Meantal Heath

Love Letter, Jimmy Heath’s stunningly elegant last testament, is the legendary saxophonists beautiful take on seminal ballads, including songs written by Billie Holiday, Dizzy Gillespie, and Kenny Dorham in addition to original material. At two sessions in New York during the 48 hours preceding Jimmy’s 93rd birthday, and two more a month later in Atlanta, Jimmy presided over a brilliant cast of colleagues and friends. The result is pure, primo Heath: polished, inventive, surprising, candid, beautiful. Guest artists include Wynton Marsalis, Gregory Porter, and Cécile McLorin Salvant.

Jimmy Heath - Little Man Big Band (1992) {Verve Records 314513956-2}
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© 1992 Verve Records / PolyGram ‎| 314 513 956-2
Jazz / Hard Bop / Modern Big Band / Saxophone

Bill Cosby produced Little Man Big Band to give journeyman composer and saxophonist Jimmy Heath a larger palette for his work. Most known for his work with small ensembles, especially the Heath Brothers with siblings Percy Heath on bass and Tootie Heath on drums, Jimmy Heath brings to life his compositions, including his greatest hits "CTA" and "Gingerbread Boy," with blaring, upper register trumpets, punchy trombone countermelodies and swirling saxophone ensembles. He is an able practitioner of big band orchestration, concentrating largely on using the band to frame soloists, most prominently himself.

Jimmy Heath - Really Big! (1960) {2007 Riverside} [Keepnews Collection Complete Series] (Item #9of27)
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© 1960, 2007 Concord / Riverside | RCD-30185
Jazz / Hard Bop / Saxophone

Remastered in 24-bit from the original master tapes. Part of our Keepnews Collection, which spotlights classic albums originally produced by the legendary Orrin Keepnews. Jimmy Heath has been at the forefront of modern jazz for almost 50 years. The middle brother of the illustrious Heaths, Jimmy (b. 1926) is a triple threat as saxophonist-composer-arranger. On this, his second Riverside date as a leader, Jimmy's ten-piece band was not, of course, really big—but his expert writing and arranging made the flexible ensemble sound bigger.

Jimmy Heath - The Quota (1961) {Riverside OJCCD-1871-2 rel 1995}
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© 1961, 1995 Riverside / Fantasy | OJCCD-1871-2
Jazz / Hard Bop / Saxophone

For The Quota, Jimmy Heath gathered his older brother, Percy, and his younger one, Tootie, into the Riverside studios along with three young lions of the New York jazz scene. In Julius Watkins, Heath selected a musician who had made himself a mainstay of the New York scene despite the fact that he played French horn, an instrument almost impossibly difficult for improvisation. In a short time in New York, Cedar Walton had become sought after as a versatile pianist who soloed with rare conviction and beauty.

Picture of Heath (also known as Playboys was the best collaboration ever by two of the greatest jazz masters of all time: trumpeter Chet Baker and alto saxophonist Art Pepper. This set presents the complete album, along with, as a bonus, seven tracks from a previous session fronted by both stars.

Jimmy Heath Sextet - The Thumper (1959) {Riverside OJCCD-1828-2 rel 1994}
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© 1959, 1994 Riverside / Fantasy | OJCCD-1828-2
Jazz / Bop / Hard Bop / Saxophone

Jimmy Heath at age 33 made his recording debut as a leader on this Riverside session which has been reissued on CD in the OJC series. The hard bop tenor-saxophonist is in superior form, contributing five originals (of which "For Minors Only" is best known), jamming with an all-star sextet (including cornetist Nat Adderley, trombonist Curtis Fuller, pianist Wynton Kelly, bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Albert "Tootie" Heath) and taking two standards as ballad features. The excellent session of late '50s straightahead jazz is uplifted above the normal level by Heath's writing.