Let’s not bury the lede: Tootie Heath is playing @exuberance!Â
How’s that?
It’s all about the remarkable Emmet Cohen. This prodigious talent has been proverbially prodigious since early childhood. I don’t think there is anything he can’t do musically. Marylou Williams represented piano styles from trad and stride through swing to bebop, post bop and avant-garde because she lived through those epochs. Post-modern by birth, Cohen demonstrates a comprehensive grasp and deep reverence for the sources and traditions of this music and plays freely along its timeline as occasion and caprice dictate. A true creative, Emmet Cohen nonetheless elevates the musical history that precedes his own....
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Let’s not bury the lede: Tootie Heath is playing @exuberance!Â
How’s that?
It’s all about the remarkable Emmet Cohen. This prodigious talent has been proverbially prodigious since early childhood. I don’t think there is anything he can’t do musically. Marylou Williams represented piano styles from trad and stride through swing to bebop, post bop and avant-garde because she lived through those epochs. Post-modern by birth, Cohen demonstrates a comprehensive grasp and deep reverence for the sources and traditions of this music and plays freely along its timeline as occasion and caprice dictate. A true creative, Emmet Cohen nonetheless elevates the musical history that precedes his own.
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Emmet has more projects than Carter has little liver pills. [Do these still exist?] He has his own American piano trio. Then there’s his Italian trio. Another trio with Christian McBride. Organist in residence at Smoke. He performs solo and travels the country for JALC workshops at schools. And more. Look at his calendar to see how busy he really is.
On top of all this, Emmet has been curating programs and recording with the patriarchs of this music—his Masters Legacy Series. I caught him with Jimmy Cobb last January for the first in this series. Vol. 2 is the result of a summer tour with Ron Carter. Vol.3 gets recorded the day before our @exuberance gig and features the Heath Brothers.Â
Hence, the drummer for our program: Albert “Tootie” Heath jazz legend, patriarch, Philadelphian. First recorded with John Coltrane. A musical odyssey follows with J.J. Johnson,  Wes Montgomery, Art Farmer and Benny Golson, Cedar Walton, Bobby Timmons, Kenny Drew, Dexter Gordon, Herbie Hancock, Nina Simone, Anthony Braxton, Yusef Lateef, Ethan Iverson among others. One of the most musical events I’ve witnessed was a Tootie Heath-led trap ensemble “The Whole Drum Truth” with Louis Hayes, Sylvia Cuenca and Joe Saylor. Mr. Heath is also a fascinating raconteur of jazz history and one of the funniest storytellers I’ve ever heard. His extended riff on “Hollywood” at an Ars Nova event here a couple of years ago was terrible and had the audience crying with laughter.Â
I could go on and having done so have relegated bassist Russell Hall to the bottom. That’s unfair to such a compelling player who came to our attention at the Essentially Ellington competitions 2010-13. A frequent stalwart for Emmet, Russell supports musicans with names like Marsalis, Shorter, Haynes, Heath, Hendricks, Chestnut, Cobb, Mabern and Batiste. Killing young bass musician.
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Expect some Heath Brothers tunes. Material from the recording session on October 4. And with Mr. Heath, expect the unexpected. Expect also a full house. I can’t wait to see you here.
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Matt
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