A tribute to bassist Percy Heath, who died April 28 at age 81 (see related story Bassist Percy Heath Dies), will be held next Friday, June 10 in New York. From 7 p.m. until 9 p.m., the Abyssian Baptist Church at 132 W 138 St. will open their doors to those who wish to pay their respects the legendary bassist.
The services will be presided over by Rev. Calvin O. Butts III. Some of the scheduled speakers and performers include brothers Jimmy and Tootie Heath; Tony Purrone; Christian McBride; Clark Terry; Barry Harris; Mtume; Stanley Crouch; Ira Gitler; Gary Giddins; Barry Harris; Bill Cosby; Billy Taylor; Hank Jones; Cedar Walton; Randy Weston; and Christian McBride
More information regarding the location of the tribute is available by calling the church at (212) 862-7474.
Related Posts
Sonny Terry/Brownie McGhee: Backwater Blues
Start Your Free Trial to Continue Reading
Become a JazzTimes member to explore our complete archive of interviews, profiles, columns, and reviews written by music’s best journalists and critics.
Jonathan Butler: The Simple Life
Jonathan Butler’s optimistic music belies a dirt-poor childhood growing up in a South Africa segregated by apartheid. Live in South Africa, a new CD and DVD package, presents a sense of the resulting inner turmoil, mixed with dogged resolve, that paved the way to his status as an icon in his country and successful musician outside of it. Looking back, the 46-year-old Butler says today, the driving forces that led to his overcoming apartheid-the formal policy of racial separation and economic discrimination finally dismantled in 1993-were family, faith and abundant talent.
“When we were kids, our parents never talked about the ANC [African National Congress] or Nelson Mandela,” he says. Butler was raised as the youngest child in a large family. They lived in a house patched together by corrugated tin and cardboard, in the “coloreds only” township of Athlone near Cape Town. “They never talked about struggles so we never knew what was happening.”
Start Your Free Trial to Continue Reading
Become a JazzTimes member to explore our complete archive of interviews, profiles, columns, and reviews written by music’s best journalists and critics.
Kurt Elling: Man in the Air
Nate Chinen makes the argument that Kurt Elling is the most influential jazz vocalist of our time
Harry Connick, Jr.: Direct Hits
Two decades after his commercial breakthrough, Harry Connick Jr. taps legendary producer Clive Davis for an album of crooner roots and beloved tunes