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Best Three Sounds Album


Peter Friedman

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Just now, Peter Friedman said:

Dan, you may recall that I said that I liked most of the Gene Harris albums on Concord quite a lot. My sense is that the Three Sounds albums were much more arranged with more restrained and less creative solos by Gene as compared with his playing on the Concord recordings.

I do recall that ... to me Gene on Concord (as leader) is much more 'Gene with rhythm (including guitar)' i.e. what Gheorge said earlier - big pianist, less prominent bass/drums. Whereas Gene with Ray Brown & Jeff Hamilton or Gene with Andy & Bill are more him as part of a great band.

I dig Gene in all contexts (well except the contexts used for his final BNs, and about 1/2 of his JAM recordings) but enjoy most the trios myself.

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On 1/10/2022 at 3:00 PM, Dan Gould said:

The domestic CD of Black Orchid is strong and also good value - something like six additional tracks added.

I listened to this whole disc tonight—yes, six bonus tracks, and excellent ones at that.

The Three Sounds are a vibe. If a person is willing to get with the vibe ... they are very, very good. They can also make your jazz-indifferent friends take note. :tup

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Sometimes I did listen to Lou Donaldson with the Three Sounds, but it´s nothing exiting, just easy listening music. 

I don´t know exactly the story behind the way how this trio, similar to Oscar Peterson but without the big name of Oscar Peterson entered to BN cataloge with so many issues. As I say I don´t hear something that would really fascinate me, it´s a nice "mainstream" piano and not much from the to me unknown bassist and drummer.....

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On 11.1.2022 at 7:22 PM, Peter Friedman said:

Just played the Three Sounds session "Moods" recommended by many on this thread.

What it reminded me of the most were many of the trio dates by Red Garland. Pleasant music, easy to listen to, but lacking (for me) the musical depth I hear from many other piano trio recordings.

When I think about the many piano trio CDs in my collection by (for example) Kenny Barron, Ray Bryant, John Hicks, Tommy Flanagan, George Cables, Hank Jones, Steve Kuhn, Barry Harris and Jimmy Rowles, to name just a few, the Three Sounds album is at a much lower level.

Of course, just my opinion, yours may differ. 

Very interesting statement @Peter Friedman, especially your remark about "pleasant music, easy to liten to, but lacking musical depth" . 
At that point I think I would have loved it when I was a kid and just loved to listen to "jazz piano" since I played piano "from ear"  from my earliest childhood on (with no other instructions that listening to the attempts of my father to play the first sections or bars of some Beethoven stuff (Moonlight sonata, for Eliza) and explaining the scales and give me perfect pitch and so, but those piano trios like hearing Oscar Peterson at some friends house I loved it and wanted  to "learn" to play in that "manner". "Three Sounds" I would have liked but it was unknown over here. 

It´s strange, but as much as I learned more about playing and getting offers to play in combo settings, I became less interested in trio settings. There is no greater pleasure for me than comping a fine horn player and then play the best stuff I can when it comes for me to solo. Good, very very good horn players give me the best inspiration. 

As for Garland, same here: His trio albums can get boring, and though he played with Philly J.J. while with Miles, he preferred Art Taylor on trio settings and I like Philly J.J. more. But one thing: Garland´s "block chords" . Every time I hear that, I can learn something about voicings. To play an intro with some inspiration of how Garland would have played the chords can be quite interesting....

I love all the pianists you mentioned, but I doubt I have heard them playing trio on stage. I heard Kenny Barron with Ron Carter, Ray Bryant with an austrian quintet, John Hicks with Sanders, George Cables with Dex and Diz....., Jimmy Rowles with Ella......I think I never heard Steve Kuhn, I have heard he was with Trane but Trane replaced him with McCoy.....

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11 hours ago, Teasing the Korean said:

Remember when Three Sounds albums used to be everywhere for a dollar?  I can't imagine paying more than a dollar for a Three Sounds album.

I can remember when you could get at least halfway drunk at the bar for a dollar, how much does that cost now?  Say $20, I'd pay that for an original 3 Sounds album on BN all day, every day.  If you were lucky, you get buzzed and hear something like the 3 sounds for a few dollars more - it's social music, you of all people here should get that.

On 1/11/2022 at 10:22 AM, Peter Friedman said:

Just played the Three Sounds session "Moods" recommended by many on this thread.

What it reminded me of the most were many of the trio dates by Red Garland. Pleasant music, easy to listen to, but lacking (for me) the musical depth I hear from many other piano trio recordings.

When I think about the many piano trio CDs in my collection by (for example) Kenny Barron, Ray Bryant, John Hicks, Tommy Flanagan, George Cables, Hank Jones, Steve Kuhn, Barry Harris and Jimmy Rowles, to name just a few, the Three Sounds album is at a much lower level.

Of course, just my opinion, yours may differ. 

Nonsense, Red garland was a master of touch and voicings, and the Sounds did better orchestrations with just the original three than many do with a whole orchestra, certainly better than the added orchestrations on their later albums.  'Musical depth' has many dimensions.

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18 minutes ago, danasgoodstuff said:

I can remember when you could get at least halfway drunk at the bar for a dollar, how much does that cost now?  Say $20, I'd pay that for an original 3 Sounds album on BN all day, every day.  If you were lucky, you get buzzed and hear something like the 3 sounds for a few dollars more - it's social music, you of all people here should get that.

You are missing my point.  Record stores didn't take the Three Sounds seriously.  Even jazz stores that priced Blue Note albums at higher prices routinely placed Three Sounds albums in the dollar bin.  Don't shoot the messenger.

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1 minute ago, Teasing the Korean said:

You are missing my point.  Record stores didn't take the Three Sounds seriously.  Even jazz stores that priced Blue Note albums at higher prices routinely placed Three Sounds albums in the dollar bin.  Don't shoot the messenger.

Fair enough, unfortunately not so true anymore but the're still less than most vintage BN.

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Three Sounds on BN are like The Jazz Crusaders were for PJ [(in my opinion) and I already know, gross over generalizations] were just meant to be entertaining party music. I happen to like the (PJ) Jazz Crusaders, but they are what they are. JC, no particular favorites, but happen to like the Festival albums best. Three Sounds, I can't think of one favorite, but all entertaining enough. 

 

 

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6 minutes ago, Holy Ghost said:

Three Sounds on BN are like The Jazz Crusaders were for PJ [(in my opinion) and I already know, gross over generalizations] were just meant to be entertaining party music. I happen to like the (PJ) Jazz Crusaders, but they are what they are. JC, no particular favorites, but happen to like the Festival albums best. Three Sounds, I can't think of one favorite, but all entertaining enough. 

 

 

All jazz is party music, or should be.  But then all parties should be intellectually stimulating.

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I'm actually liking The Three Sounds more and more the older I get. There's an economy and a meant-to-swing sensibility to their playing that I find inviting. In my 20's and 30's I wouldn't have entertained such a vibe. Nowadays, I think it might be what I need. This album:

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is excellent. Andy Simpkins in particular, when you listen to his walking lines, is not just some journeyman.

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The ultimate difference between The Three Sounds and an Oscar Peterson trio (any of them) is that OP (seemingly) always seems to be thinking that he's doing more than he actually is, whereas Gene Harris seems to always ( not seemingly!) know exactly what he's doing. 

I've heard knocks on Harris for too long that him and this trio were some kind of OP wannabes and it's taken me this long to put into words why I gotta call total bullshit on that. One is a Macy's parade balloon, the other is a very real and grounded human musician. 

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On 6/12/2022 at 9:33 PM, Teasing the Korean said:

You are missing my point.  Record stores didn't take the Three Sounds seriously.  Even jazz stores that priced Blue Note albums at higher prices routinely placed Three Sounds albums in the dollar bin.  Don't shoot the messenger.

They took them very seriously (I assume) in the 60s because they SOLD.  So there's an element of supply effecting that presumed decision to put their records in the dollar bin.  (Not to mention that selling leads to playing - a lot, if thought of as Ramsey Lewis "party" albums - and perhaps less than pristine condition, so there's that, too.)

 

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On 6/9/2022 at 11:59 PM, Gheorghe said:

I don't know exactly the story behind the way how this trio ... entered into the BN catalogue with so many issues.

Horace Silver was gigging in Cleveland circa 1957 when he heard The Three Sounds. He befriended Gene Harris and introduced him the next year to Alfred Lion. Before The Three Sounds signed to Blue Note, they played an extended gig in Washington D.C. backing Sonny Stitt. Both Kenny Burrell and Miles Davis heard that gig and supported their move to New York. Lion heard them play at The Offbeat Club in NYC and signed them soon thereafter. Francis Wolff took photos of the trio at The Offbeat, but to my knowledge there's no recording of that gig.

The trio broke up in 1967. Dowdy left first, to be replaced by Donald Bailey. Simpkins then took a gig with George Shearing in 1968, which lasted through 1974. The Three Sounds left Blue Note in 1962, recorded albums for Mercury and Verve, and then returned to Blue Note in 1966. Of their return, Michael Cuscuna wrote that "success had diluted the trio's original impact, and their repertoire had become overrun with fanciful, inferior pop tunes of the day." Can't disagree with that. But the 1958-1962 recordings are tight. I don't really hear a comparison with Red Garland, but I do hear a parallel with, say, Horace Parlan. For my own listening, however, I almost always choose The Three Sounds over a Parlan record.

Ranking The Three Sounds albums isn't exactly useful, and I haven't heard them all, but if I had to rank those that I know, it'd look like this:

1. Good Deal
2. Moods
3. It Just Got To Be
4. Feelin' Good
5. Black Orchid (with bonus tracks)
6. Babe's Blues (this album is actually bonus tracks from Hey There)
7. Here We Come
8. Bottoms Up!
9. Standards

(Those are all that I've heard. That's either just enough or perhaps too many.)

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I like Parlan a lot as a sideman, but as a leader I find his albums somewhat grating. (I recognize I'm probably in the minority with that opinion.) 

That said, Happy Frame of Mind is a small masterpiece. (I guess I'm thinking about albums without horns. Those I haven't been able to get with.)

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41 minutes ago, Peter Friedman said:

For me, Horace Parlan recordings would be my choice every time over a Three Sounds album.

You’re not equating Parlan with The Three Sounds are you? The sounds (no pun intended) are different. 

Edited by Brad
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1 hour ago, Late said:

Horace Silver was gigging in Cleveland circa 1957 when he heard The Three Sounds. He befriended Gene Harris and introduced him the next year to Alfred Lion. Before The Three Sounds signed to Blue Note, they played an extended gig in Washington D.C. backing Sonny Stitt. Both Kenny Burrell and Miles Davis heard that gig and supported their move to New York. Lion heard them play at The Offbeat Club in NYC and signed them soon thereafter. Francis Wolff took photos of the trio at The Offbeat, but to my knowledge there's no recording of that gig.

The trio broke up in 1967. Dowdy left first, to be replaced by Donald Bailey. Simpkins then took a gig with George Shearing in 1968, which lasted through 1974. The Three Sounds left Blue Note in 1962, recorded albums for Mercury and Verve, and then returned to Blue Note in 1966. Of their return, Michael Cuscuna wrote that "success had diluted the trio's original impact, and their repertoire had become overrun with fanciful, inferior pop tunes of the day." Can't disagree with that. But the 1958-1962 recordings are tight. I don't really hear a comparison with Red Garland, but I do hear a parallel with, say, Horace Parlan. For my own listening, however, I almost always choose The Three Sounds over a Parlan record.

Ranking The Three Sounds albums isn't exactly useful, and I haven't heard them all, but if I had to rank those that I know, it'd look like this:

1. Good Deal
2. Moods
3. It Just Got To Be
4. Feelin' Good
5. Black Orchid (with bonus tracks)
6. Babe's Blues (this album is actually bonus tracks from Hey There)
7. Here We Come
8. Bottoms Up!
9. Standards

(Those are all that I've heard. That's either just enough or perhaps too many.)

I am not sure where some of your information comes from ... per Janie Harris and her autobiography, the trio moved to Washington DC to get closer to the jazz big leagues and because one of the members had a relative willing to let them stay with them.  They were not in DC purely for a gig with Stitt. I also believe that it was Horace/Kenny/Miles who recommended them to Alfred, from their gigs in DC prior to moving to NY.

Regarding the second part of their time at Blue Note it's easy to denigrate when they have albums like Elegant Soul but they started with Out of This World (1966) which is entirely in keeping with their first Blue Note run. Live at the Lighthouse is a great record as well, especially the CD reissue with many extra tracks.  Jim can tell you about Coldwater Flat with arrangements by Oliver Nelson.

Lastly, the time in between Blue Note stints was not worthless. Live at the Living Room deserved a CD reissue and Blue Genes is fine too.

Look I get it: some like them, some don't, some have enough, some don't care. I like almost all of it and wouldn't be without 95% of their recordings, up to and including the CD era issue of Live at the It Club (two volumes).

36 minutes ago, Brad said:

You’re not equating Parlan with The Three Sounds are you? The sounds (no pun intended) are different. 

I think there are superficial similarities across Parlan's trio recordings with the Three Sounds (swing, blues feeling) but Parlan's trio doesn't match Harris/Simpkins/Dowdy as a group. Maybe that's because they had played together for so many years.

For the record I love Parlan with horns, I enjoy Parlan in a trio quite a bit. But I was the Gene Harris Fanatic so you know where I stand overall.

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