Eddie Harris Corner

[JSngry]

 

[Dan Gould]

Anyone have 3/4 Miles on that "A Jazz Hour With" Series? Single disc licensed from the Live at EJ's series. Fantastic set and seems much more readily available then the two disc Live at EJ's recording which seems to fetch a pretty penny these days.

Not as big a fan of Eddie as some but I'm glad I became aware of this set only because I'd found original Live at EJ's for Sweets/Jaws and Al Cohn and saw this one on the back of the insert and got to wondering.

[mikeweil]

Just stepped over this while brosing through Eddie Harris listings at various web shops - who are the sidemen, and when was it recorded, please?

[Dan Gould]

1 hour ago, mikeweil said:

Just stepped over this while brosing through Eddie Harris listings at various web shops - who are the sidemen, and when was it recorded, please?

Harris (tenor only) with Dan Wall (P) Neal Starkey (bass) Al Nicholson (drums). I think they were the house trio at EJs - they are also on the Cohn.

I Love You

Lover Man

Listen Here!

Body & Soul/God Bless The Child

Theme from Exodus

3/4 Miles

Now's The Time/Straight No Chaser

February 1 & 2 1982 Atlanta GA

[mikeweil]

Thanks Dan - I was puzzled as I couldn't find is on discogs - but it was there on my shelves, a double CD with 12 tracks ... 

[Dan Gould]

1 hour ago, mikeweil said:

Thanks Dan - I was puzzled as I couldn't find is on discogs - but it was there on my shelves, a double CD with 12 tracks ... 

So you have the original. Lucky you, if this partial set is any indication.

[mikeweil]

I had no idea it was that rare.

[mikeweil]

amazon.de has two used copies of the double CD for € 14.99 plus shipping - but when I type the ASIN into the search field at amazon.com all I get is a streaming option of a totally different compilation.

Here's a link to the German page: https://www.amazon.de/dp/B00003CLVK/sr=1-1/qid=1505575801/ref=olp_product_details?_encoding=UTF8&me=&qid=1505575801&sr=1-1

 

BTW - Dan is right, Eddie is at his very top on this date!

Edited September 20, 2017 by mikeweil

[Dan Gould]

Interesting. When I found the Jazz Hour With release I think I saw an eBay or Amazon offer that was like, $220 or something and figured, "wow this must be really hard to find."

That's the beauty of the market some people have crazy conceptions of value and then others come along and just put it out there at something a lot closer to what it should be, or at least in the ballpark of what non-crazy collectors would pay.

[king ubu]

Thanks @mikeweil - snatched it up for 16€ (plus 6 for shipping - luckily one of the two vendors would ship to Switzerland, which alas is becoming the exception with both amazon.de and amazon.fr marketplace vendors). Prime EH, then I need to have it!

[mikeweil]

Eddie is top, the sound is not on that level, but Eddie's enthusiasm will make you forget that. He audibly inspires Dan Wall. too, and the audience gives generous applause. I wish Eddie had been that good when I saw him, but as I stated, he had the flu.

Edited September 16, 2017 by mikeweil

[JSngry]

amazon.de vendors cannot/will not ship to the US? at least for this item?

[mikeweil]

I noticed that some sellers have branches set up in each part of the amazon sales platform and sell only to buyers from that very same region, although it turns out their stock from which they ship is in one and the same location. Since amazon refunds set shipping rates, maybe it is cheaper for them that way?

[king ubu]

19 hours ago, mikeweil said:

I noticed that some sellers have branches set up in each part of the amazon sales platform and sell only to buyers from that very same region, although it turns out their stock from which they ship is in one and the same location. Since amazon refunds set shipping rates, maybe it is cheaper for them that way?

It goes as far as swiss vendors only shipping to Germany and not within Switzerland ... not sure why that is, I bet it's some amazon rule or default setting (i.e. you have to actively switch on international shipping or amazon then takes a larger chunk of your money or whatever).

Not fun.

I hate to see how the few good platforms have been corporationalized and gone rogue in the last years. But I guess that's market and I have thus to agree with it, right?

[soulpope]

20 hours ago, mikeweil said:

I noticed that some sellers have branches set up in each part of the amazon sales platform and sell only to buyers from that very same region, although it turns out their stock from which they ship is in one and the same location. Since amazon refunds set shipping rates, maybe it is cheaper for them that way?

Obviously to make impossible for the "thinking" client to capitalize on exchange rates (EURO/GBP) or shipping cost differential (Amazon. de EURO 6 vs EURO 2.60 - 3.00 either at co.uk or .fr) ....

[Gheorghe]

I remember Eddie Harris played in Vienna once in the Mid 80´s for almost 2 weeks at a very very nice and very small defunct jazzclub "Jazz Spelunke".

Fantastic and I was there almost every evening , anyway I was a regular at the club .

It was about the most extended tenure of a US star in a club where normally performed locals.

It was our great pleasure to hear and see him every night , but now if I think about it I ask myself wether he was stranded in Viena or just needed a rest. Touring is a hard and unpleasant and tedious thing....

[mikeweil]

Picked this one up at the post office yesterday. The first two of his three LPs for Columbia, complete (close to 80 minutes of music) and in excellent sound, The CD included a second liner notes sheet and OBI in Japanese - but the CD is the same as other Collectables reissues. If they aim at the Japanese market, their remasterings better be top notch, which is the case here.

The music is similar to his VeeJay albums, but presented in a more professional attitude - excellent, clean sound and production. Eddie's mixed bag of standards and originals, vocals on the opening two tracks, probably to attract a wider audience, but after that it gives way to his modal excursions in altissimo range - Eddie was a master at that. Only the superficial attitude is cool. The phrases and ideas are red hot. I'm glad I got me a copy of this.

[mikeweil]

Found a copy of the European CD reissue of this, his third Columbia LP. Seven of the eight tracks have sax, organ, guitar and drums, only one (People) has a piano trio. The piano sound is weird - at first I assumed it was an electric keyboard, but the solo revealed Cedar Walton mixed to the extreme right channel. 
There are minimal liner notes (from the LP), no personnel listings. Those found in the Lord Disco must be incorrect - there is no piano on the other seven tracks. Should be Sonny Phillips, who played with Harris in those years. Can't say whether it is Kenny Burrell on guitar as Lord says, no solos; but the drummer definitely is Billy Brooks, immediately before his trip to Paris with Woody Shaw, Nathan Davis, and Larry Young. Good music. The drummer gets two spots, otherwise it's all Eddie, playing flawlessly with great feeling.

[JSngry]

That's proven to be my favorite EH Columbia. No idea why it's stayed so hidden, relatively speaking.

[mikeweil]

I re-listened to all three Columbia LPs: The take of "People" on Here Comes The Judge and Cool Sax From Hollywood To Broadway is the same; but the piano sound on the whole session is narrow and mixed to the extreme left or right, piano but not grand. 

the guitarist on Judge is not Burrell, whose sound is recognizable on the Cool Sax albums, but the guitar on the organ session must be someone else - different sound and phrasings. Who can it be? Joe Diorio?

[mikeweil]

On 26.9.2017 at 7:28 PM, JSngry said:

That's proven to be my favorite EH Columbia. No idea why it's stayed so hidden, relatively speaking.

SONY should have produced a double CD reissue with all of Eddie Harris' sessions for the label - there are some unissued tracks listed that could be worthy of a release. Maybe that would have helped. Eddie's playing is excellent, on the ballads in particular. 

[JSngry]

Go ahead, call it "commercial". Just be ready for Mister DUH! to team up with Mr. That's The Whole Point Dumbass and Mrs. Uh, Ya Think to bust into your house when you're watching TV and make away with ALL your cred, yours and your dog's. The dog might put up a fight, but it didn't learn that from you, right?

[Peter Friedman]

This my favorite album (CD) by Eddie Harris.

[Rabshakeh]

There've been a couple mentions of Eddie Harris albums and sideman dates in the '80s popping up recently. It hadn't occured to me that he kept recording that late.

Are any of them really worth tracking down? Does he switch to standard tenor or is he still using effects?

[HutchFan]

40 minutes ago, Rabshakeh said:

There've been a couple mentions of Eddie Harris albums and sideman dates in the '80s popping up recently. It hadn't occured to me that he kept recording that late.

Are any of them really worth tracking down? Does he switch to standard tenor or is he still using effects?

Yes.  Absolutely!

For EH in the 80s sans electronics, I'd recommend Homecoming (Spindletop) with Ellis Marsalis.  Gorgeous playing by both men.  I was listening to this earlier today.   

For EH in the 80s that's more reminiscent of his 70s Atlantic years, I'd recommend People Get Funny... (Timeless) with William Henderson, Larry Gales, and Carl Burnett.  

I'm sure there are more.  Probably many more.  These two are just a couple that I happen to know well.