Jazz Joe Harriott and Stan Tracey - In A Sentimental Mood

[altissimo]

Joe Harriott with the Stan Tracey Big Brass in 1969

 

[jazzdoh]

Great video,nice playing,thanks for posting.

Brian

 

[Chris]

Cool video..

Chris...

 

[rhysonsax]

Top, top player with a lovely sound. He could play sweet and he could play rough, he could play out and free. That's a really nice video.

There's a wonderful blues tune I heard on a BBC radio programme of Joe Harriott - "Blues Head" but I haven't been able to find it on CD or mp3.

There's a very good 4CD introduction to Joe's music on Proper - an absolute bargain at around £14. http://www.propermusic.com/product-details/Joe-Harriott-The-Joe-Harriott-Story-35461

Rhys

 

[altissimo]

here's the discography, couldn't spot "Blues Head" in there, but there's plenty of other tunes with blues in the title - http://vzone.virgin.net/davidh.taylor/harriott.htm

 

[Andrew Sanders]

Lovely.
I really like Joe's playing and I can also recommend the work he did with John Mayer, one of the first Indian/Jazz fusion bands. Well before John Maclaughlin. His pioneering free jazz albums including Abstract and Freeform are remarkable, "Out-Ornetteing" Ornette Coleman in my opinion by a mile. It's a real shame he died destitute and unloved. Shame on us all.

 

[rhysonsax]

here's the discography, couldn't spot "Blues Head" in there, but there's plenty of other tunes with blues in the title - http://vzone.virgin.net/davidh.taylor/harriott.htm

Thanks for that. On the second page of the discography there is a tune called 'Mr Blueshead'. Maybe I have got the name wrong all along !

Now I have to look for the album 'Joe Harriott with The Lansdowne String Quartet - 1967 (Personal Portrait - Columbia SCX/SX6249' with flute, harpsichord and string quartet.

More information on Stan Tracey's website here: Joe Harriott - Personal Portrait

Stan says "Mr Blueshead is a blues of another colour - deeper both in shade and texture, slower and more relaxed in tempo. The theme, by David Mack, is utterly ravishing, and ravishingly exposed by flautist William Bennett. I have always judged the true fibre of a jazz musician by his interpretation of blues, and his ability to express - through this most terse and magnificent of musical forms - the most deeply felt of his musical emotions. As a consequence I have recorded many blues performances in my twenty years of record production, but seldom have I been so moved by a performance for which I hold some responsibility, nor more deeply indebted to the artist who has made such a profound experience possible. Truth to tell, this piece alone justifies the title of the album. "


The search should be easier with the right song title !

Rhys