Released seven months after his death in January 2020,
Love Letter
finds legendary saxophonist
Jimmy Heath
offering a warmly rendered collection of ballads that works as a romantic capstone to his illustrious career. Known for his lyrical sound and nuanced arrangements, most notably with his siblings
Percy
and
Tootie
in the
Heath Brothers
, and with trumpeters like
Chet Baker
,
Blue Mitchell
, and
Kenny Dorham
Heath
brings all of his experience to bear on
. Joining him are pianist
Kenny Barron
, guitarist
Russell Malone
, vibraphonist
Monte Croft
, bassist
David Wong
, and drummer
Lewis Nash
. Together they craft a deeply heartfelt and enveloping sound that evokes
's classic acoustic work of the '50s and '60s. They offer sparkling and atmospheric reworkings of songs like
's own "Ballad From Upper Neighbors Suite,"
Dizzy Gillespie
's "Con Alma," and
Billie Holiday
Arthur Herzog, Jr.
's haunting "Don't Explain." Primarily a tenor player,
displays his lithe soprano skills on the yearning "Inside Your Heart." He is also joined by a handful of special guests, including vocalist
Cecile McLorin Salvant
, who puts her distinctive stamp on the lesser-performed
Mal Waldron
number "Left Alone." Equally engaging is singer
Gregory Porter
, who offers a soulfully burnished reading of
Gordon Parks
' "Don't Misunderstand."
also engages in dusky harmonic interplay with trumpeter
Wynton Marsalis
on
's "La Mesha." A masterfully understated and intoxicating album,
is just the kind of low-key farewell you would expect from
and one that holds you in its poignantly romantic swell throughout. ~ Matt Collar