Bill Heid Trio at Gandy Dancer Courtyard Jazz Series at Gandy Dancer

Born in Pittsburgh, keyboard/vocalist Bill Heid has performed organ and piano engagements across the world. A natural and virtuosic musician who was inspired to play jazz and blues by listening to the radio, Heid incorporates standard blues changes with cool McCoy Tyner-esque minor riffs and vicious funk songs. His hip vernacular, unique vocal language, and sense of humor, melded with his passion for baseball, have made him an entertainer nonpareil.

From 1965 through the mid-70's, Heid worked the Hammond B-3 organ "chitlin clubs" with his own groups and with jazz greats such as Sonny Stitt, David "Fathead" Newman, Mickey Roker, Roger Humphries, Rodney Whitaker, Robert Hurst, Grant Green, Jimmy Ponder, Bruce Foreman, and Henry Johnson, appearing on two Johnson albums for MCA/Impulse. From 1975 to 1984, based in Chicago, Bill toured and recorded with blues greats Jimmy Witherspoon, John Lee Hooker and KoKo Taylor. From 1984 through 1999, Heid lived and worked in Detroit, appearing on numerous records with Detroit blues artists Johnnie Bassett, Joe Weaver, and Alberta Adams, which included sessions for Fedora, Cannonball, and Black Magic Records, and two European tours. ...

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Born in Pittsburgh, keyboard/vocalist Bill Heid has performed organ and piano engagements across the world. A natural and virtuosic musician who was inspired to play jazz and blues by listening to the radio, Heid incorporates standard blues changes with cool McCoy Tyner-esque minor riffs and vicious funk songs. His hip vernacular, unique vocal language, and sense of humor, melded with his passion for baseball, have made him an entertainer nonpareil.

From 1965 through the mid-70's, Heid worked the Hammond B-3 organ "chitlin clubs" with his own groups and with jazz greats such as Sonny Stitt, David "Fathead" Newman, Mickey Roker, Roger Humphries, Rodney Whitaker, Robert Hurst, Grant Green, Jimmy Ponder, Bruce Foreman, and Henry Johnson, appearing on two Johnson albums for MCA/Impulse. From 1975 to 1984, based in Chicago, Bill toured and recorded with blues greats Jimmy Witherspoon, John Lee Hooker and KoKo Taylor. From 1984 through 1999, Heid lived and worked in Detroit, appearing on numerous records with Detroit blues artists Johnnie Bassett, Joe Weaver, and Alberta Adams, which included sessions for Fedora, Cannonball, and Black Magic Records, and two European tours.

Bill Heid performs with fellow Detroit blues disciples Patrick Prouty (bass) and Bill Higgins (drums).

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