Joe Harriott documentary, Jazz File, BBC Radio 3, October 2006

Perusing the comments, I noticed that Hum Dono, the record Joe Harriott made with Amancio D'Silva back in 1969, is now finally out again on cd and vinyl. We have posted it in the past, with a little help from friends across the Atlantic, so its rerelease calls for a celebration here on the blog.

I've selected to post a two-part documentary on Harriott origninally broadcast on Jazz File on BBC Radio 3 on 7 and 14 October 2006. The series which were given to artist profiles has in the meantime been discontinued. I got it on two cdrs from a contact at the BBC, so the sound quality is top notch. Presented by Soweto Kinch, we get to hear snips of his entire oeuvre from the 50s and up to the late 60s and many interviews with fellow musicians, acquaintances and biographers. It's a revelation to hear Joe Harriott's voice and l just love his uppercrust accent!

There is a subtext which shines through in Harriott's comments in that he was quite conscious of taking an indedenpent stance against the predominance of American jazz at the time. For him, it was quite important to demonstrate that there was more than one place for jazz which might indicate why he chose the UK which after all was further away from his native Jamaica than the US. He also became a victim of the gradual withering away of the live market for jazz in the early 70s which made a luminary such as Stan Tracey consider giving up his jazz career and taking a job as a postman!

For the sake of convenience, I've spliced the two parts into one for your listening pleasure. There seems to be a little bit missing right at the beginning of part 1, but not too distracting, I hope, so what else to say but enjoy!

The Joe Harriott Quintet - Abstract

We had a request for this a while back, and from what I can see, it's becoming hard to find. The cd reissue of this record, that is. I don't have the cd, so this will take us back to the early 60s lp version of this one, out on the Capitol label in the US. Hope folks don't mind the original sound of this record, though it may not be up the sonic standard of remastered cds.

What to say about "Abstract"? Well, it's a classic (alongside the earlier Free Form), though not truly recognised as such, but we will fly the Harriott flag on this blog, and do our bit towards better recognition. We've posted several Hariott records in the past, all very out of print, and should Free Form suffer the same fate, we'll put up that one, too.

A brief description of what this music is about, can be found in the attached liner notes on the back of the sleeve, with track by track annotations from the man himself. (Just click on the picture and it will blow up to a legible size.) As the man says, don't expect all of this music to swing, it isn't meant to. But it is exciting and to these ears, still fresh, though not as revelatory as it might have been back in the days of be bop hegemony.

1. Subject
2. Subject
3. Oleo
4. Modal
5. Tonal
6. Pictures
7. Idioms
8. Compound

Personnel:
Joe Harriott - alto sax
Shake Keane - trumpet
Pat Smythe - piano
Coleridge Goode - bass
Bobby Orr - drums (1-4)
Phil Seamen - drums (5 - 8)
Frank Holder - bongos (5,8)

1-4 recorded May 10, 1962, in London; 5-8 November 22, 1961, in London.
Cover painting: Yvonne Miranda

Joe Harriott - Amancio d'Silva Quartet - Hum Dono

Continuing with the Harriott postings, and moving up to 1969, this was a collaboration of Joe Harriott with the Goa, India - born Amancio d'Silva. This came after the recordings with John Mayer wherein Harriott would move into "world music", long before that phrase was coined and develop his own brand of East-West fusion, using Western as well as Eastern instruments.

Here the fusion continues in perhaps a slightly more subtle fashion. D'Silva draws upon the jazz guitar tradition of Django Reinhardt, Charlie Christian and Wes Montgomery, but sneaks in aspects of the Indian vocal tradition on the title track and Norma Winstone's vocals on the opening slide effortlessly from Indian popular song styles to snatches of "My Favourite Things".

On the opening, there are Latin rhythmic inflections, on "Ballad for Goa" shades of Portuguese fado and on the closing track, what to these ears sound like a precursor of the fusion music that was to become immensely popular in the 1970s.

This is an exquisite, beautiful record. It's all very tastefully done and it swings like hell in passages. This is Harriott in yet another setting and yet again pointing ahead to what was to come. You will dig it (or else ...)

Tracks:

1. Stephano's Dance (D'Silva)
2. Spring Low, Sweet Harriott (Spring, Harriott)
3. Ballad for Goa (D'Silva)
4. N.N.N.T. (D'Silva)
5. Hum-Dono (D'Silva)
6. Jaipur (D'Silva)

Line-up:

Joe Harriott - alto sax
Amancio D'Silva - guitar
Dave Green - bass
Bryan Spring - drums
Norma Winstone - vocals on 1,3,6
Ian Carr - flugelhorn on 1,6

Originally released on EMI Landsdowne in 1969 and never reissued since then.

Thanks to good pals in the US/Canada for this hidden treasure.

Joe Harriott - Southern Horizons

Following up the Harriott posting a couple of weeks back, here, as promised, is the earlier Southern Horizons, originally out on the Jazzland label, and inexplicably, never reissued.

This is Harriott on the verge of the free form/abstract period, but here, still anchored in the hard bop mode. This is stylish, elegant, tight, swinging; whatever label of appreciation you want to attach to it, this is still fresh music, close to fifty years after its creation. In content, it reflects his earlier 50s output as documented on recent compilations such as Killer Joe. He was to step into uncharted waters on his next release, Free Form, and to earn a name as an innovator and to draw perhaps unwarranted comparisons with the Ornette Coleman Quartet. For those looking for experimentation, better consult Free Form than this one. For those apprecating late 50s mainstream bop mode, look no further. If there was a poll of British contributions to jazz history, Harriott would be high on the list, even though he hailed from the Caribbean. He was later to innovate in a different direction by his collaboration with John Mayer on the indo-jazz fusions. However, by the end of the 60s his style was out of fashion and he ended his life as a pauper with very possessions apart from his alto sax.

This record sticks to the quintet line-up of sax, trumpet, piano, bass and drums (as on Movement), but with the added pizzazz of a superb bongos player on a couple of tracks, just to heighten the sense of hepness to the proceedings.

Partly original compositions, partly covers (including a dynamic take on Caravan), this was Harriott's first long-playing record as a leader.

Tracks:

(side 1)

1. Still Goofin'

2. Count Twelve

3. Senor Blues

4. Southern Horizons

5. Jumpin' with Joe


(side 2)

6. Liggin'

7. Caravan

8. You Go To My Head

9. Tuesday Morning Swing


Line-up:


Joe Harriott - alto sax

Hank Shaw - trumpet (on 1, 2, 3 and 5)

Shake Keane - trumpet, flugelhorn (on 4, 6, 7, 8
and 9)

Coleridge Goode - bass

Bobby Orr - drums

Frank Holder - bongos (on 4, 6, 7, 8 and 9)


Recorded on London, England, May 5, 1959 (tracks 1, 2, 3 and 5) and April 8 and 21, 1960 (tracks 4, 6, 7, 8 and 9)

Released as Jazzland JLP 37.

Interesting piece of trivia: Among the record engineers was a certain Joe Meek who would later go on to fame and fortune in his own right. Anybody recall "Telstar"?


Please note that another rip of this record can be found and downloaded at this site: http://shimanchu-devil.blogspot.com/2007/08/
joe-harriott-southern-horizons-1960.html

Joe Harriott Quintet - Movement

Originally released in 1963 on Columbia, Movement was a follow-up to the earlier, fairly straight-laced Southern Horizons as well as to the experimental Free Form and Abstract. Movement draws upon both styles, the hard bop of the former (with Count Twelve reappearing on this album) and the daring explorations into time, harmony, melody and rhythm of the latter two. The album is roughly evenly divided between the two.

As innovative as the original Coleman quartet, but far less known and appreciated, Harriott was an innovator whose contribution to jazz is still criminally underrecognised. Though, rereleases keep seeping out, so there may be hope still ...

To me, this is as good as it gets. I'm an unreserved Harriott fan and this is another opportunity to pay tribute not only to the South African influence on British and European jazz (of which there will be more on this blog), but also to the Caribbean influence of Harriott and Keane (and others).

Taken off a cdr copy of a vinyl rip, acquired from a seller in the UK. The actual album is long gone.

Tracks

(side 1)
1. Movement
2. Beams
3. Count Twelve
4. Face In The Crowd
5. Revival

(side 2)
6. Blues On Blues
7. Spaces
8. Spiritual Blues
9. Movement

All Harriott originals, except (4) and (6) by (Michael) Garrick.

Line-up:

Joe Harriott - alto sax
Shake Keane - trumpet and fluegelhorn
Pat Smythe - piano
Bobby Orr - drums
Coleridge Goode - bass

Recorded in London 1963, originally released as (Columbia 33SX1627).

Both Free Form and Abstract should be obtainable on CD. The Horizons is long, long out of print (but I do have all three on vinyl, just in case).