Higgins came up through the Los Angeles scene before anyone outside the West Coast had much reason to know his name. That changed fast: he was barely in his twenties when he ended up on The Shape of Jazz to Come (1959), one of the records that genuinely shook up how people thought about rhythm and harmony. What's striking is how relaxed he sounds on it. While everyone around him was busy being revolutionary, he was just swinging.
That was the thing about Higgins — he was equally at home in free contexts and straight-ahead hard bop, and never made a big deal of the difference. He spent a huge chunk of his career playing with Cedar Walton, and Eastern Rebellion (1975) is some of the most satisfying, unflashy hard bop you'll find anywhere. He plays for the song, not for himself.
His sound was distinctive from the first listen: light, airy cymbals, a subtle bass drum, and a way of making complicated rhythmic ideas feel completely natural. He recorded constantly, appearing on sessions with Thelonious Monk, Lee Morgan, Dexter Gordon, and seemingly everyone else who passed through Blue Note in the 1960s. He also spent years involved with the World Stage performance space in Los Angeles, keeping a local scene alive for younger musicians.
He died in 2001. The sheer number of essential records he appears on is almost hard to process. Full discography on his artist page.