JAZZ AutoBIOGRAPHY: by Tony Heath
At various times I performed on C flute, alto
flute, tenor, alto, soprano and baritone saxophones, and as a doubler
on clarinet. I also play piano. Most of my performance career was based
out of my loft at 508 Broadway in lower Manhattan, from 1976 to 1997. I
performed and recorded with my own combos and many others over the
years. Although I claim few credits performing with famous bandleaders,
I was honored to have had some of the world’s best jazz musicians
as sidemen in my ensembles.
Born in 1952, I consider myself part of what some
have called the “lost generation” of jazz—those of us
weaned on the Beatles (and others) who rejected the snowballing
popularity of rock ‘n’ roll after being introduced to jazz.
Unfortunately, demand for jazz performance and recording was and still
is paltry at best. I spent years learning a craft that became
increasingly old-fashioned and too demanding for many of my peers, not
to mention consumers of popular music. Jazz requires training and does
not accommodate a “garage band” mentality. Thus I decided
early to develop other skills as a hedge against shrinking
opportunities in the music business.
My first professional gig was with Lynn Oliver and
his Orchestra at Manhattan's Red Blazer Too, from 1979 to 1986. I
played lead tenor saxophone, became a member of Local 802 of the
musicians union and worked all over the New York City area with his
traditional 17-piece big band. I am grateful to Oliver (drums,
vibraphone, trombone), a notorious taskmaster, for offering me the
opportunity to learn to play jazz on the bandstand as it was
traditionally done. I am also grateful to Lynn’s widow, Anne
Oliver, for her unfailing support and encouragement. His book of
arrangements was unmatched in its diversity, and for reasons I
can’t go into here, packed full of photocopies of the actual
arrangements played by the best of the BIg Band era. Lynn Oliver
introduced me to the rich tradition of Tin Pan Alley, Broadway and
Hollywood, as well as the dance band music of the 1940s. Lynn was one
of the few musicians I met that was as serious about the quality of the
music as I was, notwithstanding idiosyncrasies that ultimately
prevented him from ever achieving his high standards. He lived and
breathed music every moment of his life, which I deeply respected.
For short periods in New York City, I studied with
John Castellano at what is today the Drummers Collective, and with
Marshall Brown (famous valve-trombonist who led the Newport Youth Band)
as a member of his rehearsal bands. I am otherwise self-taught. I
sometimes regret that I didn’t pursue a music degree and
established a teaching career, which invariably most jazz musicians
today must do to survive and keep playing. However, the idea of
teaching a craft with few or any opportunities in the real world left
me cold.
I consider Duke Ellington, Billy Strayhorn, Bill
Evans and Antonio Carlos Jobim my favorite jazz composers, and in the
classical genre, Aaron Copeland, George Gershwin and Leonard Bernstein.
Of course, one can hardly say enough about the great songs of many of
the composers from the Broadway, Hollywood and Tin Pan Alley periods,
sometimes referred to as the “Swing Era.”
I met my wife, Kate Scott, in New York City in
1987 while she was founding her first band, Dakota Visitor, which we
originally performed in together. That lasted until 1990, when we went
back to playing acoustic jazz exclusively. Kate credits her decision to
become a jazz singer with my introducing her to Sarah Vaughn. She went
on to attend the Mannes College New School of Music, studying with
Reggie Workman, Sheila Jordan and others.
From 1990 to 1995, we recorded five albums of
material, releasing, so far, only the well-reviewed Parallel Lives,
featuring Clarence Seay, Freddy Bryant, Kevin Burrell, Joe Strasser and
Marcie Brown. The album features several of my compositions and the
outstanding ensemble work of our sidemen. It is available through North
Country Distributors.
In 1997, we left Manhattan and founded Birdland
Ranch to pursue critical conservation work in southeastern Arizona. I
have all but switched to piano, and shuffle a repertoire of several
hundred songs in a vigorous daily practice schedule. We rarely perform
in public but never rule it out. Jazz will always be the fundamental
inspiration for our political action. For more, please visit
BirdlandRanch.org.
–Tony Heath, March 2007
