Jump to content

Barry Harris


relyles

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 65
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

I realized that I shamefully have no Barry Harris recordings as a leader in my collection. What is the collective wisdom on his best recordings to start with?

i only have two ojcs, bull's eye with kenny dorham, charles mcpherson and (iirc) cecil payne and newer than new with mcpherson and lonnie hillyer and i would definitely recommend both (maybe bull's eye first, newer than new is a little more polished somehow)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

These are my Barry Harris CDs - I recommend them all:

Breakin' It Up - Argo (1958)

Barry Harris at the Jazz Workshop - Riverside/OJC (1960)

Listen to Barry Harris... Solo Piano - Riverside/OJC (1960)

Preminado - Riverside/OJC (1961)

Newer Than New - Riverside/OJC (1961)

Chasin' the Bird - Riverside/OJC (1962)

Luminescence! - Prestige/OJC (1967)

Bull's Eye! - Prestige/OJC (1968)

Magnificent! - Prestige/OJC (1969)

Barry Harris Plays Tadd Dameron - Xanadu (1975)

Tokyo: 1976 - Xanadu

I haven't listed the albums with Harris as a sideman.

Edited by J.A.W.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Some CDs I own and can recommend:

At the Jazz Workshop

Magnificent!

Plays Tadd Dameron

The Bird of Red and Gold

Listen to Barry Harris

First Time Ever

Chasin' the Bird

Newer than New

Live at Maybeck

I have a bit of a problem with Bull's Eye, because the CD sound quality, especially the piano (unfortunately) is really bad, with the trio selections most affected. The original engineer was the hapless Richard Alderson, who's likely to blame (he mars some other Harris recordings, but not as badly...).

Edited by T.D.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have a bit of a problem with Bull's Eye, because the CD sound quality, especially the piano (unfortunately) is really bad, with the trio selections most affected. The original producer was the hapless Richard Alderson, who's likely to blame (he mars some other Harris recordings, but not as badly...).

Frequent problem - the producer was Don Schlitten - Richard Alderson was the engineer. Blame both. You can also blame Prestige/Weinstock for allowing this.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Frequent problem - the producer was Don Schlitten - Richard Alderson was the engineer. Blame both. You can also blame Prestige/Weinstock for allowing this.

OT, but Jaki Byard really suffered at the hands of Schlitten and Alderson...On the otherwise great Jaki Byard Experience, for instance, the piano sounds like it's underwater.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes, I also own Live in New York, but don't rate it nearly as high as the albums I mentioned above.

Re. Jay Hawk Talk, it's good, and definitely worth getting if you like Carmell Jones, but I don't spin it as frequently as the Mosaic Select for some reason...it's a decent but not outstanding sideman appearance by Harris IMO, with the piano having that awful Alderson/Schlitten/Prestige underwater sound. You should check out Charles McPherson's Bebop Revisited (Prestige), also with Jones and Harris, which I like even more!

Edited by T.D.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...

I have been a huge fan of Barry Harris for about 50 years. I have all of his recordings as leader and probably almost all as a sideman. With rare exceptions, all of his recordings are great favorites of mine. You won't go wrong grabbing any you are able to find.

I don't know why but I was looking at getting some more of Harris's work as leader recently, I only have "Newer Than New", but I started looking at some of his sideman dates, he was on quite a few classics, major and minor, throughout the years. Here's a few, as like me, you probably have more Harris in your collection that you think.

51FFEP2SA8L._SS500_.jpg

51HeHcjto3L._SS500_.jpg

51alqZI+5nL._SS500_.jpg

51CzoqYMO2L._SS500_.jpg

61d-OS4WcdL._SS500_.jpg

51DHQC61ZWL._SS500_.jpg

41B9JWRD2NL._SS500_.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.

×
×
  • Create New...