Jimmy Heath has been at the forefront of modern jazz for almost 50 years. The middle brother of the illustrious Heaths, Jimmy (b. 1926) is a triple threat as saxophonist-composer-arranger. On this, his second Riverside date as a leader, Jimmy's ten-piece band was not, of course, really big--but his expert writing and arranging made the flexible ensemble sound bigger. And there were some really big talents here: in addition to the Heaths (as far as we can tell, it was their first time together in the studio), there was another great brother team--the Adderleys--plus such standouts as Clark Terry, Tommy Flanagan, Cedar Walton, and trombonist-arranger Tom McIntosh. Now a distinguished music educator as well as performer-writer, Jimmy Heath is among the most respected of improvising artists.

with Clark Terry, Nat Adderley, Tom McIntosh, Dick Berg, Cannonball Adderley, Pat Patrick, Tommy Flanagan, Cedar Walton, Percy Heath, Albert "Tootie" Heath