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Jimmy Heath: Love Letter

By Chris May
July 3, 2020
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Love Letter is the final album to be made by saxophonist

Jimmy Heath

saxophone, tenor
1926 - 2020

" data-original-title="" title="">Jimmy Heath, who passed in January 2020 aged 93. It was completeted just a month earlier. The title is well chosen: the album is a love letter to jazz, a love letter to ballads, and a love letter to Heath's surviving family members, friends and audience. Soulful and luminous, it is everything one could hope for in the last will and testament of a jazz master.

Heath performed on more than a hundred albums during his career and worked with practically every jazz giant of his generation (and more than a few from succeeding generations). These included

Dizzy Gillespie

trumpet
1917 - 1993

" data-original-title="" title="">Dizzy Gillespie,

John Coltrane

saxophone
1926 - 1967

" data-original-title="" title="">John Coltrane,

Benny Golson

saxophone, tenor
1929 - 2024

" data-original-title="" title="">Benny Golson,

Kenny Clarke

drums
1914 - 1985

" data-original-title="" title="">Kenny Clarke,

J.J. Johnson

trombone
1924 - 2001

" data-original-title="" title="">J.J. Johnson,

Howard McGhee

trumpet
1918 - 1987

" data-original-title="" title="">Howard McGhee,

Miles Davis

trumpet
1926 - 1991

" data-original-title="" title="">Miles Davis,

Clifford Brown

trumpet
b.1930

" data-original-title="" title="">Clifford Brown,

Cannonball Adderley

saxophone
1928 - 1975

" data-original-title="" title="">Cannonball Adderley and

Philly Joe Jones

drums
1923 - 1985

" data-original-title="" title="">Philly Joe Jones. And that was just between 1947 and 1951. There were six more decades to go.

On Love Letter, Heath plays tenor on seven tracks and soprano on one. He is accompanied by a multi- generational lineup comprising pianist

Kenny Barron

piano
b.1943

" data-original-title="" title="">Kenny Barron, guitarist

Russell Malone

guitar
1963 - 2024

" data-original-title="" title="">Russell Malone, vibraphonist

Monte Croft

vibraphone

" data-original-title="" title="">Monte Croft, bassist

David Wong

bass

" data-original-title="" title="">David Wong and drummer

Lewis Nash

drums
b.1958

" data-original-title="" title="">Lewis Nash.

Gregory Porter

vocals
b.1971

" data-original-title="" title="">Gregory Porter and

Cecile McLorin Salvant

vocals
b.1989

" data-original-title="" title="">Cecile McLorin Salvant add vocals to Gordon Parks' "Don't Misunderstand" and

Mal Waldron

piano
1925 - 2002

" data-original-title="" title="">Mal Waldron's "Left Alone" respectively.

Wynton Marsalis

trumpet
b.1961

" data-original-title="" title="">Wynton Marsalis is featured on

Kenny Dorham

trumpet
1924 - 1972

" data-original-title="" title="">Kenny Dorham's "La Mesha."

Heath was a gifted composer and three of his pieces are included on Love Letter: "Fashion Or Passion," from a 2004 Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra Commission, "Inside Your Heart," from a 2010 project with the Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra, and "Ballad From Upper Neighbor's Suite," from 1995.

As an album, Love Letter ranks among Heath's best. As a swansong, it is unbeatable.

Learn more about our star rating system

Track Listing

Ballad From Upper Neighbor��s Suite; Left Alone; Inside Your Heart; Fashion Or Passion; Con Alma; Don��t Misunderstand; La Mesha; Don��t Explain.

Personnel

Jimmy Heath

saxophone, tenor

Kenny Barron

piano

Russell Malone

guitar

Monte Croft

vibraphone

David Wong

bass

Lewis Nash

drums

Additional Instrumentation

Gregory Porter: vocals (6); C��cile McLorin Salvant: vocals (8); Wynton Marsalis: trumpet (8).

Album information

Title: Love Letter | Year Released: 2020 | Record Label: Verve Music Group

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