Al Haig
b. 22 July 1924, Newark, New Jersey, USA, d. 16 November 1982. One of the first bop pianists, and for a time among the very best of them, Haig spent the second half of the '40s in excellent musical company. Active in the clubs of New York, he played with Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie and proved to be an outstanding accompanist. After a spell with Stan Getz which ended in 1951, Haig drifted from the centre of the bebop stage, rarely recording and often accepting engagements which demanded little jazz playing. In the '70s he returned to the jazz scene, demonstrating on record that he had lost none of his understated skills and was also well aware of the musical developments of the intervening years. Despite his piecemeal career, Haig remains an important figure in the development of modern jazz piano playing.