Heath Brothers Show Humor, Heart

Brother acts aren’t exactly uncommon in the jazz world. In recent years, the Jones brothers (Elvin, Hank and Thad) come to mind, as do, inevitably, the Marsalis siblings (Wynton, Branford, Delfeayo and Jason). Of course, using the word “acts” doesn’t precisely describe what is often less a matter of entertainment style than the result of a musically productive gene pool.

In the case of Jimmy, Percy and “Tootie” Heath, however, “brother act” has a certain validity. Although each is a gifted and accomplished player, working together--as they frequently do--they offer humor and entertainment as well as solid, straight-ahead, bop-based improvising.

On Wednesday night at the Jazz Bakery, the Heath Brothers, who have appeared intermittently as an ensemble since the mid-1970s, shifted easily from well-crafted ensemble playing and first-rate soloing to bantering between numbers--a welcome distraction from the images flickering across our television screens.

Much of their humor, understandably, centered on their familial relationships, and it surfaced with the very first number. Bassist Percy and drummer Tootie opened the set with Percy playing a repetitious melody line on cello, with Tootie adding hand drum effects. So far, so good. But when Jimmy walked onstage and began to play a counter-melody on tenor saxophone, there was a moment of confusion. It turned out that Percy’s cello, because of its tuning, was playing the line in the key of F sharp instead of the anticipated key of F. At the close of the number, Jimmy made his feelings known immediately: “Tune that thing,” he said to his older brother, as the nearly full house responded with laughter.

The moments of amusement, entertaining as they were, only took place between pieces. While the music was underway, the Heath Brothers, with their longtime associate, Jeb Patton, on piano, were all business. Jimmy took the spotlight for a pair of his own pieces, “The Sound of Sore Ears” and “Cloak and Dagger,” as well as a rich-toned rendering of “You’ve Changed.”

Percy took up the cello (now tuned) once again for a pizzicato romp through “How High the Moon,” and Patton was featured in a stylish “Century Rag.”

Climaxing with a spirited cruise through Charlie Parker’s “Confirmation,” the Heaths wrapped up a performance that was an encouraging reminder, in these emotionally distressing times, of the capacity of jazz to lift the spirits and warm the heart.

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The Heath Brothers with Jeb Patton at the Jazz Bakery, 3233 Helms Ave., Culver City. Tonight through Sunday at 8 and 9:30 p.m., $25. (310) 271-9039.