Throwback: Happy 99th Birthday, Jimmy Heath!

We’ve managed to get through to October. Man, what a brutally stupid, cruel slog it has been. But we’re here.

October is a busy month in music history

• Donny Hathaway, was born 80 years ago on October 1
• The Human League‘s Philip Oakey celebrates his 70th birthday on October 1
• Sting celebrated his 74th birthday on October 2
• Chubby Checker, one of the pioneers of rock ‘n’ roll and R&B celebrates his 84th birthday on October 3
• Arguably one of the greatest guitarists and bluesmen ever, Stevie Ray Vaughan was born 71 years ago on October 3
• The Roots‘ Black Thought, arguably one of the greatest living emcees celebrated his 52nd birthday on October 3
• AC/DC‘s Brian Johnson celebrated his 78th birthday on October 5
• John Mellencamp celebrated his 74th birthday on October 7
•  CL Smooth, one of the more underrated emcees in the business celebrated his 57th birthday on October 8 
• Radiohead and  The Smile‘s Thom Yorke celebrated his 57th birthday on October 9
• PJ Harvey celebrated her 56th birthday on October 9
• The Who‘s John Entwistle, one of the most criminally under-appreciated bassists in rock history was born 81 years ago on October 9
• The legendary John Lennon was born on 85 years ago on October 9
• Thelonious Monk was born 108 years ago on October 10
• David Lee Roth, one of the greatest rock/metal frontman to ever live, and a member of the most beloved Van Halen lineup, ever, celebrated his 71st birthday on October 10
• The legendary Art Blakey, was born 106 years ago on October 11
• Daryl Hall, best known for his work with the blue-eyed soul duo Hall & Oates one of the most commercially successful duos ever, celebrates his 79th birthday on October 11
• MC Lyte celebrated her 55th — yes, 55th! — birthday on October 11
• Sam and Dave‘s Sam Moore was born 90 years ago on October 12
• The Smithereens‘ founder and first frontman, Pat DiNizio was born 70 years ago on October 12
• Sammy Hagar, one of rock’s great frontmen celebrated his 78th birthday on October 13
• Art Tatum, one of the greatest — and somewhat unheralded — jazz pianists to ever live was born 116 years ago on October 13
• Thomas Dolby, who had a smash-hit with 1982’s “She Blinded Me With Science” celebrated his 67th birthday on October 14
• The godfather of Afrobeat, Fela Kuti was born 87 years ago on October 15
• Jazz great Roy Hargrove was born 56 years ago on October 16
• Red Hot Chili Peppers‘ Flea, one of the greatest bassists in rock celebrated his 63rd birthday on October 16
• Eminem celebrated his 53rd birthday on October 17
• Chuck Berry was born 99 years ago on October 18
• Snoop Dogg, one of the most original emcees ever — and arguably one of the greatest emcees to ever spit and record bars on wax, celebrated his 54th birthday on October 20
• Tom Petty, arguably one of the greatest singer/songwriters in rock history was born 75 years ago on October 20
• The legendary and pioneering jazz man John Birks “Dizzy” Gillespie was born 108 years ago on October 21
• The incomparable, legendary Queen of Salsa, Celia Cruz was 101 years ago on October 21
• The Staple Singers‘ Yvonne Staples was born 88 years ago on October 23
• Former Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman celebrated his 89th birthday on October 24

The legendary jazzman Jimmy Heath was born on this day 99 years ago. Heath, along with his brothers Percy and Albert had incredibly lengthy careers, playing not just together but alongside some of the greatest musicians to ever have lived, including John Coltrane, Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, Gil Evans and a lengthy list of others.

As a music educator, Heath was an instrumental figure, founding the Jazz Program at CUNY Queens College’s Aaron Copeland School of Music back in the early 1980s. He served on the board of the Louis Armstrong Archives on the Queens College campus — and the restoration and management of the Louis and Lucille Armstrong Home in my neighborhood. (The archives have been moved to the newly built Louis Armstrong Home Welcome Center.) And along with teaching at Queens College, he taught at Jazzmobile, a free, mobile outdoor concert series that travels around the New York Metropolitan area, as well as Washington DC, Maryland, Virginia and several cities in Upstate New York.

He also has a link to hip-hop: His son James Mtume was behind “Juicy Fruit,” which was sampled for Notorious B.I.G.’s classic “Juicy.”

Let’s celebrate the legend’s life, work and contributions to the genre today. Happy birthday, legend! Happy birthday, wherever you are!

 ______

The Joy of Violent Movement is a completely independent and completely D.I.Y. media outlet. Over the course of this site’s 15+ year history, I’ve used my fiercely independent stance to cover music with an eclectic and global perspective that a lot of other publications just don’t have — and will likely never have. 

To that end, I could use your support to continue to keep bringing you my unique global perspective on music. There are a number of ways that you can support this work. 

I’ve been told that some people would prefer to make a one-time donation because it’s easy and less of an obligation. So, if you’re able to make a one-time donation, there’s a donation box below.

If you can give more regularly, please feel free to check out my Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/TheJoyofViolentMovement. 

Anything you can give is very much appreciated. It can and does make a real difference, y’all. 

I know that a lot of folks are struggling to make ends meet in an uncertain and tumultuous economic climate. So there are other, non-financial ways in which you can support this work. 

You can follow me on the following social platforms:

X/Twitter: @yankee32879 and @joyofviolent 

Instagram: @william_ruben_helms

Threads: @william_ruben_helms

Bluesky: @williamrubenhelms.bsky.social

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheJoyofViolentMovement

As always, if there are posts that you dig, share them with your friends. The more eyeballs on my work, the better.