Press Releases

On October 4, 2008, Algonquin Arts in Manasquan will be featuring Jimmy Heath, one of the greatest jazz legends to ever lay hands on a tenor saxophone. Heath will be performing with his brother Albert �Tootie� Heath on drums, Jeb Patton on piano, and David Wong on bass in The Jimmy Heath Quartet. The opening act for this performance is Diana McCorry, a jazz singer who has revolutionized the sound of jazz with her debut album, Diana.

Heath has long been recognized as a brilliant instrumentalist, composer and arranger. He has performed with nearly all the jazz greats of the past fifty years, including Howard McGhee, Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, and Wynton Marsalis, to name a few. In 1948 at the age of 21, Heath performed in the First International Jazz Festival in Paris with McGhee, sharing the stage with Coleman Hawkins, Slam Stewart, and Erroll Garner. One of Heath�s earliest big bands included John Coltrane, Benny Golson, Specs Wright, Cal Massey, Johnny Coles, Ray Bryant, and Nelson Boyd. Charlie Parker and Max Roach sat in on one occasion.

During his career, Jimmy Heath has performed on more than 100 record albums, including seven with The Heath Brothers and twelve as a leader. He has also written more than 125 compositions, many of which have become jazz standards and have been recorded by other artists including Art Farmer, Cannonball Adderley, Clark Terry, Chet Baker, Miles Davis, James Moody, Milt Jackson, Ahmad Jamal, Ray Charles, Dizzy Gillespie, J.J. Johnson, and Dexter Gordon.

In 1960, jazz icon John Coltrane said, �I had met Jimmy Heath, who - besides being a wonderful saxophonist - understood a lot about musical construction. I joined his group in Philadelphia in 1948. We were very much alike in our feeling, phrasing and a whole lot of other ways. Our musical appetites were the same. We used to practice together, and he would write out some of the things we were interested in. We would take things from records and digest them. In this way, we learned about the techniques being used by writers and arrangers.�

The Jimmy Heath Quartet will be performing at Algonquin Arts on Saturday, October 4, 2008 at 8 pm. Tickets are $35 for adults and $33 for seniors and students. Group rates are also available. Prior to the 8 pm performance on October 4, join Jimmy Heath for a Master Class FREE to the public at 3 pm, where he will present a discussion on Improvisation, The Essence of Jazz. Reservations for the free master class are required.

To reserve seats or obtain more information about the Master Class, call the box office at 732-528-9211. To purchase tickets to The Jimmy Heath Quartet performance at 8 pm, call the box office at 732-528-9211 or go online at www.algonquinarts.org. Box office hours are Monday-Friday from 9 am to 5 pm and Saturday from 10 am to 4 pm. Algonquin Arts is conveniently located at 173 Main Street in downtown Manasquan, NJ.

This tour engagement of Jimmy Heath is funded in part through the American Masterpieces program of Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts American Masterpieces: Three Centuries of Artistic Genius, a major initiative to acquaint Americans with the best of their cultural and artistic legacy.

Algonquin Arts was founded in 1992 as a nonprofit corporation to provide cultural enrichment and educational enhancement of the highest quality for the residents of New Jersey�s central region. Programming of Algonquin Arts is made possible as a result of the continued philanthropic support of private citizens and organizations such as New Jersey State Council on the Arts, OceanFirst Foundation, New Jersey Cultural Trust, Horizon Foundation for New Jersey, PNC Foundation, Manasquan Savings Bank, Woman�s Club of Brielle, Bank of America, Frank and Lydia Bergen Foundation, Investors Savings Bank Charitable Fund, Verizon Foundation, Plangere Foundation, as well as many generous individuals and local businesses.