JIMMY HEATH - Four Classic Albums (The Thumper / Really Big! / The Quota / Triple Threat) (2CD)

AVID Jazz continues with its Four Classic Album series with a re-mastered 2CD release from Jimmy Heath, complete with original artwork, liner notes and personnel details
“The Thumper”; “Really Big!”; “The Quota” and “Triple Threat”
One of the many great aspects of working with the wonderful folks at AVID is the opportunity to discover artists that for one reason or another, have eluded ones musical radar. One such name is our latest recruit to the AVID Hall of Jazz, Mr Jimmy Heath. Sadly, it has taken the recent passing of Mr Heath at 93 years of age in January 2020 to bring him to our attention through a suggestion from one of our dedicated customers. Selecting the albums for our set, what struck us out about Jimmy Heath was the wonderful sound he made on his tenor sax, it was so rich and full of life and energy. Starting jazz life playing with his two musical brothers, Percy and Albert, Jimmy found early success as an alto player but getting a rep as “Little Bird” Jimmy decided to make the switch to tenor in order to stand out from his influences. Heath had a classic (some might say almost cliched) jazz life when as a heroin addict in the 1950s he was imprisoned (more than once) and would eventually spend most of a six year sentence incarcerated. He eventually emerged in 1959 having spent much of his prison time composing and playing jazz. Cleaning up took some time but Jimmy did it and was clean for the rest of his long life. As an arranger, composer (100+ songs) and player the list of jazz men he played with or who used his compositions is actually quite startling, take a look at this lot. Donald Byrd, Benny Carter, Miles Davis, Kenny Dorham, Art Farmer, Curtis Fuller, Red Garland, John Coltrane, Milt Jackson, Elmo Hope, Milt Jackson, JJ Johnson, Sam Jones, Herbie Mann, Cal Tjader, Nat & “Cannonball” Adderley, Chet Baker and Ahmad Jamal. So, as you would expect, Jimmy is joined by a whole host of great jazz players for these four fine selections. Here’s just a flavour of some of those guys, Freddie Hubbard, Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers, Nat Adderley, “Cannonball” Adderley, Pat Patrick, Clark Terry, Cedar Walton, Tommy Flanagan, Julius Watkins and of course not forgetting Jimmy’s famous siblings Percy and Albert Heath who were often essential mainstays of his bands on bass and drums respectively. The cast is impressive, the music is even more impressive, take a listen. How did we miss this guy??
Check out:- Freddie Hubbard (AMSC1244); Paul Chambers (AMSC1324); Tommy Flanagan (AMSC1091); Nat Adderley (AMSC1062); Wynton Kelly (AMSC1165); Clark Terry (AMSC1102); Curtis Fuller (AMSC1326); “Cannonball” Adderley (AMSC1022)

CD1
1-9: ‘The Thumper’
1. For Minors Only
2. Who Needs It?
3. Don’t You Know I Care?
4. Two Tees
5. The Thumper
6. Newkeep
7. For All We Know
8. I Can Make You Love Me
9. Nice People
10-17: ‘Really Big!’
10. Big “P”
11. Old Fashioned Fun
12. Mona’s Mood
13. Dat Dere
14. Nails
15. On Green Dolphin Street
16. My Ideal
17. The Picture Of Heath

CD2
1-7: ‘The Quota’
1. The Quota
2. Lowland Lullaby
3. Thinking Of You
4. Bells And Horns
5. Down Shift
6. When Sunny Gets Blue
7. Funny Time
8-14: ‘Triple Threat’
8. Gemini
9. Bruh Slim
10. Goodbye
11. Dew And Mud
12. Make Someone Happy
13. The More I See You
14. Prospecting