Living Legends: Gifts that Keep on Giving? The Heath Brothers
Caught The Heath Brothers at the Village Vanguard on July 10. Jimmy Heath, tenor and soprano saxophones, Albert “Tootie” Heath, drums, Jeb Patton, piano, David Wong, bass. A few of the songs they played were: “Project ‘S,’” an original by Jimmy Heath, started as a medium tempo Latin; the group then doubled the tempo into swing. Jimmy Heath has a gloriously beautiful sound, alternately spiritual, stirring melodically while using substitutes changes in his solo, phrasing short motifs rhapsodically. Jeb Patton’s spirited take off was as fluent as a Mozart sonata. They used a Latin segue between choruses and a short solo by Tootie, who has a rich, swinging style and uses his instrument fully. Composed in 1926, Mal Waldron’s “Soul Eyes” was next. At about 132=quarter note, with Jimmy Heath’s perfectly pretty sound on tenor, bringing the melody to life. On his solo, Mr. Heath performed large interval jumps easily, with a soul saturated sound, e.g., starting a phrase with a triplet, 2+3+, leading to a 6 chorus solo winding up in the upper register, with bass and drums working as one voice, and the piano comping on off beats. Mr. Patton, the pianist, used the full range above middle C in a triplet infused solo, with an effervescent, positive personality. Mr. Patton played a five note motif which he then extended into some rolls and arpeggios, used a triplet figure and then a few 7 note figures playing ebulliently before going into a chordal chorus. David Wong played a melodic figure commenting on melody, using about 4 octaves, sometimes using four 8th notes ascending, then descending with five notes, before going into a sparer chorus accenting on triplet figures, hitting the upbeats. Tootie Heath 2
The Jazz Culture, VI:11