage on his fishing boat, appropriately named "The Fiddler", kept in Montauk as well. On May 27, 2006, a plaque was set into a 5,000lb stone, at Turtle Cove, at Montauk Point, as a memorial. The ceremony was attended by his wife, June, and three sons.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.northshoreoflongisland.com/Articles-i-2008-03-06-70226.112114_A_tribute_to_Long_Island_legend_Percy_Heath.html |title=A tribute to Long Island legend Percy Heath |access-date=2012-01-19 |archive-date=2012-09-04 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120904071551/http://www.northshoreoflongisland.com/Articles-i-2008-03-06-70226.112114_A_tribute_to_Long_Island_legend_Percy_Heath.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>