Thirteen tracks from an artist whose talent was not matched by his success, the great Jamaican alto player Joe Harriott. His standout work on the British jazz scene from the early 1950's through the late 1960's remains underappreciated, particularly as he arrived at his own style of 'free' jazz quite independently of Cecil Taylor and Ornette Coleman.
| Joe Harriott was born in Kingston, Jamaica in 1928, raised in an orphanage, came to the U.K. in 1951 as part of a touring Jamaican band, and never left. He died destitute in Southampton in 1972. His life and music are discussed in Joe Harriott - Fire In His Soul, by Alun Robertson. Many of his recordings are available, and there is as well the 4-cd Proper Records box set. |
| Akee Blues (1954) Buddy Pipp's Highlifers - The Joe Harriott Story (2001) - Proper |
| Cherokee (1954) Joe Harriott Quartet - The Joe Harriott Story |
| Calypso Joe Harriott Quintet - Free Form (1960) |
| Fascinating Rhythm (1955) Tony Kinsey Quartet - The Joe Harriott Story |
| The Genius cd is a compilation of 4 live tracks from 1961 and 5 studio tracks from 1969. It was put together by British pianist Michael Garrick, with whom Joe Harriott worked in the mid-1960's. |
| Round About Midnight (live, Manchester, Jan. 1961) Joe Harriott Quintet - Genius (2001) |
| Revival Joe Harriott Quintet - Movement (1963) |
| "Of jazz's various components - constant time signatures, a steady 4/4 tempo, themes, chord sequences, and so on - we aim to retain at least one in each piece. But we may dispense with all the others" was Harriott's description of his music in the liner notes to Abstract. |
| Modal Joe Harriott Quintet - Abstract (1961) |
| Senor Blues Joe Harriott Quintet - Southern Horizons (1959) |
| Subject Joe Harriott Quintet - Abstract |
| Beams Joe Harriott Quintet - Movement |
| Abstract Joe Harriott Quintet - Free Form |
| Spring Low, Sweet Harriott Joe Harriott & Brian Spring - Hum Dono (1969) |
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Great tunes, Bruce!
11:15 PM, September 11th, 2019