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Harpsichord in jazz


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Freddie Hubbard's Blue Spirits has Herbie Hancock playing (rather inconsequentially) some harpsichord on one track. The liner notes refer to a celeste... Also, I don't have my CDs to hand but I think Jack Wilson plays some tracks on harpsichord on the Earl Anderza Pacific Jazz album. I agree with the majority view here that it usually doesn't seem to work very well. I can imagine some interesting uses of harpsichord in free improvisation (Ligeti's solo harpsichord piece, sorry I can't remember the name, gives some indication of the directions one could take the instrument).

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Cal Cobbs playing the harpsichord at Albert Ayler's 'Spirits Rejoice' recording session in 1965. Gary Peacock is on bass. The great photographer W. Eugene Smith, at right, pays close attention to the proceedings.

An image I took when the musicians were in between takes at the session.

srsessiongk1.jpg

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Cal Cobbs playing the harpsichord at Albert Ayler's 'Spirits Rejoice' recording session in 1965. Gary Peacock is on bass. The great photographer W. Eugene Smith, at right, pays close attention to the proceedings.

An image I took when the musicians were in between takes at the session.

srsessiongk1.jpg

Thanks for posting that, brownie. Helps to fill in some lost history.

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Technically, that's a spinet Cal Cobbs plays. Same sound producing mechanism, but the case is shaped differently and the strings are much shorter - initially this was invented for amateur players of harpsichord music who wanted to save on money and had less space. Good harpsichords are as big as a piano. Most spinets sound rather thin in comparison.

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For a jazz album with harpsichord used throughout, try any one of these answers to "What if jazz had come about in a much earlier era?" I like each of them a lot!

Eighteenth Century Jazz by The Jack Marshall Sextet

Silhouettes in Jazz by Michael Coldin Septet

Jazz 1755 by The Harris-Leigh Baroque Band and Brass Choir

All are available in vinyl only.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I have always enjoyed Gene Harris playing celeste on "Introducing the Three Sounds" and "Bottom's Up!". Also Monk plays it on "Pannonica" from the "Brilliant Corners" album.

I think Andrew Hill plays some harpsichord on the Blue Note session with Sam Rivers (i think it was released on CD as "Change").

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  • 11 months later...

gordon beck playing the harpsichord on the title "gut bucket" from the wonderful album "whole lotta tony" by tony crombie from 1961. i love this album. there is a tune called "brazilia" that sounds like the microscopic septet 25 years later!!!!

keep boppinĀ“

marcelpost-1254-0-79080300-1342735404_thumb.jp

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