The Endless Search

This is an all-star band that cuts to the heart of classic jazz styles and makes them sing
- Paul de Barros, The Seattle Times

The Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra presents the recorded premiere of an important and remarkable new suite for large jazz ensemble created by the legendary saxophonist and composer, Jimmy Heath. Commissioned by the SRJO and first performed in Seattle in 2006, "The Endless Search" is written in three movements and is destined to be one of the great pieces of jazz repertoire from this century.

Production Info:

Produced by Michael Brockman
and Clarence Acox
Tracks 1-4 recorded by Howard Mostrom
at Triad Studios, Redmond, WA,
Assistant Engineer: Mark Trutanich
Tracks 5-7 recorded live by Jim Wilke,
Hatchcover Productions
Mixed by Howard Mostrom
Mastered by Rick Fisher, RFI/CD Mastering
Cover photograph by Robert Wade
Cover design and layout by John Bishop

Reviews of The Endless Search

All About Jazz (Dan McClenaghan)
Tenor saxophonist Jimmy Heath is highly respected by his peers and by serious listeners, but he isn't well known outside the jazz world in the way that Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, John Coltrane are. He played with those legends and many more. He formed The Heath Brothers in 1975 with his siblings, drummer Albert "Tootie Heath and bassist Percy He ...

Audiophile Audition (Jeff Krow)
Our last visit with the Seattle Rep Jazz Orchestra was back in 2006, when they recorded the Sacred Music of Duke Ellington. It was an impressive recording and made our "Best of 2006" list. The Seattle Rep has taken the task of recording American jazz classic compositions from our revered jazz masters. They also commission work from those jazz legen ...

Oregon Jazz Scene (George Fendel)
Please don't refer to them as a big band. About five minutes with this recording, and you'll agree that this is a jazz orchestra. Boasting many of Seattle's top-flight jazz cats, the SRJO presents here the recorded debut of Jimmy Heath's remarkable new suite in three movements, "The Endless Search." Commissioned and first performed by the SRJO in 2 ...

Cadence (Michael Steinman)
[The Endless Search] might seem like a parallel production [to James Moody's Moody 4b]. Like Moody, Jimmy Heath is a Gillespie alumnus, one year Moody's junior and still in excellent playing shape. This CD pairs him with the beautiful-sounding Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra, co-led by drummer Clarence Acox and reedman Michael Brockman. On it, the ...

MusicWeb International UK (Don Mather)
Jimmy Heath is one of the great tenor saxophone players in jazz and he is also a very skilled arranger and composer. He has played in many of the most famous groups in jazz as a sideman and soloist and also served many, including Dizzy Gillespie, as composer/arranger. From his soloing on this record alone it is easy to see why he has such an enviab ...

All Music Guide (Adam Greenberg)
After a guest spot with the Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra in 2001, longtime sax player Jimmy Heath went back to work at Queens College. Letting a few years pass, the SRJO came back with a commission -- an attempt to create new music for the older structured form of big-band jazz. The result was a three-part tour de force of harmony that manages ...