Gene Harris
During the decades since rising to fame with the Three Sounds in the early 1960's, pianist Gene Harris always stuck true to his singular musical vision…the blues. A masterful pianist with a titanic technique, Harris' every chorus radiated the blues. His solos were melodic, accessible and swinging yet quite sophisticated and full of personal ideas, his own chord voicings, flavored with the church. While the listener has a good idea what to expect from a Gene Harris record, the pianist never fails to surprise.
Gene Harris was born September 1, 1933 in Benton Harbor, Michigan, where he was first attracted to music when he was four. Locally, Harris was attracted to the music of bandleader Charles Metcalf's group and was inspired to try to pick out songs on the piano. Harris also enjoyed the music he heard in church and the boogie- woogie records of his parents (one can detect Meade Lux Lewis and Albert Ammons all over Harris' playing). Swing, gospel and blues combined in a humid eutectoid to form the rue of his piano style.
Harris quickly developed as a pianist, having many opportunities to play music while serving in the Army (1951 - 54). Following his discharge he originally formed the Four Sounds, who by 1956 abandoned their original plan to include a tenor-saxophonist and renamed themselves the Three Sounds. Joining Harris in the original line up of the band was bassist Andy Simpkins (1932 - 1999) and drummer Bill Dowdy (b. 1933).
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Album Review
- Groovin' Hard: Live At The Penthouse 1964-1968 by Stefano Merighi
- Groovin' Hard: Live At The Penthouse 1964-1968 by Dan McClenaghan
- Groovin’ Hard - Live at the Penthouse 1964 - 1968 by C. Michael Bailey
- Another Night In London by C. Michael Bailey
- Live in London by Jim Santella
- Live in London by C. Michael Bailey
Building a Jazz Library
Album Review
- At Last by John Kelman
- Listen Here! by C. Michael Bailey
- Gene Harris - Ballad Essentials by C. Michael Bailey
January 17, 2017
September 02, 2010
September 01, 2010
Jazz Musician of the Day: Gene Harris
December 17, 2009
Resonance Records to Release Gene Harris "Another Night in London,"...
July 01, 2008
Four Free MP3 Downloads from Resonance Records: Gene Harris, Andreas...
June 02, 2008
Previously Unreleased Live Concert by Legendary Pianist Gene Harris...
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piano

piano

vibraphone

guitar

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voice / vocals

saxophone

saxophone, tenor

piano

trumpet

trumpet

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flute

piano

keyboards