Jimmy Heath says he's proud of his little brother.
"We've got the same genes," Jimmy says during a recent phone interview. "He's 9 years younger than me, but we're close."
Tootie Heath says he's proud of his big brother.
"Jimmy's my favorite brother. Always has been," Tootie says, returning the compliment in a phone interview the same day.
Jimmy is talking from his home in New York City, while Albert "Tootie" is holding court from his home in Sante Fe, N.M. They're equally excited about the date of Oct. 31, when they'll be traveling to Syracuse to play two shows as the Heath Brothers quartet, at 4:30 and 7 p.m. in Storer Auditorium on the campus of Onondaga Community College as part of the Legends of Jazz Series. (Tickets are $40, available at srcarena.com or by calling 315-498-2772.)
Both Heaths sound enthusiastic. Eager. Raring to take on the be-bop, Great American classics and songs composed by Jimmy over the past six decades that will make up their set list.
The Syracuse shows will be more than a Halloween party. Jimmy Heath turns 88 on Saturday. "I celebrate now as much as I can," Jimmy says of the big day.
Tootie will be 80 come May. I'm crawling towards it," he says, and you can hear the smile in his voice. "I met a woman the other day, she said, 'I'm 80, it's not so bad.' "
Saxophonist Jimmy and drummer Tootie have been playing as the Heath Brothers, among their many other musical projects, since 1975, when they formed the ensemble in their hometown of Philadelphia with their oldest brother, double-bassist Percy, and pianist Stanley Cowell.
In 1983, the Heath Brothers played at founder Frank Malfitano's first Syracuse jazz fest, at the old Oliver's night club on Erie Boulevard, along with Mose Allison, Kevin Eubanks, Cabo Frio, Nancy Kelly and Ictus. The fest moved outside the next year, to Song Mountain.
"This brings us full circle," says Malfitano, still the executive director of the M&T Syracuse Jazz Fest who books the music for the Legends of Jazz Series at OCC.
That wasn't the only time Jimmy Heath played Malfitano's jazz event. During the phone interview, a mention of Syracuse draws his recollection of "the big outdoor concert."
That was in 1997, when the tenor saxophonist was part of a Clinton Square lineup that also included Jose Feliciano, Najee, the Jazz Crusaders and Freddy Cole.
And mention that to Tootie, and he immediately remembers that he wasn't part of the band.
"No, Jimmy didn't have me for that one," Albert says confidently.
Jimmy also played the fest in 2003, at OCC, backing Nancy Wilson, and also part of the Dizzy Gillespie Big Band reunion lineup.
This Heath Brothers lineup will include bassist David Wong and pianist Jeb Patton.
Wong has been with the group since Percy passed in 2005.
"I'd say David replaced Percy, but Percy was irreplaceable," Tootie says. "So I'll say he came after Percy, because Percy was Percy."
Patton was a student of Jimmy's at Queen's College who joined the group at the age of 23 after receiving his master's in music performance. "Now I'm a student of his," Jimmy says. "Now I call him General Patton. Now he's a monster of jazz. You'll hear that in Syracuse."
Jimmy and Tootie have both players with the legends, monsters, generals, whatever you'd like to call the best that jazz has offered the world. Start with Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis for Jimmy and work your way from that pinnacle. The first person Tootie recorded with was John Coltrane, and when he moved to Sweden and Denmark, he played with Sonny Rollins and Kenny Drew, and when he moved back, he joined the band of Herbie Hancock. Jimmy can recite the names of great jazz men born the same year as him -- 1926 -- with whom he's worked at some point: Randy Weston, Lou Donaldson, Tony Bennett and Bucky Pizzarelli.
Music has allowed him to see the world.
"What a part of my life," he says. "My wife and I were just talking about it. I haven't been to Russia. Or, strangely enough, Hawaii. But I was to Paris in 1948 with Howard McGhee, and now New York is my hometown, and this is the jazz capital of the world. San Francisco is great. But you know what? Any place where people enjoy jazz is a great place."
And Jimmy is still so proud of how his younger brother took those productive years and moved to Sweden and Denmark and played with legends all over those great cities and then came back to the States and wowed everybody.
"He played with everyone, all the greats of my generation," Jimmy says.
But now, Tootie says, he moved to Sante Fe, so he doesn't have put pressure on himself to go to the jazz clubs and keep up with the circuit. He's working at home on a project about the history of the drum.
And he wouldn't mind drumming up some recognition for his beloved older brother Jimmy.
"The Heath Brothers is his now. I'm just in it. Jimmy is the band leader. I enjoy playing his music," Tootie says. "He'll pull out one of his old songs, and it's amazing. One of these days they'll recognize him as one of the important composers in music. Not just jazz music. Music. Because it goes beyond jazz."