Jan 21, 2025 7:54 PM
Southern California Fires Hit the Jazz Community
Roy McCurdy and his wife had just finished eating dinner and were relaxing over coffee in their Altadena home, when he…
Bassist Percy Heath, saxophonist Jimmy Heath and drummer Albert “Tootie” Heath—collectively known as the Heath Brothers—are the subject of a new documentary DVD, Brotherly Jazz . Producer Danny Scher and director Jesse Block compiled concert footage of the brothers along with interviews, archival material and footage of their work with such musicians as Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker.
“It’s a great honor to have something documented on the family, especially now that Percy is gone,” Jimmy Heath said. “Coming from the same source is a unique happening. Whenever wer performed, we always showed the audience that we were a family. All of us played with everybody over the years, but when we played together, it was a happy feeling.”
Other musicians interviewed in the film include Sonny Rollins, Herbie Hancock, Christian McBride and Marian McPartland. The DVD also includes a July 2004 concert, which was one of the last times that the Heath brothers shared a concert stage before Percy Heath’s death in April 2005.
For more information go to: brotherlyjazz.com
Gerald and John Clayton at the family home in Altadena during a photo shoot for the June 2022 cover of DownBeat. The house was lost during the Los Angeles fires.
Jan 21, 2025 7:54 PM
Roy McCurdy and his wife had just finished eating dinner and were relaxing over coffee in their Altadena home, when he…
“She said, ‘A lot of people are going to try and stop you,’” Sheryl Bailey recalls of the advice she received from jazz guitarist Emily Remler (1957–’90). “‘They’re going to say you slept with somebody, you’re a dyke, you’re this and that and the other. Don’t listen to them, and just keep playing.’”
Feb 3, 2025 10:49 PM
In the April 1982 issue of People magazine, under the heading “Lookout: A Guide To The Up and Coming,” jazz…
The Old Country: More From The Deer Head Inn arrives 30 years after ECM issued the Keith Jarret Trio live album At The Deer Head Inn.
Jan 21, 2025 7:38 PM
Last November, Keith Jarrett, who has not played publicly since suffering two strokes in 2018, greenlighted ECM to drop…
As Ted Nash, left, departs the alto saxophone chair for LCJO, Alexa Tarantino steps in as the band’s first female full-time member.
Mar 4, 2025 1:29 PM
If only because openings for JLCO’s 15 permanent positions appear about as frequently as sub-freezing days on the…
“The first recording I owned with Brazilian music on it was Wayne Shorter’s Native Dancer,” says Renee Rosnes. “And then I just started to go down the rabbit hole.”
Jan 16, 2025 2:02 PM
In her four-decade career, Renee Rosnes has been recognized as a singular voice, both as a jazz composer and a…
