[1] The Shadow of Your Smile {Love Theme from... (Mandel/Webster) - 5:30
[2] Freedom Jazz Dance (Harris) - 9:39
[3] Sham Time (Harris) - 6:44 *
[4] Theme in Search of a Movie (Stepney) - 4:04
[5] Listen Here (Harris) - 7:37
[6] Live Right Now (Harris) - 6:56
[7] 1974 Blues (Harris) - 4:27 *
[8] Movin' on Out (Harris) - 6:03
[9] Boogie Woogie Bossa Nova (Harris) - 6:18 *
[10] A Child Is Born (Jones) - 3:50 *
[11] Is It In (Muldrow) - 3:35 *
Eddie Harris - Keyboards, Tenor Saxophone, Vocals, Producer, Electric Saxophone
Melvin "Lil' Son" Jackson - Bass
Ray Barretto - Latin Percussion
Ron Carter - Bass
Jodie Christian - Piano
King Curtis - Tenor Saxophone
Billy Hart - Drums
Billy Higgins - Drums
Joe Newman - Trumpet
Jimmy Owens - Trumpet
Rufus Reid - Bass
Cedar Walton - Piano
Seldon Powell - Baritone Saxophone
Chuck Rainey - Bass Guitar
Grady Tate - Drums
Muhal Richard Abrams - PElectric iano
Ray Codrington - Trumpet
William S. Fischer - Horn Arrangements
Vivian Harrell - Backing Vocals
Haywood Henry - Baritone Saxophone
Marilyn Haywood - Backing Vocals
Felix Henry - Percussion
William James - Drums, Electric Bongos
Tom McIntosh - Trombone
Ronald Muldrow - Guitar, Guitorgan
Mary Ann Stewart - Backing Vocals
Joe Wohletz - Latin Percussion
Snooky Young - Trumpet
Louie Spears - Bass
Bennie Powell - Bass Trombone
Mel Lastie - Trumpet
Geoffrey Haslam - Producer
Joel Dorn - Producer
Nesuhi Ertegun - Producer
Marvin Lagunoff - Producer
Arif Mardin - Producer, String Arrangements
Bruce Swedien - Engineer, Remixing
Tom Dowd - Engineer
Phil Iehle - Engineer
Bruce Tergesen - Engineer
Adrian Barber - Engineer
Fred Seligo - Photography
Loring Eutemey - Cover Design
Bob Porter - Reissue Producer
1989 CD Atlantic SD-1545-2
CS Atlantic CS-1545
Rhino 1545
Eddie Harris had a diverse and erratic recording career, leading to
many observers greatly underrating his jazz talents. Harris had his own
sound on tenor since at least 1960, his improvisations range from bop
to free, he was a pioneer with utilizing the electric Saxophone (and
was much more creative on it than most who followed), he introduced the
reed trumpet, was a fine pianist (one of his first professional jobs
was playing piano with Gene Ammons), composed the standard "Freedom
Jazz Dance" and, although his vocals are definitely an acquired taste,
he was a skilled comedian.
After getting out of the military, Eddie Harris's very first recording
resulted in a hit version of "Exodus." His high-note tenor playing
(which managed to sound comfortable in the range of an alto or even
soprano) was well-featured on a series of strong selling Vee Jay
releases (1961-63). After two outings for Columbia (1964), he switched
to Atlantic for a decade. In 1966 Harris started utilizing an electric
Saxophone and he debuted the popular "Listen Here" (although the 1967
recording is better-known). At the 1969 Montreux Jazz Festival Harris
and Les McCann made for a very appealing combination, recording such
songs as "Compared to What" and "Cold Duck Time." Harris's later output
for Atlantic was streaky, sometimes rock-oriented and occasionally pure
comedy. Later in life he recorded generally recorded strong jazz sets
for such labels as Impulse, Enja and SteepleChase while remaining a
unique musical personality.
Scott Yanow - All-Music Guide
Part of a massive Atlantic Jazz Anthology series in 1970, this
LP-turned-CD was skimpy in its day, and now serves as the sketchiest of
introductions to this bewilderingly eclectic
saxophonist/inventor/pianist/bopper/balladeer/funkmeister, etc. etc.
Even assuming the limited time frame, why were three of Harris' seven
Atlantic albums up to that point (Mean Greens, The Tender Storm, Silver
Cycles) not even represented, and where is that galvanic swinger "Sham
Time"? That said, there is still an awful lot of great '60s jazz on
this record anyway: the funky-funky hit version of "Listen Here," two
of its soulful successors, "Live Right Now" and "Movin' on Out"; the
enduring pretzel-like "Freedom Jazz Dance;" a nice cover of "The Shadow
of Your Smile;" and the lush, perhaps even tongue-in-cheek "Theme in
Search of a Movie." Buy this only if you cannot afford the
far-more-comprehensive two-CD box, Artist's Choice.
