Jimmy Heath Quotes & Sayings

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

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. — Jimmy Heath

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. — Jimmy Heath

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. — Jimmy Heath

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

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. — Jimmy Heath

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. — Jimmy Heath

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