Billy Higgins

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For other people named Billy Higgins, see Billy Higgins (disambiguation).
Billy Higgins
Born October 11, 1936(1936-10-11)
Los Angeles, California, USA
Origin Los Angeles, California
Died May 3, 2001(2001-05-03) (aged 64)
Inglewood, California
Genres Jazz
Occupations Drummer, educator
Instruments drums
Associated acts Ornette Coleman, Cedar Walton, Charles Lloyd

Billy Higgins (October 11, 1936 – May 3, 2001) was an American jazz drummer. He played mainly free jazz and hard bop.[1]

Higgins was born in Los Angeles, California.[2] Higgins played on Ornette Coleman's first records, beginning in 1958. He then freelanced extensively with hard bop and other post-bop players, including Donald Byrd, Dexter Gordon, Joe Henderson, Milt Jackson, Jackie McLean, Pat Metheny, Hank Mobley, Thelonious Monk, Lee Morgan, David Murray, Art Pepper, Sonny Rollins, Mal Waldron, and Cedar Walton. He was one of the house drummers for Blue Note Records and played on dozens of Blue Note albums of the 60's.

On a whole, he played on over 700 recordings, including recordings of rock and funk. He appeared as a jazz drummer in the 2001 movie Southlander.

In 1989, Higgins cofounded a cultural center, The World Stage, in Los Angeles to encourage and promote younger jazz musicians. The center provides workshops in performance and writing, as well as concerts and recordings. Higgins also taught in the jazz studies program at the University of California, Los Angeles.[3]

He was divorced from wife Mauricina Altier Higgins and had three sons, William, Joseph, and David, as well as a stepson Jody. His youngest son Benjamin resides in Los Angeles. He also had two daughters, Rickie Wade and Heidi. He died of kidney and liver failure on May 3, 2001 at a hospital in Inglewood, California.[3]

Contents

[edit] Discography

[edit] As leader

  • 1979: Soweto (Red Records)
  • 1979: The Soldier (Timeless Records)
  • 1980: Bridgework (Fantasy/Contemporary)
  • 1984: Mr. Billy Higgins (Evidence)
  • 1985: Essence (DMP)
  • 1994: 3/4 For Peace (Red)
  • 1995: Once More (Red)
  • 1997: Billy Higgins Quintet (Evidence)
  • 2001: The Best of Summer Nights at Moca (Exodus)

[edit] As a sideman

With Sandy Bull

  • Fantasias for Guitar and Banjo (Vanguard, 1963)
  • Inventions (Vanguard, 1965)

With Donald Byrd

With Joe Castro

  • Groove Funk Soul! (1958)

With Don Cherry

With Sonny Clark

With Ornette Coleman

With John Coltrane

With Bill Cosby

  • Hello, Friend: To Ennis With Love (Verve, 1997)

With Booker Ervin

With Stan Getz

  • The Cal Tjader-Stan Getz Sextet (1958, Fantasy)

With Dexter Gordon

With Grant Green

With Charlie Haden

With Herbie Hancock

With Andrew Hill

With Freddie Hubbard

With Bobby Hutcherson

With Clifford Jordan

  • Glass Bead Game (1973, 2 vols.; reissued in 2006 as Glass Bead Games)

With Steve Lacy

With Charles Lloyd

With Jackie McLean

With Pat Metheny

  • Rejoicing (1983)

With Blue Mitchell

With Hank Mobley

With Thelonious Monk

With Lee Morgan

With David Murray

With Horace Parlan

With Art Pepper

With Dave Pike

  • It's Time For Dave Pike (1961)

With Jimmy Raney

With Joshua Redman

With Sonny Rollins

With John Scofield

With Archie Shepp

With Sun Ra

With Cecil Taylor

With Bobby Timmons

With Mal Waldron

With Don Wilkerson

With Jack Wilson

[edit] References

  1. ^ Allmusic
  2. ^ James Nadal, ed. "Billy Higgins". All About Jazz. http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/musician.php?id=7614. Retrieved 2010-11-16. 
  3. ^ a b Ratliff, Ben (2001-05-04). "Billy Higgins, 64, Jazz Drummer With Melodic and Subtle Swing". New York Times. http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30F1FFC385C0C778CDDAC0894D9404482. Retrieved 2010-11-16. 

[edit] External links

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