With his delicately soulful tone and refined ear for lyrical, hard-swinging bop, tenor saxophonist Jimmy Heath helped shepherd modern jazz into the 21st century. Emerging in the 1940s, Heath established his reputation as a gifted improviser and composer, working with innovators Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, and John Coltrane. He came to his greatest acclaim in the '50s, penning a bevy of future standards and recording albums like 1959's The Thumper that became the epitome of hard bop. He often worked with his siblings, bassist Percy Heath and drummer Albert "Tootie" Heath, and collaborated with boundary-pushing stylists Charles Tolliver, Stanley Cowell, and Art Farmer. Along with three Grammy nominations, Heath was also an NEA Jazz Master who dedicated much of his career to teaching.