Roy Haynes, one of the most significant figures in the history of jazz, dies at 99-Brooke Ivey Johnson-Entertainment – Metro

American jazz musician Roy Haynes has died at 99 (Picture: Jack Vartoogian/Getty Images)

Roy Haynes, one of the most towering figures in the history of jazz, has died at 99 years old.

A jazz drummer who helped to redefine the form, Haynes was one of the most recorded percussionists in music history.

According to the New York Times, Haynes’ daughter – Leslie Haynes-Gilmore – shared the news of her father’s passing today in Nassau County, New York following ‘a brief illness.’

Haynes worked with all the jazz greats throughout his career, including Miles Davis, Sarah Vaughan, Sonny Rollins, Thelonious Monk, Art Blakey, Ray Charles, and Stan Getz.

Duke Ellington famously offered Haynes a job in 1952, but the drummer turned it down, fearing that he would be limited by the band’s more traditional style.

Haynes was also a prolific bandleader himself, with his debut album Busman’s Holiday coming out in 1954.

Haynes was one of the most trailblazing jazz musicians of all time (Picture: Getty Images)

The musician also released We Three with bass player Paul Chambers and piano player Phineas Newborn Jr. in 1958 and Out of the Afternoon with Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Tommy Flanagan and Henry Grimes in 1962.

As a drummer, Haynes’ style was constantly evolving.

‘I’m only happy when I’m moving forward,’ he explained to the writer Burt Korall.

‘Some musicians play the same songs the same way every night. That’s impossible for me. My fundamental style may not really be different. But there have been so many things added.’

Haynes received his first Grammy Award nomination in 1988 in the Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Group.

He was ultimately nominated for eight Grammys and took home two over the course of his career.

Haynes collaborated with jazz legends like Miles Davis and Ray Charles (Picture: Tom Copi/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

In 2012, he was given a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Grammys, with another Lifetime Achievement Award coming from the Jazz Foundation of America in 2019.

Having dropped out of high school to focus on music as a young man, Haynes was eventually given honorary doctorates from both the Berklee College of Music and the New England Conservatory.

Haynes and his wife Jesse Lee Nevels Haynes, who died in 1979, had three children together, a daughter and two sons.

The icon is survived by his children, eight grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren.

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