SwingJournal #3

For Minors Only: In the USA, we are accostumed to the use of the words "Adult Only". Depending on which state you are in, you have to be 21 years old to enter jazz bars to listen to good music whether if you are going to drink or not. "Minors Only" might be Jimmy Heath's little remonstrance toward this situation for young jazz lovers - or maybe he wanted to choose this title just because this is a simple minor blues. It's probably a little of both. The intro starts with three horns in harmony, and the melody starts with the tenor saxophone and trombone in unison. At the ninth bar, the cornet joins as a kind of punch line. It is very much like the Jazz Messengers' arrangement. The latin-style solo by Wynton Kelly reminds me of Wes Montgomery's "Cariba" from the live recording album, "Full House". Full House was recorded in 1962 and Jimmy Heath's "The Thumper" was recorded in 1959. Therefore Jimmy's version should be considered the originator of this particular atmosphere. Even though we hear everybody's solo except Paul Chambers, each solo is too short compared to Wes's recording - however this composition proves that this recording was made by a powerful ensemble.

Who Needs It? : Starting with Paul Chambers' bass solo: After the melody we hear Jimmy Heath's creative solo. He starts with long tone notes and uses a lot of space, just like John Coltrane on Kind of Blue (Miles Davis). Toward the end of Heath's solo, Nat Adderly and Curtis Fuller play riffs behind the saxophone solo. Then a funky cornet motif solo starts. Toward end of this cornet solo, Jimmy Heath and Curtis Fuller come in with a different background melody to support Nat Adderley. Curtis Fuller appears as a third soloist. Toward end of the trombone solo, Jimmy Heath and Nat Adderley play in the background with another melody. Wynton Kelly appears as a last soloist and after 1 chorus of melody, this song fades out.

Two Tees: I assume that this song is dedicated to Jimmy Heath's brother and the drummer of this recording Albert "Tootie" Heath. A latin- flavored intro leads into the swing tune. The cornet takes a nice top melody. The composition is an ABAC form, and Jimmy Heath takes the first solo. He plays a very unique solo with a strong Coltrane influence. Trombonist, Curtis Fuller uses nice trill and triplets motives to build up the solo. Wynton Kelly's solo is very smooth, however when compared to his solos on the other tunes, he plays this tune as if this was his first time. I really wanted to hear a more grounded Wynton Kelly here. The climax of this piece is a nice 8 bar interlude vs. 8 bars of Paul Chambers' strong bass solo. This piece is a well written and well orchestrated composition. The composition has a nice intro, interlude and ending melody.

The Thumper : The intro starts with straight 8th notes and a little pick up. These 3 separate melodies are played by cornet, tenor saxophone and trombone. The pianist plays another 4 bar intro with the V chord, then melody starts. After listening to the melody, we can notice that this piece is an ordinary medium tempo swinging blues. However it is interesting to hear the same intro figure every time the melody ends because it is a straight 8th note figure. After the melody, a Cannonball Adderley-like interlude can be heard with strong rhythmic kicks. Then Jimmy Heath take over the first solo.

Don't You Know I Care? : This piece was composed by Mack David and Duke Ellington. This astonishing performance is a walking ballad in a quartet setting. Wynton Kelly takes first solo. After half a chorus, Jimmy comes back from the bridge. Through out this recording, I detect a hidden secret of Jimmy Heath's. If you have ever had a conversation with Jimmy Heath, he often mentions a most underrated tenor saxophonist who is responsible for the bebop movement. His name was Don Byas. This ballad was Don Byas' favorite and I believe that Jimmy used this piece to pay a little tribute to his idol.

New Keep : The cornet takes care of the top line of this intro. The melody starts as if three horns are playing in unison, but they split away suddenly at the 4th bar on the A section, and then play in unison again. What a great horn arrangement! The jazz messengers always used this kind of trick, but it is so refreshing for me to hear it on Jimmy Heath's arrangement. On the bridge, we can hear a very nice 3 horn harmony with Albert Tootie Heath's latin rhythm. There is a nice interlude which is a good set up for Nat Adderley's long pick up. This composition was influenced a lot by Charlie Parker's "Confirmation". Wynton Kelly's solo is short but meaningful and leads nicely into the closing melody.

For All We Know : This famous ballad is by Coots and Lewis. The cornet plays the melody during the three horn harmony on the intro. Once Jimmy Heath starts the melody, the cornet and trombone stay behind to support him. I know this song from the soul singer/pianist Donny Hathaway. Albert Tootie Heath studied music composition with Donny Hathaway, and I remember Tootie had a high respect of the musical passion of both Heath and Hathaway.

I Can Make You Love Me: The swinging intro is played by Wynton Kelly and Jimmy Heath enters at beginning of the form. This piece is composed by Peter DeRose and Bob Russell. I can only remember that Sarah Vaughan sang it as a ballad. On this piece, we can enjoy Jimmy Heath as a lead man with the quartet set up. Many tenor saxophonists inthe 50s and 60s searched for their own voice between the sounds of Sonny Rollins and John Coltrane. Some of them found a style of their own, completely different from Rollins and Coltrane. Good examples of this are Joe Henderson and Wayne Shorter. Some of them are stayed in the same area and kept the same atmosphere. The best example of this kind would be Jimmy Heath on this track.

Nice People :

Audio File

Download Sheet Music for Jimmy Heath's Nice People

Solo Guitar Arrangement/Performance by Hideaki Tokunaga