ALBERT HEATH - Kwanza (The First)
Xanadu 906070
Albert Heath - drums, chimes, tympani; Jimmy Heath - tenor and soprano sax, flute; Curtis Fuller - trombone; Kenny Barron - piano, electric piano; Ted Dunbar - guitar; Percy Heath - bass;
Original recording 1973
Albert, also known as ‘Tootie’, was the youngest Heath brother in the illustrious family represented here, and hence perhaps the best placed to embrace the new influences from rock, latin and african music that were sweeping the scene in the early 1970s. This album come replete with all kinds of modish innovations, from Swahili titles to 4/4 straight-8 rock rhythms, to guitar and rhodes from the youngest members. If ‘Tafadhali’’s flute-driven boogaloo take on jazz-rock seems rather quaintly dated nowadays, ‘Dr Jeh”’s jagged melody, rhythmic vitality and unusual trombone/soprano frontline still seems genuinely forward-looking, and Heath sounds terrific on drums, powerful and energetic. ‘Dunia’ is another imaginative arrangement built around some truly exciting drum solos. ‘Oops’ was written by elder brother and MJQ stalwart Percy and as you might expect is a more conventional blues-to-bop swinger, played as a fraternal trio of flute, bass and brushes with the rest of the band laying out. “A Notion” uses rhodes and chimes to create a spacious ballad mood and features a beautifully composed solo by a young Kenny Barron. All the compositions bar one are by Albert; this was his first ever outing as a leader, and he shows himself to be a very capable and imaginative writer - ‘Wazuri Blues’ uses a combination of a simple arresting phrase and rhythmic displacement to great effect. Overall though the album doesn’t really seem to hang together, despite many enjoyable moments and great playing from all concerned - an excess of Jimmy Heath’s seldom-heard flute and smooth-sounding rhodes makes it seem rather lightweight, and this reissue’s addition of a Kenny Barron boogie-blues solo from a totally different session seven years later doesn’t do anything to enhance the cohesion. As ever, Xanadu have done a great job with the re-mastering and repackaging.
Reviewed by Eddie Myer
Xanadu 906070
Albert Heath - drums, chimes, tympani; Jimmy Heath - tenor and soprano sax, flute; Curtis Fuller - trombone; Kenny Barron - piano, electric piano; Ted Dunbar - guitar; Percy Heath - bass;
Original recording 1973
Albert, also known as ‘Tootie’, was the youngest Heath brother in the illustrious family represented here, and hence perhaps the best placed to embrace the new influences from rock, latin and african music that were sweeping the scene in the early 1970s. This album come replete with all kinds of modish innovations, from Swahili titles to 4/4 straight-8 rock rhythms, to guitar and rhodes from the youngest members. If ‘Tafadhali’’s flute-driven boogaloo take on jazz-rock seems rather quaintly dated nowadays, ‘Dr Jeh”’s jagged melody, rhythmic vitality and unusual trombone/soprano frontline still seems genuinely forward-looking, and Heath sounds terrific on drums, powerful and energetic. ‘Dunia’ is another imaginative arrangement built around some truly exciting drum solos. ‘Oops’ was written by elder brother and MJQ stalwart Percy and as you might expect is a more conventional blues-to-bop swinger, played as a fraternal trio of flute, bass and brushes with the rest of the band laying out. “A Notion” uses rhodes and chimes to create a spacious ballad mood and features a beautifully composed solo by a young Kenny Barron. All the compositions bar one are by Albert; this was his first ever outing as a leader, and he shows himself to be a very capable and imaginative writer - ‘Wazuri Blues’ uses a combination of a simple arresting phrase and rhythmic displacement to great effect. Overall though the album doesn’t really seem to hang together, despite many enjoyable moments and great playing from all concerned - an excess of Jimmy Heath’s seldom-heard flute and smooth-sounding rhodes makes it seem rather lightweight, and this reissue’s addition of a Kenny Barron boogie-blues solo from a totally different session seven years later doesn’t do anything to enhance the cohesion. As ever, Xanadu have done a great job with the re-mastering and repackaging.
Reviewed by Eddie Myer
