JAZZ

Higgins Awaiting Transplant: Acclaimed modern jazz drummer Billy Higgins, who has played and recorded with Ornette Coleman, Dexter Gordon, Cedar Walton and countless others, is extremely ill and is awaiting a liver transplant. Higgins’ wife, Gina, says he is near the top of the list for donors and that the operation is imminent. Los Angeles native Higgins, 59, is the founder of the World Stage in the Crenshaw district, a community cultural center that has been the springboard to success for such groups as Black/Note and the B Sharp Jazz Quartet. A benefit for Higgins is being planned for March.