Jimmy Heath, the US jazz performer and composer whose career spanned seven decades, has died of natural causes aged 93. His death was confirmed to the New York Times by his grandson Fa Mtume, who was by his side at his death along with other members of the Heath family, including Heath’s wife of 60 years, Mona.

Beginning in the 1940s, Heath played with jazz orchestras, and was a key part of the generation of players who bridged the classic big-band style with the more exploratory and freeform mode of bebop.

He soon came into the orbit of some of jazz’s biggest names. He was nicknamed Little Bird for sharing an alto saxophone style with Charlie Parker, who was known as Bird; he played in groups under Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, JJ Johnson and more, while John Coltrane and Benny Golson played in the small orchestra that Heath formed.

Like Parker, he struggled with heroin addiction, and following two sets of drugs charges, he was sentenced to six years in prison in 1955. He kicked his habit inside, and was released early, in 1959. With his touring career curtailed by his probation terms, he focused on studio work, and also became an arranger for artists including Ray Charles. His compositions were played by stars including Chet Baker, whose album Playboys (with Art Pepper) is made up of predominantly Heath pieces.

He later formed a fusion band, the Heath Brothers, with his brothers Percy and Tootie, and founded the jazz programme at New York’s Queens College. In 2003, he was named a Jazz Master by the National Endowment of the Arts.

As well as seven grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren, he is survived by his wife, daughter Rosalyn from his first marriage, and son James, who became a successful musician in his own right with the band Mtume, known for the funk track Juicy Fruit. Another son, Jeffrey, died in 2010.