Credits:

Jimmy Heath

Description:

Saxophonist Jimmy Heath, who sadly passed away on January 19, 2020 at the age of 93, is working on this new album, his last work, which he worked on until the end of 2019. Entitled "Love Letter," the album is a ballad album by Heath, who was renowned as a master balladeer. Jimmy conducted a stellar cast of colleagues and friends in two sessions, one in New York City in the 48 hours preceding his 93rd birthday and the other in Atlanta a month later. The stellar lineup included NEA Jazz Master Pianist Kenny Barron, guitarist Russell Malone, soulful vibraphone veteran Monte Croft, New York first-call bassist David Wong, world-class drummer Louis Nash The performance is backed by a multi-generational all-star unit including.Plus songs featuring 21st century vocal superstars Gregory Porter and Cecil McLorin Salvant and trumpet icon Wynton Marsalis! In addition to three original, lesser-known songs from Heath's vast collection, elegantly arranged, the program also features three jazz standards by Dizzy Gillespie, a close friend since they met in 1946, "Con Alma," trumpet player Kenny Dorham's "La Mesha " with Kenny Barron, and Marsalis, who has played the Heath at Lincoln Center many times since 1992, as well as "Don't Explain," a collaboration between Arthur Herzog and Billie Holiday, and Cecil McLorin Salvant's "The Core of Billie Holiday's Lyrics Cecil McLorin Salvant's "Left Alone," a Mal Waldron composition that powerfully expresses the unrequited love that is the core of Billie Holiday's lyrics, and Gregory Porter's world-weary but tender reading of GordonParks' underground classic "Don't Misunderstand" - in every song, Heath's soulful and sharp, and the music of the day. Heath is soulful and sharp,The urban solo is a masterful recording that evokes his poetic spirit with the brevity of an old master and the authoritative chops of a musician half his age.

Tracklisting:

1.Ballad From Upper Neighbors Suite
2.Left Alone
3.Inside Your Heart
4.La Mesha
5.Don't Misunderstand
6.Con Alma
7.Fashion or Passion
8.Don’t Explain