Joe Harriott
Joe Harriott (born July 15, 1928 in Jamaica as Arthurlin Harriot , † January 2, 1973 in London ) was a British alto saxophonist of Jamaican origin.
Live and act
Grew up in Jamaica, where he played with Harold McNair and Wilton Gaynair during his school days at Alpha Boys School , and soon also with Sonny Bradshaw . In 1951 Harriott emigrated to England. He first played in Tony Kinsey's quartet and made a guest appearance with him at the Paris Jazz Festival in 1954. He then led his own quartet, but also played with trumpeter Pete Pitterson in his highlifers , with Kenny Baker's Jazz Today Unit , the quintet of drummer Tony Kinsey and the Ronnie Scott Orchestra. He also recorded EPs with Cool Jazz since 1953 and his first, still quite conventional album in 1959 under his name ("Southern Horizons" on the Jazzland label ).
Independent of the American free jazz musicians, he was looking for new forms of improvisation . With his LP Free Form (1960) he documented the departure from the system of rules of conventional jazz improvisation. In the cover text he writes: “If there is abstract painting, why shouldn't there also be abstract music? … Although our music has form and although our themes have a structure, our relationship to it is abstract. We do not use time division, and there is no predetermined harmony or chord progression. But there is an interplay in the musical form. And in the rhythm section we keep a consistent four-quarter beat. "
Criticism and jazz research did not recognize his importance for European free jazz until 15 years after his death. Alongside “Free Form”, the albums “Abstract” (1962) and “Movement” (1963) continued to lead the way. Harriott also worked with the Indian musicians John Mayer and Amancio D'Silva on mixed forms between jazz and ethnic music.
In the last few years before his death, he kept himself afloat with occasional appearances in the province; But he was no longer successful in the British jazz scene - also due to illness - and died impoverished in 1973 of cancer. "Abstract" was added to the list The Wire's "100 Records That Set The World On Fire (While No One What Listening)," the magazine The Wire added.
Selection discography
- As a leader
- Free Form (Emarcy or Redial, 1960) with Shake Keane , Pat Smythe , Coleridge Goode , Phil Seamen
- Abstract (Redial, 1962) extended by Bobby Orr , Frank Holder
- John Harriot / John Mayer Indo-Jazz Fusions I & II (Redial, 1966, 1967) with Kenny Wheeler and Shake Keane , Chris Taylor , Pat Smythe, Coleridge Goode , Alan Ganley , Diwan Motihar , Chandrahas Paigankar , Keshav Sathe
- As a sideman
- Chris Barber : The Classic Concerts (Chris Barber Coll., 1959/61)
literature
- Chris Blackford: Joe Harriott - Forgotten Father of European Free Jazz. Rubberneck 25, Hampshire, UK, 1997
- Alan Robertson Joe Harriott - Fire in His Soul. Northway 2012 (2nd edition)
- Ekkehard Jost : Europe's Jazz: 1960–1980. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 1987, ISBN 3-596-22974-X , pp. 21-39.
- Lexical entries
- Richard Cook , Brian Morton : The Penguin Guide of Jazz on CD . 6th edition. Penguin, London 2002, ISBN 0-14-051521-6 .
Web links
- Joe Harriott bio and discography on the British Bebop website
- Joe Harriott at Allmusic (English)
- Indo-jazz fusions
Individual evidence
- ↑ cit. n. E. Jost: Europe's jazz. P. 24
- ↑ Harriot had - according to Morton and Cook (p. 668) - influence on the following generation of musicians such as Trevor Watts and Mike Osborne .
- ↑ Joe Harriott: Free Form and Abstract
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Harriott, Joe |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Harriot, Arthurlin (maiden name); Harriot, Joe |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British jazz musician of Jamaican origin |
| DATE OF BIRTH | July 15, 1928 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Jamaica |
| DATE OF DEATH | 2nd January 1973 |
| Place of death | London |