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Billy Higgins (October 11, 1936 – May 3, 2001) was an American jazz drummer. He played mainly free jazz and hard bop.
May 10, 2024 · Billy Higgins (born October 11, 1936, Los Angeles, California, U.S.—died May 3, 2001, Inglewood, California) was an American drummer who helped create the free jazz idiom while he was a member of Ornette Coleman’s classic 1950s groups and later became the busiest drummer in jazz; he played on dozens of Blue Note albums and accompanied top ...
May 3, 2001 · Known among musicians and fans as "Smiling Billy," Billy Higgins was first introduced to the broader jazz public when he came to the East Coast with the Ornette Coleman Quartet in 1959 for their extended engagement at the Five Spot Cafe.
May 9, 2023 · Billy Higgins. Born on October 11, 1936, in Los Angeles, California, Billy Higgins grew up surrounded by the sounds of bebop, gospel, and rhythm and blues. The drums piqued his curiosity, providing the perfect outlet to express himself musically.
As a member of the groundbreaking Ornette Coleman-led quartet that launched the free jazz renaissance, Billy Higgins remains one of the most important and controversial drummers in music history.
May 4, 2001 · Billy Higgins, a legendary drummer who was one of the most recorded players in the history of jazz, died Thursday at Daniel Freeman Hospital in Inglewood. He was 64. Higgins was admitted to the...
May 4, 2001 · Billy Higgins, one of the best-loved and most-recorded drummers in postwar jazz, died yesterday at a hospital in Inglewood, Calif. He was 64 and lived in Los Angeles. The cause...
Billy Higgins is undoubtedly one of the most recorded drummers in jazz history. Even more impressive than his lengthy discography is Higgins’ presence on so many watershed recordings.
Billy Higgins will always be ranked high on any list of the greatest drummers in jazz. He emerged to widespread attention when Ornette Coleman's ground-breaking quartet arrived in New York from California in 1959, and proceeded to create a schism in the jazz world which has echoes to this day.
Billy Higgins is undoubtedly one of the most recorded drummers in jazz history. Even more impressive than his lengthy discography is Higgins’ presence on so many watershed recordings.
