Listen To The Bass Player: Part 1, Percy Heath

Percy grew like a hothouse plant as a bass player when he joined the MJQ. He took all of John Lewis's ideas to heart, and became a unique foundation player.

He was also the one who invented the bow holster that nearly all bass players now use. Bass players were always looking for a place to keep their bow handy... on the piano, usually. With Gerry Mulligan's pianoless quartet, I used the bottom half of a folding music stand with a hook at the top, on which I would hang my bow, but Gerry often backed up into it and knocked it over.

Percy noticed a toy arrow quiver with a bow-and-arrow set that belonged to one of the kids in his family, and borrowed it. He attached it to the tailpiece of his bass and holstered his bow in it. Enterprising craftsmen soon were making them out of leather and selling them to grateful bassists.

I recall taking Red Kelly's advice a step further on at least one occasion, attempting to sing a bass line to myself while listening to a quartet of Milt Jackson, Ray Brown, Cedar Walton, and Mickey Roker at the Jazz Showcase in Chicago. This was very educational and a good deal of fun.

"Well, yes, but not as embarrassing as the director, asleep at the switch, who keeps the camera on John Lewis during all three choruses of Heath's bass solo." Not to mention the first chorus and a half of Bags' solo.

Christian McBride had some interesting things to say about his fellow Philadelphian in a piece last year in the Detroit Free Press:

"Percy's greatest legacy is his sound. From his lowest note up to his highest note, every note resonates the same way. One particular album that emphasizes this is the first MJQ album, 'Django.' It almost sounds as if he's plugged in, but you know he's not - it's 1954. A sound that devastatingly clear is amazing. You don't hear a lot of finger noise. You don't hear the string slapping against the fingerboard, which can be a good sound every now and then - it lets you know you're playing a wooden instrument. But with Percy you always heard the pure note."