I Walked With Giants: The Autobiography of Jimmy Heath

Jimmy Heath is one of the few remaining jazz masters alive and still playing very well. This book covers his growing up in a musically supportive family, playing locally in Philadelphia where he played and practiced with John Coltrane.He gained valuable experience touring with territory bands. He first recorded in 1948 with Howard McGhee/Milt Jackson in '49 with Dizzy Gillespie, 1953 with Miles Davis at which time his tune C.T.A. was recorded. In 1953 he also was on sessions with J.J. Johnson and Kenny Dorham. In 1956 he arranged a number of tunes for Chet Baker on The Picture of Heath album. In 1959 he began his long relationship with Riverside Records recording with Blue Mitchell and his own album The Thumper. In 1960 in recorded with Julian Priester and began arranging for other Riverside dates. Jimmy has participated in 182 record dates between 1948-2008. The book chronicles his relationship with Columbia Records where he attempted to merge some straight ahead jazz with beats intended to appeal to younger audiences. The albums sold comparatively well for jazz, (30,000-40000). But that was not up to a big label expectations. There are many interesting quotes from musicians Jimmy has interacted with over the years such as: Benny Golson,Johnny Coles, Ray Bryant,Milt Jackson, Dizzy Gillespie, Curtis Fuller,Barry Harris,Clark Terry,Ron Carter, Cedar Walton,Billy Taylor, Art Farmer,Frank Foster, Dave Bailey, Slide Hampton, Benny Carter,Sonny Rollins, Hank Jones,Benny Powell,James Moody. I particularly enjoyed the comments of Percy Heath and Jon Faddis. Quite an interesting read of jazz history. If you have the opportunity to see the Jimmy Heath Big Band live please do yourself a favor and see them. I was delighted to to have seen the band last year at Iridium and this year at the Blue Note. Hard swinging straight ahead jazz with plenty of excellent solos, Jimmy is delightful to watch as he enjoys and participates in the proceedings. This book is definitely a quick worthwhile read.

"Nothin but the truth". That was the answer I received when I asked a friend about the performance of tenor man Jimmy Heath at a concert. If I am asked about "I walked with Giant: The Autobiography of Jimmy Heath" my response will be nothing but the truth. This is a great book about the man, the music and his relationships. The book is an easy read but is moving and covers the jazz scene with depth and vision. I first heard Jimmy with Miles and JJ Johnson and his solos on CTA and I think the tune is Kelo remain classics. I had a brief encounter with Jimmy when the LBJS of D.C. featured the Heath Brothers in concert. It was a very enjoyable time. Jimmy gave me tips on how to improve my diet, "eat more sardines" he said it has some great benefits. He also made comments about Mickey Rivers, the Yankee centerfielder at the time. Jimmy commented that Rivers could not keep still in the batters box, how he kept moving his feet. I bring this up because he mentions Bernie Williams in his book reflecting on his love of baseball and attention to detail. When I first started listening to jazz and got into the lore about the music and the musicians I had heard a lot about Jimmy Heath doing 10 years for smoking grass and I was outraged along with a lot of other people. This book does not mention anything about this and goes on to give an honest history of his ordeaols with drugs. The book deals openly with interracial relationships in jazz. I am happy to see/read a book like this about jazz and one of the giants who contributed so much to the art form.

Jimmy Heath's "I Walked With Giants" is a top-flight autobiography from a Jazz artist. I have read hundreds of books on Jazz history and this stands in the top ranks. It is just below Miles Davis' "Miles" & Art Pepper's "Straight Life" for me. Like those two Mr. Heath is completely honest and open about his life and career. My only reservation is that I would have liked greater detail about his classic recordings, especially those from Riverside. While he does discuss them, I would have liked more, but this is just 5 years in 50+ year career. This is just personal curiosity and does not stop this from being a 5 star, must read for all Jazz fans. The addition of quotes from family, friends & collaborators adds interesting, at times conflicting, detail that help bring the story to life. What comes across is a beautiful story of family, resilience and music from a gentleman who walked with giants because he is one.

This book is precious, with very inteŕesting testimonies from players. The Philadelphia musicians from that time were very close to each other.Some of them were unknown to me. I must admit I did not know Jimmy Heath very well, except as a sideman. So I am discovering.Photographs are very good.

Great history of the bop era and beyond when the author played with Gillespie,Coltrane, Clifford Brown and may others with insights about many famous performers

This is the life of a great musician that has influenced so many fellow musician and people through his struggles with over comming drugs and other diversities to become a giant in the jazz music world.Bob Ransom

I studied with him at Queens College from 1987-1989 for my Jazz Master's degree. He really is a GIANT!

A great book to know more about one of our great musicians of African descent. I think everybody should read this book. A lot of information about jazz

While Jimmy Heath's reputation as a solid (if not too exciting) musician is well deserved, writing a book would appear to be not as easy for him as playing a B flat blues chorus.This book is rather dull, containing mostly dry account of different recordings and live performances and endless repetitions of Mr. Heath compositions and their endorsement from the author himself.It also contains numerous tributes from many of Mr.Heath colleagues and family members basically praising him without a shade of criticism.While it could make an excellent CV or application for grant money, it does not constitute exciting reading.Knowing Mr. Heath reputation for sharp wit and humor, I anticipated to find some of it on this pages, only to be severely disappointed.It's one thing to make a quick remark in a spur of the moment and quite another to write an amusing statement in a book.For somebody inexperienced in Jazz history and interested in a period the work could be mildly interesting.For persons interested in deeper knowledge of Jazz and life of great musicians of the important period in Music called Bebop, the book provides very little new and vital information.Therefore I can only judge it no more than fair, with a limited appeal.A pity, for Mr. Heath have known and worked with many greats of the period, but perhaps was unable to put his life's history in literary and entertaining style.

Jimmy Heath's autobiography "I Walked With Giants" written with Joseph McLaren is a very interesting account of a jazz musician whose name doesn't immediately register when considering the big names but whose work over the years has been consistently evolving and improving.Like Clark Terry and Curtis Fuller, Jimmy Heath is a link with the early days of the big bands, be-bop, hard bop and beyond. Never a major saxophone innovator like Parker, Coltrane or Rollins, Jimmy Heath is an excellent soloist but is much better known for his arranging abilities and qualities as a teacher. Having provided arrangements for other artists, his most recent big band album "Turn Up The Heath" (2006) shows that he continues to excite with his writing for a large group.This book is especially interesting when describing the earlier part of Heath's life where he describes life on the road as a black musician and the problems he faced including a six year prison sentence for drug dealing. The contributions from other musicians which are interspersed amongst the main text are chosen to be relevant to his interaction with them at the time. The story of Heath's rehabilitation is impressive as he needed to work hard to get control of his life. That he did is a tribute to the support of his wife and family.The later sections of the book deal with Jimmy Heath's move into teaching and the subsequent recognition of his life's work with many awards and honorary doctorates.