Gene Harris

Eugene "Gene" Harris (born September 1, 1933 in Benton Harbor , Michigan , † January 16, 2000 in Boise , Idaho ) was an American jazz pianist . Perfect timing even in the slowest tempos and a "laid-back" feeling with all dynamic and rhythmic ingredients are, according to Martin Kunzler, the special characteristics of the pianist.

Life

At the age of nine, Gene Harris learned to play the piano by himself. He had his first appearances with local bands and played in US Army bands from 1951 to 1954 . In 1956 he founded the band The Four Sounds , which in 1957 formed the trio The Three Sounds with bassist Andy Simpkins and drummer Bill Dowdy . The group first worked in Washington, DC , then moved to New York in late 1958. With his music tending towards soul, the pianist was in the tradition of Ahmad Jamal . Harris is also influenced by the style of Erroll Garner and Oscar Peterson . Gene Harris' trio also recorded records with guest soloists Nat Adderley , Lou Donaldson , Anita O'Day and Stanley Turrentine during this period .

In the 1970s his music - despite its more commercial orientation - received little attention. The songs he played with the band The Three Sounds during this time had a high degree of "funk" and "groove" and only used a few harmonies. Harris retired to Boise in the US state Idaho back and appeared in the local Idanha Hotel. In the 1980s, bassist Ray Brown moved him to return to the jazz scene. He then played with Brown's Trio for eight years (including in Europe in 1985) and led his own groups with which he regularly recorded records for Concord Records in a style mixed with gospel , blues and hardbop . He also recorded several albums with the Philipp Morris Big Band, which he led.

Discography

as a leader

• Our Love Is Here To Stay (1955, Jubilee)
• Introducing the Three Sounds (with The Three Sounds ) (1958, Blue Note)
• Introducing the Three Sounds, Vol. 2 (with The Three Sounds) (1958, Blue Note)
• Genie in My Soul (1959, Jubilee)
• LD + 3 ( Lou Donaldson with The Three Sounds) (1959, Blue Note)
• Standards (with The Three Sounds) (1959, Blue Note)
• Bottoms Up (with The Three Sounds) (1959, Blue Note)
• Good Deal (with The Three Sounds) (1959, Blue Note)
• Blue Hour (The Three Sounds with Stanley Turrentine ) (1960, Blue Note)
• Moods (with The Three Sounds) (1960, Blue Note)
• Feelin 'Good (with The Three Sounds) (1960, Blue Note)
• Here We Come (with The Three Sounds) (1960, Blue Note)
• It Just Got to Be (with The Three Sounds) (1960, Blue Note)
• Hey There (with The Three Sounds) (1961, Blue Note)
• Babe's Blues (with The Three Sounds) (1962, Blue Note)
• Out of This World (with The Three Sounds) (1962, Blue Note)
• Black Orchid (with The Three Sounds) (1962, Blue Note)
• Blue Genes (with The Three Sounds) (1962, Verve)
• Anita O'Day & The Three Sounds (The Three Sounds mit Anita O'Day ) (1962, Verve)
• Jazz on Broadway (with The Three Sounds) (1962, Mercury)
• Some Like It Modern (with The Three Sounds) (1963, Mercury)
• Live at The Living Room (with The Three Sounds) (1964, Mercury)
• Three Moods (with The Three Sounds) (1964, Limelight)
• Beautiful Friendship (with The Three Sounds) (1965, Limelight)
• Today's Sounds (with The Three Sounds) (1966, Limelight)
• Vibrations (with The Three Sounds) (1966, Blue Note)
• Live at The Lighthouse (with The Three Sounds) (1967, Blue Note)
• Coldwater Flat (with The Three Sounds) (1968, Blue Note)
• Elegant Soul (with The Three Sounds) (1968, Blue Note)
• Soul Symphony (with The Three Sounds) (1969, Blue Note)
• Live at The "It Club" (with The Three Sounds) (1970, Blue Note)
• Gene Harris / Three Sounds (1971, Blue Note)
• Gene Harris of The Three Sounds (1972, Blue Note)
• Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow (1973, Blue Note)
• Astral Signal (1974, Blue Note)
• In A Special Way (1976, Blue Note)
• Nexus (1976, Blue Note)
• Tone Tantrum (1977, Blue Note)
• Nature's Way (1980, JAM)
• Live at Otter Crest (1981, Concord)
• Hot Lips (1982, JAM)
• The Gene Harris Trio Plus One (1985, Concord)
• Tribute to Count Basie (with the Gene Harris All-Star Big Band) (1987, Concord)
• Listen Here! (1989, Concord)
• Live at Town Hall, NYC (with The Philip Morris Superband) (1989, Concord)
• At Last (Gene Harris / Scott Hamilton Quintet) (1990, Concord)
• World Tour 1990 (with the Philip Morris Superband) (1990, Concord)
• Black and Blue (1991, Concord)
• Like A Lover (1992, Concord)
• Gene Harris Live at Maybeck Recital Hall, Vol. 23 (1992, Concord)
• Brotherhood (1992, Concord)
• A Little Piece of Heaven at Ste. Chapelle Winery (1993, Concord)
• Funky Gene's (1994, Concord)
• Its the Real Soul (with Frank Wess ) (1995, Concord)
• Live (Gene Harris & The Philip Morris All-Stars) (1995, Concord)
• In His Hands (1996, Concord)
• Down Home Blues (with Jack McDuff ) (1996, Concord)
• Alley Cats (1998, Concord)
• Live in London (2008, Resonance Records) - recorded in 1996
• Another Night in London (2010, Resonance Records) - recorded in 1996

as a sideman

• Branching Out (with Nat Adderley ) (1958, Riverside)
• LD + 3 ( Lou Donaldson with The Three Sounds ) (1959, Blue Note)
• Blue Hour ( The Three Sounds with Stanley Turrentine ) (1960, Blue Note)
• A Double Dose of Soul (with James Clay ) (1960, Riverside)
• Organ-izing (with Melvin Rhyne ) (1960, Jazzland)
• Anita O'Day & The Three Sounds (The Three Sounds with Anita O'Day ) (1962, Verve)
• Blue Note Live at The Roxy (with Blue Note All-Stars) (1976, Blue Note)
• 'S Wonderful: Concord Jazz Salutes Ira Gershwin (with various artists) (1979, Concord)
• Soul Route (with Milt Jackson Quartet) (1983, Pablo)
• When The Sun Goes Down (with Ernestine Anderson ) (1984, Concord)
• Soular Energy (with the Ray Brown Trio) (1984, Concord)
• Don't Forget the Blues (with the Ray Brown All Stars) (1985, Concord)
• The Red Hot Ray Brown Trio (with the Ray Brown Trio) (1985, Concord)
• A Gentleman and His Music (with Benny Carter ) (1985, Concord)
• Love Me Tender (with Junko Mine and the Ray Brown Trio) (1986, All Art)
• Summer Wind: Live at The Loa (with the Ray Brown Trio) (1988, Concord)
• Bam Bam Bam (with the Ray Brown Trio) (1988, Concord)
• The 20th Concord Festival All-Stars (with various artists) (1988, Concord)
• Black Orpheus (with the Ray Brown Trio) (1989, Evidence)
• Mr. Blue (with Takashi Ohi and the Ray Brown Trio) (1989, Denon)
• Moore Makes 4 (with Ralph Moore and the Ray Brown Trio) (1990, Concord)
• At Last (Gene Harris / Scott Hamilton Quintet) (1990, Concord)
• Live at The Apollo (with BB King ) (1990, GRP)
• Concord Jazz Festival: Live 1990 (with various artists) (1990, Concord)
• Concord Jazz Festival: Live 1990, Vol. 3 (with various artists) (1990, Concord)
• Three Dimensional (with the Ray Brown Trio) (1991, Concord)
• A Concord Jazz Christmas (with various artists) (1991, Concord)
• Georgia On My Mind (with the Ray Brown Trio) (1991, All Art)
• Jazz Celebration: Tribute to Carl Jefferson (with various artists) (1992, Concord)
• Fujitsu-Concord 25th Jazz Festival (with various artists) (1993, Concord)
• Fujitsu-Concord 26th Jazz Festival (with various artists) (1994, Concord)
• I Waited for You (with Mary Stallings ) (1994, Concord)
• Its the Real Soul (with Frank Wess ) (1995, Concord)
• Down Home Blues (with Jack McDuff ) (1996, Concord)
• Dreaming A Dream (with Niki Haris ) (1996, RCA / BMG)
• Just Friends (with Marian McPartland ) (1997)
• Groovin 'Hard: Live at The Penthouse 1964–1968 (Resonance, ed. 2016)

Compilations and reprints as leaders

• The Best of The Three Sounds (with The Three Sounds) (1993, Blue Note)
• Gene Harris: The Concord Jazz Heritage Series (1998, Concord)
• The Blue Note Years (with The Three Sounds) (1999, EMI / Blue Note)
• Gene Harris: The Best of the Concord Years (2000, Concord)
• The Complete Blue Hour Sessions (The Three Sounds with Stanley Turrentine ) (2000, Blue Note)
• Big Band Soul (with the Gene Harris Superband) (2002, Concord)
• Swinging in the Blues (2002, recall)
• Ballad Essentials (2003, Concord)
• Out of This World (Japan Bonustracks) (with The Three Sounds) (2004, Blue Note Japan)
• Instant Party (2004, Concord)

literature

• Richard Cook , Brian Morton : The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD, LP and Cassette . 2nd Edition. Penguin, London 1994, ISBN 0-14-017949-6 .
• Richard Cook, Brian Morton: The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD. 6th edition. Penguin, London 2002, ISBN 0-14-051521-6 .
• Martin Kunzler : Jazz Lexicon. Volume 1: A – L (= rororo-Sachbuch. Vol. 16512). 2nd Edition. Rowohlt, Reinbek near Hamburg 2004, ISBN 3-499-16512-0 .

Web links

• Literature by and about Gene Harris in the catalog of the German National Library
• Obituary at All About Jazz