Customer Reviews

On the Trail

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This is not a CD of trailblazing Jazz. Rather, it is a relaxed, elegant affair, featuring spendid players just trying to produce ingratiating music. There is nothing abrasive or corruscating about Jimmy Heath here. His solo in On the Trail just lopes along nicely. Kenny Burrell contributes delicious, tuneful rifts thoughout. Wynton Kelly is featured rarely, and is recorded in the background, but otherwise offers charming playing. This is a wonderful album to play when you're tired or irritated. It will not move you or excite you, but it will offer a companionable mood to yours. It also is an album that never outstays its welcome.

After a string of successful albums for the Riverside label including "The Thumper" and "The Quota" (see my reviews), tenor saxophonist Jimmy Heath returned to the studio in the spring of 1964 to cut "On The Trail." Heath is joined on these sessions by younger brother "Tootie" on drums, Paul Chambers on bass, Wynton Kelly on piano and Kenny Burrell on guitar. The material here includes three Heath originals, three standards, and the title track based on the popular movement from classical composer Ferde Grofe's "Grand Canyon Suite." While Heath is certainly in all-star company for this date, the album is a looser affair than his earlier efforts that showcased Heath's amazing arrangements, which usually made three horns sound like twice that number. "On The Trail" is still an excellent disc, and trailblazers should act quickly as this is a limited edition title.