What are you Listening To Right Now? - and more

Good Morning All.

jgannon said:
Yeah, this is Barry playing in the early 60s. It's off the "Preminado" LP. It's a great version too, of course. But you know, the Barry Harris I really got to know, was in the early to mid-80s. And his playing really grew and changed from his earlier period. The first time I really dug him was back in 1979 when he was playing with Clark Terry at a club called Storyville, in NYC. I remember after the gig ended, he stayed at the piano, and was showing something to either the alto player Chris Woods, or maybe the bassist Victor Sproles. That hooked me right there. I think the mic's were off or something and the velvety sound he was getting. And I dug so much, how he stayed at the piano, still wanting to play after the gig had ended. And the look on his face as he was looking at either Woods or Sproles (I don't think it was Billy Hart the drummer, or Terry.) The ambience and mood he created was like, wow. It was just for a few moments. And then when I started going to his workshops in the mid 80's for me, to hear him up close, or on his gigs, he was unequalled by any pianist for mood, feeling, and sheer beauty. And I saw all of the heavy hitters at that time. Again, for me, nobody created that magical, smoky, elixir-like, beauty that he did. And it's something that I have found isn't always captured on his recordings.

With the "I Should Care" that I posted, if you put on some earphones, yeah, that's Barry. A while back, I posted him playing with the Detroit Jazz Orchestra in 1987, and he plays "I'll Keep Loving You". Again, putting the earphones on will give you the experience I'm talking about. That was how Barry Harris SOUNDED. Again, as great as his playing is on his LPs, when I'm hearing them, the bouquet of his sound, is often not captured. A couple exceptions to that are "The Bird Of Red And Gold" LP, as well as his playing on the "Sirius" LP by Coleman Hawkins. Also, Barry's playing on the "I Should Care" is very different than his early 60s playing. One of the reasons for that change, in a minute.

I have to say, IMO, Barry Harris is the greatest living musician today - bar none. Many people might not know, after he had a stroke back in 1992, he basically lost his left hand. But Barry in typical fashion took a constructive attitude toward it, and there's a film where he's being interviewed and he tells the interviewer, "Well, you know, I've kind of fallen in love with it". When I first heard that, I was just thinking, the greatness of this man. He was teaching me something there. I do know however, the hand really ticked him off too. I remember in class, he said, "Look at this". And he started playing "Silent Night" in the key of D with his left hand, and you could see just how difficult it was for him to play. He was really disgusted.

At any rate, the reason I go on about this, was that Barry entered a new phase of his playing when he had the stroke. He could still play amazingly, but he had to do things differently. And THEN, a few months ago, I watched a very recent clip of him. He has grown older and more fragile as time has gone on, and it looks to me like he has arthritis. And there is still of course, the issue with his left hand. Anyway, I watched and listened to his playing, and I realized, in that I hadn't seen him play in a very long time, that he had gone on to ANOTHER style of playing. But the most beautiful and amazing thing about it, was and is, that whatever his physical situation, he always makes beautiful music. He is using what he has, and the different things he is doing now harmonically are just fascinating.

But lastly, that period of his from the late 1960's - after he was influenced by Coleman Hawkins, who as Eddie Locke said, really showed him another side of things and opened up his playing - through 1992 - IMO, there wasn't another human being who could touch him. Genius, brilliance, and beauty. With Barry, it wasn't just the notes and the chords, it was the feeling of them. And he's still doing it to this day.
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JG, is the film you referenced the one where he's taking lessons with a classical teacher (possibly post-stroke?) and he's moving his body around on the piano stool to keep time? The one where he calls himself "an inveterate be-bopper?"

What is the name of that? I haven't seen it in years.

GJ
 
Leebob said:
Thanks so much for sharing your insights with us. Terrific info Gannon! As I read this I am listening to Tommy Flanagan. Another great piano player:)
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Hey, my pleasure Lee. I'm so glad you mentioned Tommy. I almost mentioned him in my post above, because when talking about beauty, he and Barry, who were like brothers, had grown up together in Detroit, and had a mutual admiration society, Tommy is RIGHT THERE with Barry.
 
RhythmGJ said:
Good Morning All.



JG, is the film you referenced the one where he's taking lessons with a classical teacher (possibly post-stroke?) and he's moving his body around on the piano stool to keep time? The one where he calls himself "an inveterate be-bopper?"

What is the name of that? I haven't seen it in years.

GJ
Click to expand...

G - No, what you're talking about is the great short film, "Passing It On." You're talking about the scene where he is taking a lesson with Sophia Rosoff. Rosoff's philosophy, came from Abbey Whiteside who believed in an integrated approach to the piano where the pianist used their whole body, arms, forearms, torso, etc. instead of just fingers. I used to have a copy of that on VHS. That is an amazing film. And it was made in the 80s before he had the unfortunate stroke.

The film the quote came from about his hand is from a later film called "The Spirit Of Bebop".
 
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jgannon said:
Hey, my pleasure Lee. I'm so glad you mentioned Tommy. I almost mentioned him in my post above, because when talking about beauty, he and Barry, who were like brothers, had grown up together in Detroit, and had a mutual admiration society, Tommy is RIGHT THERE with Barry.
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:) Overseas is such a good album but the version I was listening too has a ton of additional takes. Switched over to Oscar Peterson and Lester Young. Will have to pull out Today and Now and give it a spin today. Did I post the Earl May -Barry Harris-Eddie Locke album last night?;)(on you tube)
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Good day to all
Heavy rainstorms in Norway the last days.
Yesterday I took a day off and went for a 900 mile long trip to get a pair of Magnepan 3.6R's thats been on my bucketlist for some time.
Made a posting about it here http://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/magnepan-3-6.834833/
Playing some cd's while I mount the Magnepans
Hope you all are doing fine :banana:

Best regards
KO
 
kjello said:
Good day to all
Heavy rainstorms in Norway the last days.
Yesterday I took a day off and went for a 900 mile long trip to get a pair of Magnepan 3.6R's thats been on my bucketlist for some time.
Made a posting about it here http://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/magnepan-3-6.834833/
Playing some cd's while I mount the Magnepans
Hope you all are doing fine :banana:

Best regards
KO
Click to expand...
Fascinating post KJ,loved the pics....let us know when youve got everything set-up.Amazing speakers.:):beatnik::)
 
kjello said:
Good day to all
Heavy rainstorms in Norway the last days.
Yesterday I took a day off and went for a 900 mile long trip to get a pair of Magnepan 3.6R's thats been on my bucketlist for some time.
Made a posting about it here http://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/magnepan-3-6.834833/
Playing some cd's while I mount the Magnepans
Hope you all are doing fine :banana:

Best regards
KO
Click to expand...


@kjello Great pictures on that other thread. Loved the moose also. There is road in western North Dakota on the way to Bismarck that has giant metal sculptures similar to the moose, although more crude in appearance.
 
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