BNJ-61019

The Three Sounds Volume 2

Released - February 21,1985

Recording and Session Information

Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, NJ, September 16, 1958
Gene Harris, piano; Andrew Simpkins, bass; Bill Dowdy, drums.

tk.8 Bobby
tk.9 Mo-Ge
tk.15 Soft Touch

Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, NJ, September 28, 1958
Gene Harris, piano, celeste; Andrew Simpkins, bass; Bill Dowdy, drums.

tk.2 Don't Get Around Much Anymore
tk.14 It Might As Well Be Spring
tk.16 Goin' Home (alternate take)

Track Listing

Side One
Title	Author	Recording Date
Bobby	Gene Harris	September 16 1958
Mo-Ge	Gene Harris	September 16 1958
It Might As Well Be Spring	Rodgers-Hammerstein	September 28 1958
Side Two
Soft Touch	Gene harris	September 16 1958
Don't Get Around Much Anymore	Duke Ellington	September 28 1958
Goin' Home (Alternate Master)	Traditional	September 28 1958

Liner Notes

The lives of Gene Harris and Bill Dowdy paralleled each other in many ways. They were born within 15 days of each other in 1933 in the town of Benton Harbor, Michigan. Harris began playing the piano at age nine with no formal training. His first loves were Albert Ammons and Pete Johnson and later Erroll Garner. Dowdy did not become engrossed with the drums until the age of sixteen, but he was a quick learner. While still in high school, the two young men had a trio.

Upon graduation, they both entered the armed services and in 1954, they were both released. Harris freelanced with a variety of bands throughout the South and the Midwest. Dowdy settled in Chicago where he studied his instrument and worked with blues bands and such notable soloists as J.J. Johnson and Johnny Griffin.

Their paths crossed again for the first time since high school when they formed The Four Sounds in 1956 in South Bend, Indiana, with bassist Andy Simpkins and a succession of tenor saxophonists. Simpkins, born in Richmond, Indiana, in 1932, was originally a clarinetist and pianist. Sometime between his years at Wilburforce College and his Army stint that he discovered the bass.

The Four Sounds soon became The Three Sounds. This may have been because they were unable to find a suitable or permanent saxophonist, but more likely because it is more economical to work as a trio and also be able to back up travelling musicians. They worked throughout Ohio as a group and backing up such dignitaries as Lester Young, Al Hibbler and Sonny Stitt. During this period, they became friends with Horace Silver, who often played Cleveland at the time. Horace introduced them to Alfred Lion of Blue Note Records.

A tour with Sonny Stitt led them to settle in Washington, D.C (Stitt's home), where they worked as a trio and again as a house rhythm section for soloists passing through. Kenny Burrell and Miles Davis were among those who added their praise to that of Silver and Stitt.

In September, 1958, the trio finally came to New York to work the Offbeat Club, opposite Stuff Smith. Things began happening quickly. Alfred Lion heard them, signed them to Blue Note and did two initial sessions with them. They were also the rhythm section for a Nat Adderley quintet date on Riverside which also included Johnny Griffin. Their career began to grow rapidly. In February of the next year, they recorded a third session and also an album with Lou Donaldson entitled LD Plus Three (Blue Note BLP 4012).

Unfortunately, their recorded encounters with a horn were all too rare. In 1960 they recorded two albums with Stanley Turrentine, out of which has come only one album Blue Hour (BLP 4057). Hopefully, the second volume of this meeting will eventually be released. Then in early 1962, at one of their sessions, Gene Harris switched to organ for one long blues performance with Ike Quebec.

With The Three Sounds, Blue Note entered into a very popular form of jazz during the late fifties, that of the bluesy, funky piano trios who worked a constant jazz club circuit and did a great juke box business. Ahmad Jamal, Ray Bryant, Ramsey Lewis and Red Garland were among the leaders in the field. Typically, The Three Sounds would blend their catchy originals with standards and jazz classics (mostly the works of Ellington, Benny Golson and Randy Weston).

From September of 1958 until June of 1962, The Three Sounds went into Rudy Van Gelder's studio on fourteen different occasions. The result was ten issued albums and material enough for probably eight more. Since they were a working unit that constantly tested their material, they would rarely need more than one or two takes to get a tune down. A single session could yield anywhere from six to twenty tunes.

The initial sessions of September 16 and 18, 1958 produced all eight tunes on BLP 1600 and Angel Eyes, Time After Time, and Falling In Love With Love on BLP 4014. The remainder of the sessions is included here.

All titles, except Mo-Ge are previously unissued. Bob Porter recently wrote of Mo-Ge, which was issued at the time on 45-1723, "The offbeat rhythmic figure used here is somewhat typical of attempts used by various groups at the time to present something a bit different in what was a decidedly limited context". This and Gene Harris' two other originals come from the first September date.

The three standards come from the second. It should be noted that the version of Goin' Home included here is a loner alternate take to the performance on BLP 1600. Producer Alfred Lion had preferred the longer version, but he felt that the length of the album required using the shorter take. As always, Harris digs into Ellington (this time Don't Get Around Much Anymore with robust delight.

The combine of Harris-Simpkins-Dowdy left Blue Note in mid-1962 and recorded a number of albums for Mercury and Verve before returning to Blue Note in October of 1966. But success had diluted the trio's original impact, and their repetoire had become overrun with fanciful, inferior pop tunes of the day.

Bill Dowdy left in early 1967, to be replaced by long time Jimmy Smith drummer Donald Bailey. But by the end of 1968, both Simpkins and Bailey were also gone. The albums made under the banner The Three Sounds were generally Gene Harris albums with heavy orchestration. Harris continued to use the name, but eventually dropped it in the early seventies. Even if the name had survived that long, the sound was long gone.

Harris continued to record for Blue Note until 1976. adding an array of electronic keyboards to his set-up and a clear R & B direction to his music. Simpkins began a long association with George Shearing immediately upon leaving The Three Sounds, an association that lasted on record and in personal appearances until 1974. Recently, he recorded with Kenny Burrell, Bill Dowdy, who was the group's business manager as well as drummer, has not be heard on the jazz scene since leaving the trio.

This album is a reminder of that the real Three Sounds were all about.

-MICHAEL CUSCUNA