Member of the Modern Jazz Quartet and co-founder of the Heath Brothers.
He started becoming musically active before being drafted, but took up bass after he returned; he attended the Granoff School of Music and his career flourished.
He released his first album as a bandleader, A Love Song, when he was eighty years old.
He was survived by his wife June and their three sons.
He worked in Dizzy Gillespie's group early on in his career.
