Heaths Bring Brotherhood to Catalina

It makes sense that three musicians who have been together nearly all their lives would work well as a unit on the bandstand. What’s surprising is that the three men, brothers in this case, would have such different approaches.

But that’s the way it is with bassist Percy, saxophonist Jimmy and drummer Albert “Tootie” Heath, who opened a six-night stand at Catalina Bar & Grill on Tuesday with a quintet. While their first set was a comfortable, out-and-out fun presentation that managed to capsulize their century-and-a-half of collective experience, it also showed that the brothers, who have led important musical lives outside the family band, are very much their own men.

The material, including a Billy Strayhorn melody, a Charlie Parker bebop anthem and Jimmy’s decidedly modern tune “The Newest One” pulled from the brothers’ new recording “As We Were Saying . . . ,” gave the threesome much room for individual expression.

Saxophonist Jimmy played it cool and warm, crafting his tenor lines without haste or waste, making melodic lines the centerpiece of his solos. Bassist Percy, long a member of the Modern Jazz Quartet and the eldest Heath at 74, took an academic approach, not cold or convoluted, but instructive and entertaining, much like the presentation of a master teacher. Drummer Albert, the baby of the group at 62 and a more recent addition to the MJQ, brought polyrhythms, ambitious embellishment and colorful percussive touches to his play in contrast to the bop beats that marked the formative years of his older brothers.

If these styles sound as if they would work at cross purposes, they did not. Instead the tunes moved easily and comfortably forward, aided by the rhythm work of guitarist Mark Elf and 23-year-old pianist Jeb Patton. Elf made considerable contributions, playing themes in unison with the horn, soloing with drive and a singer’s sense of lyricism.

Needed were more of the fine, original tunes, mostly written by Jimmy, that are heard on “As We Were Saying. . . .”

And the additional horns (supplied by trumpeter Jon Faddis and trombonist Slide Hampton on the album) that brought some orchestral depth and improvisational spark to the recording would have made this an even more memorable evening.

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* The Heath Brothers play Catalina Bar & Grill, 1640 Cahuenga Blvd., Hollywood, tonight-Sunday, 8:30 and 10:30 p.m. $14 tonight and Sunday, $16 Friday-Saturday. (213) 466-2210.