Eddie HARRIS - Smokin' 1970

Eddie HARRIS - Smokin' 1970
JLS 3020

Jazz

A rare issue on janus ... The only one LP by eddie harris on this label ... Nice LP in a more straight jazz style than his Atlantic LP's. A Great Jazz Funk Track "OLIPHENT GESANG"
**
A1. Archway Theme 1:05
A2. The Golden Striker 4:55
A3. It Never Entered My Mind 3:10
A4. Oliphant Gesang 5:40
A5. Indonesia 4:20
B1. Sounds At The Archway 10:50
B2. Step Da Co Eel Waltz 4:25
B3. Ed's Blues 6:04
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Eddie HARRIS & Les McCANN - Second Movement 1971

Eddie HARRIS & Les McCANN - Second Movement 1971

Jazz

Tenor sax great Eddie Harris and keyboardist Les McCann worked together on the classic jazz crossover album Swiss Movement, which contained the hit "Compared to What?" Their follow-up recording, Second Movement, however, never made it to CD. Producer Joel Dorn created Label M in order to bring this album and other neglected gems from the Atlantic Records catalog to a new audience. Harris's urgent tenor wailings mesh with funky rhythms and background vocals to give Second Movement a sanctified, churchlike feeling throughout. Combined with McCann's gospel-tinged singing on "Set Us Free" and "Universal Prisoner," the music attempts to deal with the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s and jazz's waning audience. McCann's Fender Rhodes piano and the rhythm & blues underpinnings, however, serve mainly to give the music a '70's funk feel, when jazz was crossing over into rock territory. Given the rise of jam-band jazz, it seems that the Second Movement's second coming has arrived at just the right time.
By Wally Shoup.
**
In the 60s, jazz had two seperate streams flowing into the same river: free jazz and soul jazz. Idiotically, critics took sides, as if both these types of beautiful music were mutually exclusive. Tonight's card, Jimmy Smith vs. Cecil Taylor, 15 rounds. Then again, in those days, everything was polorized. Music, like hair and dress, was politics.

This is fortunately no longer the case, and if you like soul jazz, look no further than this album. McCann and Harris create a tight, rocking R&B that is both danceable and ellgent. This is not a organ romp one off, but polished, well-composed music with outstanding players. Grit and gloss to every note. Great vocals.

It also works as an album. There is not a sliver of filler on here.
If you like soul jazz, buy this. Then again, if you like free jazz, buy this.
By  William R. Nicholas.
**
It's hard to argue with the simmering instrumental "Shorty Rides Again," for example. Harris's percolating sax riffs keep the tune soaring over a punchy guitar/bass/drums rhythm that would make the JB's proud. McCann's takes a turn on vocals ...    Full Descriptionwith the lush, ballad-like "Universal Prisoner" and the head-nodding "Carry On Brother," both of which deal with pressing social issues of racial and economic inequality. The record's final two tracks, "Set Us Free" and "Samia," mine smooth, fusion-flavored pulses, with notable playing by Harris on each. Overlooked soul-jazz outings such as this are the subject of album-collecting dreams.

In the late 1960s and early '70s, many diehard jazz fans turned their noses up at soul-jazz experiments, as formerly straight-ahead jazz musicians began fusing bop with funk and R&B. In hindsight, however, it is clear that these musicians were ahead of the curve with their adventurous, accessible fusions. As on their hugely popular first collaboration, SWISS MOVEMENT, tenor man Eddie Harris and keyboardist/vocalist Les McCann generate some truly irresistible grooves on SECOND MOVEMENT,
blurring the line between jazz, R&B, funk, and pop.
From CD Universe.
**
Eddie Harris- (Sax);
Les McCann- (Piano);
Cissy Houston- (Vocals).
**
01. Shorty Rides Again
02. Universal Prisoner
03. Carry on Brother
04. Set Us Free
05. Samia
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Eddie HARRIS - The Electrifying Eddie Harris & Plug Me In 1968

Eddie HARRIS - The Electrifying Eddie Harris & Plug Me In 1968
Label: Atlantic / Rhino
(2 LP'S)
Audio CD (November 16, 1993)

Jazz

This CD combines two fine Harris dates from 1967 and 1968. The Electrifying Eddie Harris had bluesy, soulful examples of Harris on electric Varitone sax. "Listen Here" ranked second only to "Freedom Jazz Dance" among his most popular compositions, while he stretched out on "Spanish Bull." "Theme In Search Of A Movie," "Sham Time" and "Judie's Theme" were goodtime concessions to pop and jazz-soul audiences, yet still retained some fiber and spark. Once more, Harris found a good compromise between artistic and commercial concerns, although this date was more weighted toward funk and pop.
By Ron Wynn. AMG.
**
One of Eddie Harris's more underrated sessions, this out-of-print Atlantic album finds Harris creatively playing his electrified tenor on a wide variety of tunes, some of which utilize rock/funk rhythms of the period. Although his supporting cast includes such fine players as baritonist Haywood Henry, trumpeter Jimmy Owens and pianist Jodie Christian, the focus throughout is on Harris's distinctive playing. Highlights include "Live Right Now," "It's Crazy" and "Theme in Search of a T.V. Commercial." The only real fault to this enjoyable set is that the playing time is under 27 minutes.
By Scott Yanow, All Music Guide.
**
The Electrifying Eddie Harris:

Eddie Harris- (Tenor Sax, Electric Sax);
King Curtis, David Newman- (Tenor Sax);
Haywood Henry- (Baritone Sax);
Melvin Lastie, Joe Newman- (Trumpet);
Jodie Christian- (Piano);
Melvin Jackson- (Bass);
Richard Smith- (Drums);
Ray Barretto, Joe Wohletz- (Percussion).
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01.Theme In Search Of A Movie (4:04)
02.Listen Here (7:40)
03.Judie's Theme (4:37)
04.Sham Time (6:49)
05.Spanish Bull (8:15)
06.I Don't Want No One But You (3:38)
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Plug Me In:

Eddie Harris- (Electric Tenor Sax);
Haywood Henry- (Baritone Sax);
Melvin Lastie, Jimmy Owens, Joe Newman, James Bossy- (Trumpet);
Tom McIntosh, Garnet Brown- (Trombone);
Jodie Christian- (Piano);
Melvin Jackson, Ron Carter- (Bass);
Chuck Rainey- (Electric Bass);
Richard Smith, Grady Tate- (Drums).
*
07.Live Right Now (7:01)
08.It's Crazy (3:09)
09.Ballad (For My Love) (3:22)
10.Lovely Is Today (4:28)
11.Theme In Search Of A T.V Commercial (4:11)
12.Winter Meeting (4:49)
**
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Eddie HARRIS - Live In Berlin 1988

Eddie HARRIS - Live In Berlin 1988
Label: Timeless
Recorded at: Live at Jazzclub Quasimodo,
Berlin, Germany Rec date: 24 March 1988

Jazz

20 October 1936, Chicago, Illinois, USA, d. 5 November 1996, Los Angeles, California, USA. Harris' apprenticeship was served with Gene Ammons before army service took to him to Europe. He had a surprise hit in 1961 with an arrangement of Ernest Gold's Exodus theme, and followed with three further hit records (in the USA) over the next decade, the most notable being "Listen Here" in 1968. He was a daring tenor saxophone innovator, experimenting with the range of sounds that could be produced by sending a signal through an electrical effects box. At the 1970 Newport Jazz Festival he shocked audiences with his trumpet and trombone played through saxophone mouthpieces, before leaving jazz in the early 70s to play in a rock context with Steve Winwood and Jeff Beck.
During this period he also recorded stand-up comedy albums.

Because of his work outside the jazz field Harris was often overlooked by the cognoscenti. His work as a theme composer tended to err on the dull side, notably the background music for The Cosby Show. In the early 90s he returned to a more authentic hard bop style, but still played on altered instruments. In his later years he produced some fine work with John Scofield and reunited with Les McCann, with whom he worked in the early 60s.
**
This CD features an erratic but intriguing set by the multi-talented Eddie Harris. Joined by electric bassist Ray Peterson and drummer Norman Fearrington for a concert in Berlin, Harris is heard on tenor, piano and singing, performing in his eccentric fashion. On "You've Changed," he does a vocal imitation of Billie Holiday that is pretty effective in spots, and on tenor he stretches out on his "Ambidextrous," "Airegin," and "Wakin'." But moments of inspiration are sometimes followed by stretches that merely meander (Peterson plays a lot of funky lines on bass), and overall there are few memorable moments on this disc.
By Scott Yanow. AMG.
**
Eddie Harris- Piano, tenor saxophon, vocal
Ray Peterson- Electric Bass Fret, Fretless Electric Bass
Norman Fearrington- Drums, Tube Drum
**
01. Ambidextrous (12.05)
02. La Carnival (4.12)
03. Lover (4.53)
04. You've Changed (3.57)
05. Freedom Jazz Dance (11.18)
06. Scating Unlyrically Simultaneously (4.56)
07. Airigen (6.43)
08. Walkin (10.11)
09. Eddie Who ? (9.11)
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Eddie HARRIS - Exodus to Jazz 1961

Eddie HARRIS - Exodus to Jazz 1961
Label: Vee-Jay / Collectables
Audio CD (February 27, 2001)

Jazz

One of the biggest hit jazz LPs of the post-rock & roll era, Eddie Harris' Exodus to Jazz seemed to come completely out of left field. It was the debut album by a previously unknown artist from an under-publicized scene in Chicago, and it was released on the primarily R&B-oriented Vee Jay label, which had originally signed Harris as a pianist, not a tenor saxophonist. The impetus for its breakthrough was equally unlikely; Harris adapted Ernest Gold's stately, somber theme from the Biblical film Exodus  which had been covered for an easy listening hit by Ferrante & Teicher and made it into a laid-back jazz tune. Edited down to 45-rpm length, it became a smash, reaching the pop Top 40 and pushing the album to the upper reaches of the charts  a nearly unprecedented feat for instrumental jazz in 1961. Its stunning popularity sent jazz critics into a tizzy after all, if it was that accessible to a mass audience, there just had to be something wrong with it, didn't there? In hindsight, the answer is no. Exodus to Jazz is full of concise, easy-swinging grooves that maintain the appealing quality of the strikingly reimagined title track (particularly Harris' four originals). Far removed from his later, funkier days, Harris plays a cool-toned tenor who owes his biggest debt to Stan Getz's bop recordings, though there are touches of soul-jazz as well. He's no slouch technically, either; he plays so far  and so sweetly  in the upper register of his horn that some still mistakenly believe he was using an alto sax on parts of the record. Exodus to Jazz paved the way for numerous other crossover successes during the '60s (many in the soul-jazz realm), and while that may not be a credibility-boosting trend to start, the music still speaks for itself.
By Steve Huey, All Music Guide.
**
Eddie Harris- (Piano), (Trumpet), (Sax (Tenor)), (Vocals),
Joe Diorio- (Guitar),
Harold Jones- (Drums),
Willie Pickens- (Piano),
William Yancy- (Bass)
**
01. Exodus (6:38)
02. Alicia (3:39)
03. Gone Home (2:53)
04. A.T.C. (5:31)
05. A.M. Blues (2:45)
06. Little Girl Blue (3:21)
07. Velocity (5:08)
08. W.P. (4:31)
**
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