It's Christmas day and for some reason, I find myself thinking
about three kings, three men who were, are, and will be forevermore,
jazz royalty.
Barry Harris. It seems to be universally acknowledged that he's
one of the master interpreters of the bebop style, the language
of Charlie Parker. This may indeed be true, but this sort of label
can also be limiting when we are speaking of a man who has developed
his own voice, his own way of saying something unique and individually
expressive on his instrument. One touch of the keyboard and you
know who it is, the sound of Barry Harris comes through, no matter
how many countless pianos, from deplorable to excellent, you've
heard him play over the years. Barry just turned 75, and I'm no
critic, but you can hear how he inspires those around him to be
their best from his playing at age 25 on Donald Byrd's "First
Flight" and then through his uniformaly inspired recordings
with such notables as Hank Mobley, Johnny Griffin, Lee Morgan,
Coleman Hawkins, Eddie Jefferson and especially noteworthy, Cannonball
Adderley's group in the early 60's, Dexter Gordon in the 60's
and 70's, his early work with Sonny Stitt in the '50's and then,
the later Stitt-Harris collaborations of the 70's overlooked are
his own masterworks, including "Luminescence", "Listen
To Barry
Harris", "At The Jazz Workshop" (which includes
my own all time favorite, "Lolita"), "Plays Tadd
Dameron", "Plays Barry Harris", "Live in Tokyo"
, "For The Moment" (recorded at Barry's own Jazz Cultural
Theatre). His mentorship of young musicians including Charles
McPherson and Lonnie Hillyer, his role as teacher, his long time
collaboration with drummer Leroy Williams, there's just too much
one can say when it comes to Barry Harris.
Red Mitchell is another one. His high level of creativity on the
bass over such a long period of time in performances and on recordings
with so many jazz greats. Plus his other sides- his piano playing,
and his compositions, many accompanied by lyrics. He could never
be catagorized or "put in a box", his creativity was
beyond that , knew no such bounds, and was always seemingly bubbling
over. An amazingly creative and inspiring person.
Barney Kessel. I'm not really such a big listener to guitar players,
but I have to believe that Barney Kessel, when it comes down to
it, was the greatest of all, in terms of having played consistantly
great music in the most formidable of company for the longest
period of time. Consider (beyond his own recordings as leader),
the extraordinarily high level of his playing- not just as a supporting
guitar player, but as a melodic and creative equal- alongside
such greats as Coleman Hawkins, Wardell Gray, Charlie Parker,
Lester Young, Sonny Rollins, etc, as well as his incandescent
playing with Billie Holiday. He may not have been my own strongest
influence, but he will never cease to make me proud of as well
as occasionally awed by my own instrument. In the wake of Barney
Kessel, the guitarist was no longer thought of as merely being
a subset in the world of jazz, but as a creative, strong, expressive
and vital melodic partner, and equal to the other instrumentalists.
12/25/04
