Jimmy Heath Quotes

I prefer music where melody, harmony and rhythm come together and no one element overshadows the other. Jazz at its best is a democracy of creativity.

You don't need sunglasses inside a building in the middle of the night.

Playboys' was an authentic junkie record. Art Pepper was just out of jail, Chet was arrested a week after the session, and piano player Carl Perkins would die two years later. When the record was recorded I was behind bars myself. In 1955 I was caught with narcotics and had to serve almost five years. Luckily, I was allowed to keep my saxophone in the cell, and I composed a lot during the time. They had to come fetch the music for Playboys from jail.

Preparing to improvise is at a level commensurate with mastering the structure in a European classical piece. Another way to define improvisation is spontaneous melody. In order to improvise, a player first needs to have memorized and analyzed the harmonic structure of so many pieces.

Jazz isn't as profitable for labels like Hip hop or Rap. Jazz needs subsidies to continue, just like European classical works of Bach and Beethoven are subsidized.

It's the hardest thing for a young player to develop. At the same time a young player also has to deliver their musicality to the audience. I'm still developing my own sound, because you can never know all the music.

Teaching is learning. When you're teaching full-time you have to do research, stay current.

I had to agonize over my selection since our music is so rich and all the above plus many others have contributed.