BST 84423

Gene Harris Of The Three Sounds

Released - 1972

Recording and Session Information

A&R Studios, NYC, June 29, 1972
Gene Harris, piano; Sam Brown, Cornell Dupree, guitar; Ron Carter, bass; Freddie Waits, drums; Johnny Rodriguez, congas; Omar Clay, percussion, vibes.

9949-8 Django
9950-7 John Brown's Body
9951-13 A Day In The Life Of A Fool

A&R Studios, NYC, June 30, 1972
Gene Harris, piano; Sam Brown, Cornell Dupree, guitar; Ron Carter, bass; Freddie Waits, drums; Johnny Rodriguez, congas; Omar Clay, percussion, vibes.

9952-12 Killer Joe
9953-4 Listen Here
9954-8 Emily
9955-7 Lean On Me
9956-2 C Jam Blues

Track Listing

Side One
Title	Author	Recording Date
Django	John Lewis	June 29 1972
Lean on Me	Bill Withers	June 30 1972
A Day in the Life of a Fool	Luiz Bonfá, Carl Sigman	June 29 1972
John Brown's Body	Traditional; arranged by Wade Marcus	June 29 1972
Side Two
Listen Here	Gene Harris	June 30 1972
Emily	Johnny Mandel, Johnny Mercer	June 30 1972
Killer Joe	Benny Golson	June 30 1972
C Jam Blues	Barney Bigard, Duke Ellington	June 30 1972

Liner Notes

Gene Harris, like so many other musicians, is one of those leaders in music who has been misfiled. Right up to now, he is still primarily recognized as only one of the supporting players in that finely etched musical groove that has become so well identified with The Three Sounds.

True, as a unit The Three Sounds have, and do, function with such an ease and resiliency that one is easily led to believe that to separate one from the others there would be a noticeable malfunction; This, of course, is not to be doubted when lifting the resounding keyboard artistry and prestidigitations of Harris out of that familiar mold. And, albeit credibility cannot be taken from the other members of that cohesive sound for their formative contributions of musicianship and feeling, it is the intrinsic .statements of Gene Harris that provided the sustenance.

It is, we believe, that very reason why George Butler and Wade Marcus, executive producer and producer, respectively, and conceivers of this date, decided to bring forth the sterling qualities inherent in Harris as a leader and soloist. But even more, we feel that Butler and Marcus envisioned the perfect musical experience that can come when removing an artist such as Harris from his customary musical environment and giving him the opportunity to experience the credo of a creative artist, of experiencing CHALLENGE and CHANGE.

For the aforementioned, Butler and Marcus surrounded the West Coast based (but Midwestern born and trained) pianist with musicians who are based in the East, but musically bound by no particular geographical setting. Anyone who has experienced the intuitive playing of Ron Carter on bass, Freddie Waits on drums, Sam Brown on guitar, Cornell Dupree on guitar, Johnny Rodriguez on congas, and Omar Clay on percussion, know from experience where they are, musically. For those who haven't the experience will come with hearing the able support they give the leader. Harris.

Indeed, this was the first step on the part of Butler and Marcus us to provide the element of CHANGE, because Harris had never played with any of the sidemen on is date before. And when they all gathered at the studio to do the eight tracks found in this album, the stage was set to offer to Harris the CHALLENGE that always comes with unfamiliarity.

The result speaks for itself. Immediately, and without reservations, the tone of the entire album is set with the moving portrait, DJANGO. Carter's bass lines, rich and succulent, sets an ebullient groove by which pianist Harris has only to flaunt that wonderful capability of his at the keyboard, of simply getting down to the blues of the subject.

In talking about the date and the experience Harris remembers most of all playing with the musicians, aside from their unequivocal professionalism and musicianship, he was pleased to find that through every take there was not the least bit of slack. That is to say, the musicians responded triumphantly because he had HIS stuff together And oddly enough, the success of LEAN ON ME is based exactly on the opposite of the song's title. Regarding the togetherness of this particular track, one listener candidly remarked that the musicians had undoubtedly "gone to the same church in order to make that song speak the way it does'.'

One of the nicest things that happens to a piano when Harris sits down to play something like A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A FOOL and EMILY (the theme song from the film, "The Americanization of Emily") is that all of its capabilities of making these ballads a thing of beauty is given the test, The truth, however, is that Harris has spent the last fifteen or more years discovering every nuance of his axe. "I have, and will continue to, put a lot of time in at the piano instead of spending my time writing because I prefer to play."

Harris' intuitiveness and giftedness, which appear to be as natural as his ability, also shows evidence of a great deal of homework when examining all of the properties he employs with his breathless and indefatigable delineations of JOHN BROWNS BODY and LISTEN HERE. Again, Carter, as well as the conga and percussion work of Rodriguez and Clay play a tributary role in the naturally swinging properties (something that is forgotten in these jazz times) that flow unforced from these two tracks.

KILLER JOE! Benny Golson's mythical musical figure, has been receiving some new life of late thanks to those musicians and leaders who know where to find the real soul of hipness. Like the hip craftsman he is, Harris skillfully tells a fingerpoppin' tale about a "Brother"' that really needs little explanation.

The inclusion of the stately evergreen, C-JAM BLUES, a composition that got its start in music some years before Harris, in this varied collection of songs, shows that a songlike this when put in the capable and creative hands of an artist like Gene Harris continues to grow because of its many viable characteristics.

The same can be said of the leader of this date who says that "I have grown, musically:' when thinking of the many years he's been active. "And I hope that twenty years from now I can say the same thing!'

The evidence provided in this album says there will be volumes of growth that will far exceed Gene Harris' modest twenty year wish, for which all of the music enthusiasts and jazz music will be the luckier.

LEROY ROBINSON