This group is composed of one of jazz's most prolific brothers, Jimmy, Percy and Tootie Heath. Contemplating the family legacy, middle brother Jimmy, 71, the one who writes, arranges and plays saxophones, remarks “we're lucky enough that all of us are still here. Between us, we've got over 150 years of experience and we are the elders of the surviving families of this music." Brother Percy, 75, a bassist of considerable renown, is the senior brother. Albert “Tootie," the LA based drummer, is the baby of the group at 63. “Some baby," his middle brother wryly observes. Although Jimmy and Percy gigged together in and around their Philadelphia home in the 40s, most notably with Dizzy Gillespie, it wasn't until Jimmy's Riverside recordings in the late 50s that the three brothers had a chance to really play together. “By that time," Jimmy recalls, “Percy was out all the time with the Modern Jazz Quartet and Tootie was working with J.J. Johnson and Bobby Timmons."
IRIDIUM JAZZ CLUB
1650 Broadway at 51st Street
New York, NY 10019
Sets at 8 & 10 pm
and an added set on Fri. & Sat. at 11:30
212-582-2121
www.iridiumjazzclub.com
Related Article: We Three Kings: The Heath Brothers
For more information contact All About Jazz.
