He first came to jazz prominence as a member of saxophonist Ornette Coleman's free jazz group in the 1950s, which also included Haden and the trumpeter Don Cherry. That group became the primary flash point for the start of a decade of envelope-stretching in the jazz world, from the Coleman Quartet to Coltrane, George Russell, Charles Mingus and Albert Ayler, among numerous others. Mr. Higgins adapted to the changing tides with ease, in part because of his effervescent manner, in part because his capacity to drive a rhythm section with an irresistible sense of swing was beyond genre. That quality, along with his enthusiastic presence, made him one of the most in-demand drummers of the past four decades. Saxophonist Lloyd called him incredibly influential.
Jazz is the music of wonder and . . .
Born in Los Angeles, Mr. Higgins started playing drums at age 5. He was 14 when he met Cherry in school, and the pair did some West Coast roadwork with saxophonist George Newman as the Jazz Messiahs in 1953. In 1955, he was rehearsing and ultimately working with Coleman, whose radical approach was stirring up much controversy in the music community. Mr. Higgins went to New York with Coleman in 1959 but left the group a year later. By 1964, Mr. Higgins was getting considerable session work on the Blue Note label.