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Joe Harriott Quintet
Joe Harriott Quintet: Free Form & Abstract Revisited
by Chris May
A tiny island, Jamaica has punched far above its weight musically. Dub and reggae are the primary manifestations, but the island has also produced a disproportionately large number of notable jazz musicians, many of whom left during the late 1940s and 1950s to relocate to Britain, Jamaica's so-called mother country during the colonial era. Alto saxophonist Joe Harriott moved to London in 1951. Other early arrivals included flautist Harold McNair, tenor saxophonist Wilton Gaynair, trumpeters Dizzy Reece and Eddie Thornton, ...
read moreJoe Harriott Quintet: Abstract/Southern Horizons/Free Form
by Duncan Heining
Swing Low, Sweet Harriott I don't think Joe Harriott's entire catalogue has ever been available at one time. Even in his heyday in the sixties, much of the 1950s material was unavailable. From the seventies onwards, things got really dire. Now that so much is out of copyright, Harriott's work is increasingly being reissued in CD packages, albeit in ways that are confusing and which duplicate other recently released recordings. In 2012, Proper Records put out ...
read moreJoe Harriott Quintet: At the BBC
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Given up for adoption in Kingston, Jamaica, soon after he was born in 1928, Joe Harriott learned to play the clarinet, starting at age 10, while attending the city's Alpha Boys School. In 1951, when Harriott turned 23, he toured in the U.K. as a member of Ossie DaCosta's band. After the tour, Harriott decided to remain in London, since British subjects didn't need work permits or immigration visas. His entry into the London jazz scene came while sitting in ...
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Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson
Joe Harriott Quintet
