Year: 2004
Record Label: Daddy Jazz Records
Style: Straight-Ahead / Classic
Musicians: A Love Song, Watergate Blues, Django, Century Rag, No More Weary Blues, Suite For Pop, Hanna’s Mood
Review: It’s hard to believe that Percy Heath has never recorded as a leader, in spite of the hundreds of albums he has recorded throughout a half-century-plus career in jazz. But it’s true. Even though Heath has been seemingly ubiquitous on a constant stream of Modern Jazz Quartet albums, not to mention accompanying legends like Charlie Parker and Miles Davis, he has never taken the time to record his own compositions, not even on the “Heath Brothers” recordings of Concord in the 1990’s.
Some of Heath’s compositions show signs of the era in which they were written, such as “Watergate Blues.” Even though the political references may have become outdated, the music hasn’t. And Heath remains as one of the formative forces in the development of jazz, even as bassists like Oscar Pettiford and Paul Chambers have passed. From the start of A Love Song, from the very first note, leading into a cleanly articulated phrase with a slight vibrato, it’s apparent that Heath retains a dedication to the bass as an instrument of melodic vibrancy and metrical guidance. Heath played that first song, “A Love Song,” at Milt Hinton’s funeral, and as a poignant three-minute solo performance, it’s an appropriate choice for introducing the material that follows. “Watergate Blues” follows, led by Heath’s jaunty bass lead-in, and once pianist Jeb Patton joins it, the blues aren’t the music of the suffering down-and-outers, but almost a celebration instead, perhaps glee at the prospect of politicians caught red-handed. Unexpectedly, Heath has included another bassist, Peter Washington who has played with the who’s who of jazz, in his group, freeing Heath to pursue melody while Washington assumes the traditional time-marking bass role. That happens on “Watergate Blues,” as well as on “Django,” Heath’s nod to John Lewis’ most famous Modern Jazz Quartet composition, on which Heath plays lead.
The entire group kicks in “Century Rag,” which 25-year-old pianist Jeb Patton plays in tribute to its composer and Patton’s teacher, Sir Roland Hanna. Indeed a rag, the piece as strongly highlights Patton’s talent as did the previous three tracks in calling attention to Heath.
The most varied and compositionally complex track is Heath’s four-part “Suite For Pop,” which moves from mournfulness to the celebration of remembrance and of the soul. Both Percy and “Tootie” Heath musically recall the fulfillment of their Philadelphia childhood when visiting jazz musicians would stop at the Heaths for food and conversation, not to mention the influence such experiences had on the rest of their lives.
Now an octogenarian, Percy Heath plays with absolute control of the instrument and with a ringing resonance that brings to life his compositions that had been unrecorded for too long.
Tracks: Percy Heath (bass, cello); Jeb Patton (piano); Peter Washington (bass); Albert “Tootie” Heath (drums, percussion)
Reviewed by:
Don Williamson
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