Barry Harris - Impressions - Part 1
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"Barry was revered," said Michael Weiss, one of the many pianists Harris mentored. "He orchestrated his melodies and constructed his improvisations in a lyrical, unhurried and free-flowing manner. His codification of the bebop language stands apart from most of the trite attempts at jazz theory in the academic world, because it goes to the heart of what makes a melody."
“The essence of Harris’ individuality was his storytelling expressions, spontaneous flow of melody and harmony and the intensity of his swing. On romantic ballads, his ear for color and the eloquent movement of one chord to another lent his performances the lyric glow of a Shelly Ode.”
Harris’ passion for teaching grew out of an analytical mind and a lifelong quest for knowledge and self improvement. He put the virtuoso improvisations of Parker, Gillespie and Powell under a microscope, discovering the musical grammar that makes bebop work - scales, chords, chromatic passing tones. He then organized a set of rules that helps musicians play like natives, without an accent.”
- Mark Stryker, NPR Obituary
“Barry Harris
PIANO
born 15 December 1929
The grandmaster of bebop piano and one of the great teachers in the music, Harris was a leading player in the strong Detroit circle of jazz musicians in the early 1950s, and he was busy enough there to resist the temptation to move to New York - until the end of the decade, when he joined Cannonball Adderley's group for a brief spell and then settled in New York. He made five outstanding albums for Riverside early in the 1960s, and three more for Prestige later in the decade, which showcased his huge authority on bebop material: the prevailing soul-jazz movement had no impact on his playing, and Magnificent! (1969) is a textbook exercise in the timeless qualities of bop as a creative idiom. Coleman Hawkins favoured Harris as one of his last piano players (and told him, 'I don't play chords, I play movements'), and Harris helped care for Hawkins during his final illness. In the later 1970s, the pianist went to live with Thelonious Monk in the Baroness de Koenigswarter's home, and remained there after both passed away. Though he dislikes travel, he has toured widely, and became known as one of the premier teachers in the music: he opened the Jazz Cultural Center in New York in the 1980s, and students have always spoken of his teaching methods in the warmest terms. He came back after suffering a stroke in the early 1990s, and is still playing handsomely: 'I'm a bebopper. I believe strictly in Diz and Bird, I don't think the music has gone any further.'”
- Richard Cook’s Jazz Encyclopedia:
Barry Harris died on December 8, 2021 a week short of his 92nd birthday.
I thought it might be fun to memorialize him in a multi-part feature by cobbling together some excerpts from the Jazz press about his background and significance and center these around information and videos about some of my favorite recordings by Barry.
My first exposure to this ultimate Bebop pianist was his playing on vibraphonist Dave Pike’s debut album on Riverside entitled It’s Time and shortly thereafter in alto saxophonist Cannonball Adderley’s group in the early 1960s..
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