There may be no greater proof of the rejuvenating power of music than the sounds coming out of the Jazz Showcase this week.
The veteran Heath Brothers have been playing before the public for more decades than they probably care to remember. Yet the youthful exuberance that saxophonist Jimmy Heath, bassist Percy Heath and drummer Albert “Tootie” Heath conveyed on opening night of a weeklong engagement seemed to defy the passage of time. Here was jazz improvisation that sounded about as loose, rough-edged and free-wheeling as one might hope to hear from a group of upstarts, let alone from three elder statesmen of jazz.
Part of the spontaneity of the session owed to the repertoire, with the brothers (and pianist Jeb Patton) trying out a great deal of new material that they plan to take into the recording studio. With the players closely following the score at one moment, making eye contact with one another the next, the proceedings never slipped into a comfortable or predictable routine.
Bassist Percy Heath, best known as a longtime member of the Modern Jazz Quartet, clearly revelled in the freshness of the setting. Perhaps the “anything goes” nature of Tuesday’s first set came as an invigorating contrast to the carefully measured arrangements that have been the MJQ’s signature for four decades.
Whatever the reason, Heath played solos of such rhythmic force and melodic abandon that, at some moments, he appeared to surprise himself. This was Percy Heath at his least inhibited, with the bassist frequently taking abrupt left turns into unexpected harmonic territory. Further, he reinvented Charlie Parker’s “Yardbird Suite,” offering a classically tinged performance (played pizzicato on cello) that emphasized buoyant dance rhythms and a deep, resplendent tone.
Reedist Jimmy Heath devoted most of his first set to the tenor saxophone, his bebop playing as fluid and virtuosic as that of anyone working today. Other tenor giants of his vintage — such as Chicagoans Johnny Griffin and Von Freeman — may produce a more muscular and crowd-pleasing virtuosity, but Heath’s sleekly understated playing has its virtues.
Neither Jimmy Heath nor the rest of the band focused exclusively on bebop triumphs of the past, however. The evening’s song list including everything from freshly minted compositions by Jimmy Heath to nearly forgotten ballads, such as Jimmy Dorsey’s “I’m Glad There is You.” With drummer Albert Heath providing a no-nonsense swing backbeat and pianist Patton earning his pay in the sheer profusion of notes he produced, the Heath Brothers proved difficult to resist.
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The Heath Brothers play through Sunday at the Jazz Showcase, 59 W. Grand Ave. Phone 312-670-BIRD.
