Jimmy Heath (James Edward Heath, 25 October 1926, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; composer, arranger, tenor and soprano saxophones, flute), Percy Heath (b. 30 April 1923, Wilmington, North Carolina, USA, d. 28 April 2005, Southampton, New York, USA; bass) and Al ‘Tootie’ Heath (b. Albert Heath, 31 May 1935, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; drums). The Heath brothers have all had distinguished and prolific careers individually. They worked together as an ‘official’ Heath Brothers band in the late 50s and worked on the sessions for Jimmy Heath’s Swamp Seed. The concept was revived after Jimmy and Percy appeared on Albert Heath’s debut album in 1973. When the Modern Jazz Quartet, Percy’s regular band for 22 years, was disbanded in 1974 the idea seemed more practicable, and in 1975 the brothers re-formed with pianist Stanley Cowell. Albert left in 1978 because of a disagreement over musical direction with Jimmy and Percy, and guitarist Tony Purrone was made an official member. Extra percussion was provided by Akira Tana, but Albert returned for the brothers’ final recording before their 1983 split. Apart from the odd reunion there was a long silence before the three brothers teamed up once again for the 1997 Concord session, As We Were Saying... and the following year’s Jazz Family.
Source: The Encyclopedia of Popular Music by Colin Larkin. Licensed from Muze.
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Jimmy Heath (James Edward Heath, 25 October 1926, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; composer, arranger, tenor and soprano saxophones, flute), Percy Heath (b. 30 April 1923, Wilmington, North Carolina, USA, d. 28 April 2005, Southampton, New York, USA; bass) and Al ‘Tootie’ Heath (b. Albert Heath, 31 May 1935, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; drums). The Heath brothers have all had distinguished and prolific careers individually. They worked together as an ‘official’ Heath Brothers band in the late 50s and worked on the sessions for Jimmy Heath’s Swamp Seed. The concept was revived after Jimmy and Percy appeared on Albert Heath’s debut album in 1973. When the Modern Jazz Quartet, Percy’s regular band for 22 years, was disbanded in 1974 the idea seemed more practicable, and in 1975 the brothers re-formed with pianist Stanley Cowell. Albert left in 1978 because of a disagreement over musical direction with Jimmy and Percy, and guitarist Tony Purrone was made an official member. Extra percussion was provided by Akira Tana, but Albert returned for the brothers’ final recording before their 1983 split. Apart from the odd reunion there was a long silence before the three brothers teamed up once again for the 1997 Concord session, As We Were Saying... and the following year’s Jazz Family.