Billy Higgins - A Lesson in Lovemaking - Valerie Wilmer

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I first met drummer Billy Higgins when he was playing a trio gig in a small club just off Hollywood Blvd. The gig was so memorable that I’ve forgotten both the name of the club and the other musicians who Billy was playing with that night.

I do remember that I was only fifteen and that my father had to accompany me so I could get into the place because it served booze

But what was especially memorable that night was Billy’s playing. It was so light and crisp  - the time just flowed in a relaxed manner off his cymbal beat

Ever since that night, I’ve always tried to emulate Billy’s loose, relaxed groove in my own playing.

The room did not have an elevated bandstand and I was able to get a seat close to the drums where I could observe everything at close range. It was obvious that I was staring, so much so that after the first set he came over to our table and said a few encouraging words to me, all the while flashing his trademark smile.

[Unfortunately I never got the hang of that part of Billy’s approach to drums as I usually frown when I play which I attribute to concentration].

Over the years, I met him many times when he was on the Left Coast picking up checks at the Musicians Union or stocking up on gear at the Pro Drum shop across the street and we became “friends” in the informal sense of the word.

Judging from the following interview that Billy gave to the British Jazz writer and photographer Valerie Wilmer about 10 years after our initial meeting, he developed some unique insights into Jazz drumming along the way. [N.B.: Valerie writes using English spelling and I have left this unchanged.]