One of the co-founders of Ornette Coleman's revolutionary free jazz movement, jazz drummer Billy Higgins worked with some of the biggest names, including Sonny Rollins, John Coltrane, and Dexter Gordon.
Born in Los Angeles in October 1936, Higgins, an extremely adaptable drummer who began banging the skins as a child, became one of the jazz movement's most frequently recorded drummers in addition to becoming a fixture in the L.A. jazz scene. With his sophisticated beats gracing the seminal recordings of Coleman (notably the Free Jazz album), Higgins soon began to freelance with legendary artists such as Thelonius Monk and Donald Byrd. He served as songwriter for the 1954 film Playgirl, in addition to appearing in such films as 1986's 'Round Midnight and Sass and Brass: A Jazz Session (1988).
After undergoing a successful liver transplant in the mid-'90s Higgins' work became less frequent. Plagued with further liver complications into the new millennium, Higgins died while awaiting a second liver transplant in May 2001. He was 64.