Billy Higgins

Billy Higgins (October 11, 1936 – May 3, 2001) was an American jazz drummer. He played mainly free jazz and hard bop.
Biography.
Higgins was born in Los Angeles. Higgins played on Ornette Coleman's first records, beginning in 1958. He then freelanced extensively with hard bop and other post-bop players, including Donald Byrd, Dexter Gordon, Grant Green, Herbie Hancock, Joe Henderson, Don Cherry, Paul Horn, Milt Jackson, Jackie McLean, Pat Metheny, Hank Mobley, Thelonious Monk, Lee Morgan, David Murray, Art Pepper, Sonny Rollins, Mal Waldron, and Cedar Walton. He was one of the house drummers for Blue Note Records and played on dozens of Blue Note albums of the 1960s. He also collaborated with composer La Monte Young and guitarist Sandy Bull.
In his career, he played on over 700 recordings, including recordings of rock and funk. He appeared as a jazz drummer in the 2001 movie "Southlander".
In 1989, Higgins cofounded a cultural center, The World Stage, in Los Angeles to encourage and promote younger jazz musicians. The center provides workshops in performance and writing, as well as concerts and recordings. Higgins also taught in the jazz studies program at the University of California, Los Angeles.
He was divorced from wife Mauricina Altier Higgins and had three sons, William, Joseph, and David, as well as a stepson Jody. His youngest son Benjamin resides in Los Angeles. He also had two daughters, Rickie Wade and Heidi.
Billy Higgins died of kidney and liver failure on May 3, 2001 at a hospital in Inglewood, California.
Discography.
As a sideman.
With Gene Ammons and Sonny Stitt
With Chris Anderson
With Gary Bartz
With Paul Bley
With Sandy Bull
With Jaki Byard
With Donald Byrd
With Joe Castro
With Don Cherry
With Sonny Clark
With George Coleman
With Ornette Coleman
With John Coltrane
With Junior Cook
With Bill Cosby
With Stanley Cowell
With Ray Drummond
With Teddy Edwards
With Booker Ervin
With Art Farmer
With Curtis Fuller
With Stan Getz
With Dexter Gordon
With Grant Green
With Dodo Greene
With Charlie Haden
With Slide Hampton
With Herbie Hancock
With Barry Harris
With Eddie Harris
With Johnny Hartman
With Jimmy Heath
With Joe Henderson
With Andrew Hill
With Richard "Groove" Holmes
With Paul Horn
With Toninho Horta
With Freddie Hubbard
With Bobby Hutcherson
With J. J. Johnson
With Hank Jones and Dave Holland
With Sam Jones
With Clifford Jordan
With Fred Katz
With Steve Lacy
With Charles Lloyd
With Pat Martino
With Jackie McLean
With Charles McPherson
With Pat Metheny
With Blue Mitchell
With Red Mitchell
With Hank Mobley
With Thelonious Monk
With Buddy Montgomery
With Frank Morgan
With Lee Morgan
With Bheki Mseleku
With David Murray
With Horace Parlan
With Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen
With Art Pepper
With Dave Pike
With Jimmy Raney
With Sonny Red
With Freddie Redd
With Joshua Redman
With Red Rodney
With Sonny Rollins
With Charlie Rouse
With Pharoah Sanders
With Rob Schneiderman
With John Scofield
With Shirley Scott
With Archie Shepp
With Sonny Simmons
With James Spaulding
With Robert Stewart
With Sonny Stitt
With Idrees Sulieman
With Ira Sullivan 
With Sun Ra
With Cecil Taylor
With Lucky Thompson
With the Timeless All Stars
With Bobby Timmons
With Stanley Turrentine
With Mal Waldron
With Cedar Walton
With Don Wilkerson
With David Williams
With Jack Wilson