Percy Heath
Percy Heath (April 30, 1923 – April 28, 2005) was an American jazz bassist, brother of saxophonist Jimmy Heath and drummer Albert Heath, with whom he formed the Heath Brothers in 1975. Heath played with the Modern Jazz Quartet throughout their long history and also worked with Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Wes Montgomery, Thelonious Monk and Lee Konitz. |
Birth and Death Data: Born Wilmington (county seat city in New Hanover County, North Carolina, United States), Died April 28, 2005 (Southampton (town in Suffolk County, New York, partly on the South Fork of Long Island, USA) )
Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1948 - 1956
Roles Represented in DAHR: string bass
= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.
Recordings
| Company | Matrix No. | Size | First Recording Date | Title | Primary Performer | Description | Role | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atlantic | 141 | 10-in. | 9/19/1948 | Wow! | Joe Morris | instrumentalist, string bass | ||
| Atlantic | 142 | 10-in. | 9/19/1948 | The applejack | Joe Morris | instrumentalist, string bass | ||
| Atlantic | 805 | 10-in. | 2/29/1952 | Grooving the nursery rhymes | Joe Carroll ; Dizzy Gillespie | instrumentalist, string bass | ||
| Atlantic | 806 | 10-in. | 2/29/1952 | This is happiness | Dizzy Gillespie | instrumentalist, string bass | ||
| Atlantic | 807 | 10-in. | 2/29/1952 | Diz's tune | Dizzy Gillespie | instrumentalist, string bass | ||
| Atlantic | 808 | 10-in. | 2/29/1952 | Love is here to stay | Dizzy Gillespie | instrumentalist, string bass | ||
| Decca | 84368 | 4/29/1953 | Owl eyes-1 | Mat Mathews Quintet | instrumentalist, string bass | |||
| Decca | 84369 | 4/29/1953 | Study in purple-1 | Mat Mathews Quintet | instrumentalist, string bass | |||
| Decca | 84370 | 4/29/1953 | There's a small hotel | Mat Mathews Quintet | instrumentalist, string bass | |||
| Decca | 84371 | 4/29/1953 | Laura-1 | Mat Mathews Quintet | instrumentalist, string bass | |||
| Decca | 84813 | 7/6/1953 | Maya | Mat Mathews Quintet | instrumentalist, string bass | |||
| Decca | 84814 | 7/3/1953 | Night and day | Mat Mathews Quintet | instrumentalist, string bass | |||
| Decca | 84815 | 7/6/1953 | The nearness of you | Mat Mathews Quintet | instrumentalist, string bass | |||
| Decca | 84816 | 7/6/1953 | Bags' groove | Mat Mathews Quintet | instrumentalist, string bass | |||
| Decca | 85765 | 1/25/1954 | Bernie's tune | Mat Mathews Quintet | instrumentalist, string bass | |||
| Decca | 85766 | 1/25/1954 | Lullaby of the leaves-1 | Mat Mathews Quintet | instrumentalist, string bass | |||
| Decca | 85767 | 1/25/1954 | Night and day | Mat Mathews Quintet | instrumentalist, string bass | |||
| Decca | 85768 | 1/25/1954 | Yesterdays | Mat Mathews Quintet | instrumentalist, string bass | |||
| Decca | 85842 | 12/29/1953 | Goodbye | Tony Scott Quartet | instrumentalist, string bass | |||
| Decca | 85843 | 12/29/1953 | Swootie Patootie | Tony Scott Quartet | instrumentalist, string bass | |||
| Decca | 85844 | 12/29/1953 | Sweet Lorraine | Tony Scott Quartet | instrumentalist, string bass | |||
| Decca | 89232 | 1/24/1956 | Spring it was | Mat Mathews Quintet | instrumentalist, string bass |
Citation
Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Heath, Percy," accessed December 26, 2025, http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/320596.
Heath, Percy. (2025). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved December 26, 2025, from http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/320596.
"Heath, Percy." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2025. Web. 26 December 2025.
DAHR Persistent Identifier
External Sources
Wikipedia: Percy Heath
Discogs: Percy Heath
Allmusic: Percy Heath
Grove: Percy Heath
IMDb: Percy Heath
Britannica: Percy Heath
Linked Open Data Sources
LCNAR: Heath, Percy, 1923-2005 - https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n82099997
Wikidata: Percy Heath - https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q981283
VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/71578162
MusicBrainz: Percy Heath - https://musicbrainz.org/artist/534362cd-66ed-45a8-9cba-b847dbf75b6f
Fast: https://id.worldcat.org/fast/96231 - https://id.worldcat.org/fast/96231
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