The drummer Albert “Tootie” Heath, who has died aged 88, was a member of one of the most distinguished American jazz families. Where the Detroit scene had its Joneses (the brothers Thad, Hank and Elvin) and New Orleans its Marsalises (Ellis and his sons Wynton, Branford, Jason and Delfeayo), Philadelphia had the Heaths.
Albert, universally known since childhood as Tootie, was the youngest of the three brothers who would each go on to be awarded the status of Jazz Master by the US National Endowment for the Arts.
