At this late date, precious few working musicians can claim – truthfully – to have shared a stage with Charlie "Bird" Parker.
But 84-year-old saxophonist Jimmy Heath can, which makes his engagement this week at the Jazz Showcase fitting. For as the club continues its 56th annual "August is Charlie Parker Month" festivities, Heath represents a rare living link to the primary architect of bebop.
The connection runs so deep that Heath long ago acquired the nickname "Little Bird," for the deep influence that Parker's music had on him.
A great deal of time has passed since Parker's death in 1955, at age 34, and Heath's art has evolved through the decades. The realities of age lead him to play fewer flurries of notes than in the past, and the comparably economical drum work of his younger brother, Albert "Tootie" Heath, means that their music unfolds with few frills or extravagances.
So the Heath Brothers Quartet, which opened Thursday night at the Showcase, made its points directly and without pretense or sentimentality. This wasn't always the most exciting rendition of classic bebop – far from it. But the music had a quiet dignity about it that appeals to an audience, as it clearly did on this evening.
No doubt the enthusiastic ovations from a large crowd had something to do with the Heath Brothers' status as jazz royalty (the eldest brother, Modern Jazz Quartet bassist Percy Heath, died in 2005 at age 81). Jimmy Heath's copious recording history over the past half century-plus, as well as his luminous writing for large ensemble, earns him admiration from a sophisticated audience before he plays a single note.
But there was more to it than that. By distilling familiar tunes to something close to their essence, saxophonist Heath showed his mastery of the scores and of his horns. You have to know this music to its core to say as much with so few notes and within such a concise dynamic range.
Certainly you need a certain degree of self-assurance to open an evening with "On the Trail," from Ferde Grofe's celebrated – if somewhat weathered – "Grand Canyon Suite." Heath dared to trot out this pulpy melody, but his tart tone on tenor saxophone, less-is-more esthetic and coyly engineered, medium-swing tempo made the piece sound almost jazz-worthy.
Billy Strayhorn's "Day Dream" proved more substantive a piece of music, and Heath turned to soprano saxophone to capture the ethereal quality of the piece. Even here, he moved things along briskly, his even-keel sensibility and dry-as-dust timbre representing an unconventional – and provocative – approach to Strayhorn.
Heath warmed up significantly in Jimmy Dorsey's ballad "I'm Glad There Is You," his cushioned mid-register notes and lovely melodic embellishments on tenor saxophone a sweet reflection on an earlier, pre-bop era in jazz.
As always, drummer Albert "Tootie" Heath kept his statements crisp and unadorned, the beat unmistakably forward-moving, even if the playing wasn't particularly rich in nuance.
Pianist Jeb Patton helped significantly in this regard, his solos florid and intense in tone color but never overtly lush. In other words, just about an ideal accompaniment for the Heath Brothers, whose stripped-down approach can accommodate only so much keyboard romanticism. Bassist David Wong kept a mostly low profile, discreetly supporting the proceedings.
If the quartet sounded a bit slow and methodical in the calypso-tinged "Fungii Mama," the musicians made up for it in Cole Porter's "What Is This Thing Called Love?" Heath heated up here, his bluesy phrasing and relentless quotations of famous tunes (from Bizet's "Carmen" to the Gershwins' "Fascinating Rhythm") suggested he was picking up steam as the evening progressed.
By the weekend, he could be going full throttle.
The Heath Brothers Quartet
When: 8 and 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 4 and 8 p.m. Sunday
Where: Jazz Showcase, 806 S. Plymouth Ct.
Howard Reich Arts critic
