A sad day for jazz lovers. One of the greats of this genre, drummer Roy Haynes, who played with other legends such as Louis Armstrong, Charlie Parker, Chick Corea, Sarah Vaughan, Thelonius Monk, Miles Davis, Bud Powell, and Pat Metheny, has passed away at the age of 99 on Tuesday, as reported by Efe.
His daughter, Leslie Haynes-Gilmore, told The New York Times that her father, born in Roxbury, now part of Boston, on March 13, 1925, died after a brief illness.
Haynes was considered one of the most notable jazz drummers of all time, with an extensive career during which he collaborated with the genre's most prominent musicians in his country.
His parents, Gustavus and Edna Haynes, had emigrated to the US from Barbados, and it was his older brother, Douglas, a trumpeter, who introduced him to the world of jazz.
Haynes was still a teenager when he made his professional debut in the 1940s in the 'big bands' of Frankie Newton and Louis Russell (1945-1947).
He then played with the master of the tenor sax Lester Young (1947-1949) and between 1949 and 1952 was part of Charlie Parker's quintet.
He accompanied singer Sarah Vaughan on the jazz circuits in the United States between 1953 and 1958, and after that job ended, he recorded with Thelonious Monk, George Shearing, and Lennie Tristano, among others, and occasionally filled in for Elvin Jones in John Coltrane's quartet.
He participated in the direction of the original soundtrack of the movie 'Bird', directed by Clint Eastwood in 1988, and was awarded the Danish Jazzpar prize in 1994.
In the late 90s, Haynes formed a trio with pianist Danilo Pérez and bassist John Pattitucci, and they recorded an album: 'The Roy Haynes Trio featuring Danilo Pérez & John Pattitucci' (2000).
In 2001, he released 'Birds of a Feather: A Tribute to Charlie Parker', followed by 'Love Letters' (2003), and 'Quiet Fires' and 'Fountain of Youth', both from 2004, the year he entered the Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame.
His last published album was 'Whereas' in 2006. In 2011, he received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.