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On occasion he would sit in with some of these groups and pester them for information. Spending time in Chicago and later in New York, he met and hung out with his mentor, Larry Young, often visiting the family-owned Newark Club in Young’s hometown of Newark, NJ. He was also privy to playing with the best organ drummers like Joe Dukes and Billy James. And he heard the local contingent of jazz greats like Ahmad Jamal, Art Blakey, Erroll Garner, George Benson, Eddie Jefferson, Mary Lou Williams, and Stanley Turrentine.

His quest for musical knowledge found him on the road when in 1963, in search of rare 78-rpm rhythm & blues records, he began a journey/career of hitchhiking. He did this in the contiguous 48 states of the U.S.; through Canada, Mexico, the Philippines, Japan, Korea, and China; and to the Thailand/Cambodia border. His over 400,000 documented miles of thumbing a ride gained Heid a spot in The Guinness Book of World Records. Some of his journeys led him to the so-called chicken houses and organ rooms of major cities, where he interned with Jimmy Witherspoon, Jimmy Ponder, Sonny Stitt, Grant Green, David “Fathead” Newman, Ira Sullivan, and Mickey Roker, and was a pianist with Don Patterson.

A move to Chicago brought him closer to the urban blues as he worked or recorded with Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, and especially Son Seals, Koko Taylor, Fenton Robinson, and Roy Buchanan. He also did two LPs and played in the bands of contemporary jazz guitarist Henry Johnson. Moving to Detroit, he spent two decades there playing in his own groups; helping to revive the career of a local legend of blues guitar and vocals, Johnnie Bassett, as the music director of his Blues Insurgents; and backing the veteran singer Alberta Adams. During and since his time in Detroit, Heid could be found making music soundtracks for adult films in Los Angeles, then touring worldwide for the U.S. State Department as a jazz ambassador, particularly on tours of Japan and Vietnam. In August 2003, Heid played more of the Pacific Rim in Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore.

Upon moving back to the Eastern United States, he could be heard on organ and piano engagements at various venues in the Washington, D.C., area. Of his mindset, Heid was quoted as saying “I can’t live a day without playing 1-4-5s,” incorporating those standard blues changes with cool McCoy Tyner minor riffs, vicious funk songs in Japanese, and what he calls Talifunk. “I approach this thing like total war and have been lucky to have avoided a day job.” His hip vernacular, unique vocal language, and risqué sense of humor, melded with his passion for baseball, have made him an entertainer nonpareil.

Artist Biography by Michael G. Nastos

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As American cultural critic Elvis Mitchell wrote after witnessing a show at Baker’s Keyboard Lounge, “The group’s toned, muscular playing keeps the crowd rapt, a condition noticeable by the fact that almost no one is talking.”
organissimo formed in November of 2000 with the goal of bringing jazz back to the people. organissimo’s sound is instantly identifiable yet constantly evolving, infusing elements of funk, gospel, blues, progressive rock, and Latin rhythms into a solid foundation of jazz. Shifting meters, deep grooves, melodic finesse and tight ensemble interplay are hallmarks of the organissimo sound.

organissimo’s music has received numerous awards. The latest CD, Dedicated, released in January of 2013, hit #5 on the JazzWeek charts and stayed in the Top 10 for 8 weeks. It hit #1 on the CMJ jazz charts and was named one of the Top 10 CDs of 2013. It received airplay on over 200 stations including Comcast’s MusicChoice and XM/Sirius Radio.

organissimo’s album, Groovadelphia, topped the CMJ Jazz Charts for three weeks at #1 and stayed in the JazzWeek Top 50 for 14 weeks, peaking at #22. It won two WYCE Jammie Awards for Best Jazz Album and Best Song and was also named one of the Best Releases of 2008 by WVPE, KJAZZ, CKCU-FM, and Jim Wilke’s Jazz After Hours program, syndicated on over 60 NPR stations nationwide. It is also nominated for a Detroit Music Award.

organissimo’s sophomore album, “This Is The Place”, hit #19 on the JazzWeek charts and a solid #4 on the CMJ charts. It also won two WYCE 2006 Jammie Awards for Best Jazz Album and Album of the Year , and was nominated for 2005 Detroit Music Award. Like its predecessor, it was named one of the Best Releases of 2005 by Jim Wilke ‘s Jazz After Hours program in Seattle, WHRV in Virginia Beach, WBEZ in Chicago, WVIA-FM in Pittston PA, WBLV Blue Lake Public Radio, WLNZ in Lansing, WEMU in Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti, KXJS in Sacramento, and WYCE in Grand Rapids, Jazz 90.1 in Rochester NY, Real Detroit Weekly Magazine , the Detroit MetroTimes and the Lansing City Pulse. NPR also featured the CD as a part of its Open Mic series.

The group also won a WYCE Jammy award for Best Jazz Album for their debut CD “Waiting For The Boogaloo Sisters…” (which features prominent New York saxophonist Ron Blake ). The CD was also named one of the Best Releases of 2003 by Jim Wilke’s Jazz After Hours program, syndicated on over 60 NPR stations nationwide.

http://www.organissimo.org/about.htm

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French pianist Philippe LeJeune is a perfect example of the mixture of jazz and blues which was especially an important strain in the jazz tradition. The young pianist attended in 1968 a concert in Reims (France) by master boogie woogie and blues pianist singer Memphis Slim, and immediately put an end to his classical efforts and began teaching himself piano blues, scouring local record shops fort LP’s by boogie woogie greats. In 1980 he was invited by Memphis Slim himself – who had been a parisian citizen since 1962 – to cut an album titled “Dialog In Boogie” as a piano duet.

Philippe Lejeune’s playing creates a strong blues flavor of soulful, swinging jazz. His repertoire reflects the pianist important early influences, honoring the blues ans jazz masters who inspired him when he first began playing jazz. His playing is always a brilliant assortment of sobriety and expressiveness. Philippe LeJeune has a wide repertoire ranging from classic barrelhouse boogie woogie piano to Duke Ellington and Horace Silver tunes as well those of Milt Jackson and Neal Hefti, but he sounds ‘at home’ when playing the blues.

Philippe LeJeune has released six Cds in the United States, among them a live recording in a trio format at the Blue Moon jazz club in Houston TX. He also makes numerous appearances in major festivals including Detroit Jazz Festival, Cincinnati Blues Fest, Monterey Bay Blues Festival, Jazz N’ June Festival in Huntsville AL, Kuumbwa Jazz Center in Santa Cruz CA, Art Tatum Jazz Heritage Festival in Toledo OH, and has been a regular guest of first rate American jazz clubs as Baker’s and CliffBell’s (Detroit MI) and Nighttown (Cleveland OH) … His performance at the Motor City Blues & Boogie Woogie Festival (Detroit, 2005) was recorded live to be edited into P.B.S. television specials and DVD.

Living in Toulouse, France, LeJeune has also performed for many years throughout Europe in the jazz festival and blues circuit (France, Spain, Belgium, Switzerland, Czech Republic, The Netherlands) and in Africa (Tunisia, Senegal). As an educator and clinician he has taught workshops in music schools, conservatories of music, and has lead seminars at jazz festivals throughout France and USA. He has been also artistic director for ‘Jazz Au Mercure’ since 2005, a monthly jazz concert serie at Mercure Hotel in Toulouse. Philippe Lejeune’s name was introduced into the famous “New Grove Dictionary of Jazz” (Barry Kernfeld) in 2001.

Philippe LeJeune is doing his part to continue a legacy by blending classic jazz, gospel, blues and boogie woogie, with his own stylings. He explores an impressive variety of blues styles and grooves, leaving listeners with a happy feeling.

www.philippelejeune.com

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Before Detroit, he lived in Chicago, where he built a solid blues resume, touring and recording as a pianist with Jimmy Witherspoon, Koko Taylor, Alberta Adams, Fenton Robinson, and many others. He also played jazz piano on two major Impulse!/MCA recordings for Chicago guitarist Henry Johnson, who called Bill’s piano playing “brilliant”, and adds that Bill “…brings fire, excitement and a feeling of the blues to any recording that he appears on.”

It is as an organist though that Bill became better known, recording as a leader on several outstanding jazz organ dates in the mid to late nineties for the Muse/Westside and Savant labels. Bill’s organ sound is at once gritty and sophisticated and is flavored with Bill’s idiosyncratic style and unique vernacular. Now, after having spent a number of years working in Japan and touring all over the world for the U.S. State Department as a Jazz Ambassador, Bill is back stateside where he can be heard on organ and piano engagements at various venues in the Washington, D.C. area.

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