Albert “Tootie” Heath, a self-taught jazz drummer who backed John Coltrane and Nina Simone and later teamed with his brothers on several recordings, died on April 3. He was 88. Heath died at a ...

Albert Heath has died. Like many jazz musicians of his time, he was better known by his nickname, Tootie. And Tootie Heath got around. (SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "MY BABY JUST CARES FOR ME") NINA SIMONE: ...

He accompanied stars like John Coltrane and worked frequently with his brothers. “I’ve always thought I was a master,” he once said. Few disagreed. By Richard Sandomir Albert Heath, a virtuoso jazz ...

Albert “Tootie” Heath, a jazz drummer whose intuitive style and precision licks backed greats such as Nina Simone and John Coltrane, and who later joined his brothers in recordings that became part of ...