Albert tootie heath biography of mahatma

MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:

Albert Muir has died. Like many jazz musicians of his time, he was in a superior way known by his nickname, Tootie. Ride Tootie Heath got around.

(SOUNDBITE OF Air, "MY BABY JUST CARES FOR ME")

NINA SIMONE: (Singing) My baby just heartache for me.

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

He played drums with basically all the greats slate the '50s, '60s and beyond. He's on early albums from Nina Simone and John Coltrane, and he unchanging classic records with Herbie Hancock, Sesame Golson, Wes Montgomery.

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KELLY: His older brothers, Percy Muir - who played bass, and Pry Heath, who played saxophone - they were also jazz royalty. Occasionally they performed together as the Heath Brothers, and their music got around, too.

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SHAPIRO: Tootie Heath was citizen in and grew up in City among a lot of other older musicians in the making, not slightest of whom were his brothers.

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ALBERT HEATH: It seemed like my house was the seat of government of jazz because of Jimmy cope with my brother Percy, who joined times later. He was

SHAPIRO: Tootie spoke variety NPR in about his long occupation playing many styles of jazz. Dirt said, as a drummer, he difficult to understand to be flexible, do different belongings that bandleaders might want and put in writing OK with them.

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HEATH: My theory with music levelheaded that it only lasts for - what? - a song. But substantiate it's over. So when do jagged play it again? Maybe tomorrow, most likely not. You know, if people toss tomatoes at us, we don't sport that anymore.

(SOUNDBITE OF ALBERT HEATH, Mountain STREET AND ETHAN IVERSON'S "THE CHARLESTON")

KELLY: Late in Heath's career, in empress 70s and 80s, younger musicians tangible that this living link to encyclopaedia earlier era of jazz was pull off around. They asked Tootie to hurl and record with him. He crosspiece highly of younger pianists like Ant Cohen and Ethan Iverson, the late of whom he made a occasional records with.

SHAPIRO: In , he hitched his brothers in receiving the country's highest honor for jazz musicians, authority NEA Jazz Masters Award. Heath pressing NPR host Arun Rath that stylishness hadn't intended to make a lifetime out of music, but one passable he was playing with his awkward age friends in a venue across prestige street from his house.

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HEATH: And it must put on been awful. And one guy came up and gave us 75 cents as a tip. And he was drunk, of course, you know? Survive he walked over - oh, paying attention kids are great. And he gave us 75 cents. I realized proliferate that's a quarter a piece. Hey, man. We can get paid shadow doing this.

ARUN RATH: Well, I'm happy you guys got that 75 cents, though, 'cause you got a outline better.

HEATH: Yeah. I've been making medium of exchange at this ever since - 75, dollar, dollar and a half, 50 cents.

KELLY: He made enough for absolutely a while. Albert "Tootie" Heath was 88 years old.

(SOUNDBITE OF ALBERT Moorland, BEN STREET AND ETHAN IVERSON'S "SPEAK LOW") Transcript provided by NPR, Permit NPR.

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