Professional Relationships
In addition to Cole, Heath established close personal and professional relationships with Woody Herman, Count Basie, Marlene Dietrich, Johnny Mathis and Tony Bennett. He worked with Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald Lena Horne; June Christy; Mel Torme; The Four Freshmen and others. His band members included Ronnie Scott, an early member of the band before going on to open his legendary London jazz club, the pianist Stan Tracey, trumpeters Kenny Baker, Duncan Campbell, sax players Don Rendell and Tommy Whittle, trombonists Don Lusher and Wally Smith, drummers Jack Parnell and Ronnie Verrell and double bass Johnny Hawksworth. The addition of singers Dickie Valentine, Lita Roza and Dennis Lotis in the 50s gave the band more teenage appeal. He commissioned scores from all the top arrangers of the era with more than 800 original arrangements as part of the band’s library. Arrangers included Tadd Dameron, George Shearing, Reg Owen, John Keating; Kenny Graham; Ken Moule; Bob Farnon; Woolf Phillips; Bill Russo; Johnny Douglas; Ron Goodwin; Ralph Dollimore.
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Famous quotes containing the word professional:
“The American character looks always as if it had just had a rather bad haircut, which gives it, in our eyes at any rate, a greater humanity than the European, which even among its beggars has an all too professional air.”
—Mary McCarthy (1912–1989)