About five years ago I learned that Barry Harris often went to the 11th St. Bar (on the Lower East Side in New York) on Monday nights when they have jazz. I went and was fortunate enough to sit at his table and ask a couple of questions. I asked him who among the pianists who were his contemporaries played the real bebop. I was surprised when he said it was Bobby Timmons since I associated him with the soul jazz of Moanin' and Dat Dere. Barry sat in with the house band on Ruby My Dear and Round Midnight. After he gave an impromptu master class for his students and other musicians and demonstrated how to reharmonize A Nightingale Sings in Berkeley Square.
As Barry was being escorted to his car I told him how much I had enjoyed his playing over the years and we chatted a bit. He told me he had visited Ben Riley the other day and he didn't recognize him. Fearing the worst I asked him why. Barry answered, "we old" and was gone. As Ethan would say, more ancient than we can know, more modern than we can imagine.
Barry was proud of that "Sidewinder" riff -- one Sunday, probably in the early '00s, during a break between a Jazz Showcase matinee and first evening set at a restaurant where Joe Segal booked the music, as band broke into the tune, Barry observed that it was his contribution.
I strongly agree about chasing down his sideman contributions to Schlitten-produced sets; I especially enjoy the session with Al Cohn, another of my favorite players. And long time friend pianist John Campbell turned me on to his sets with Yusef, as well as to Stryker's book, which I greatly enjoyed.
Joe Segal loved Barry's playing, and booked him as often as possible, although the room was often near empty for later sets. I took care of Joe's sound for three decades, so had a pass at the door, and took advantage of it, never missing one of Barry's sets. I have a lot of them on tape, even a few on video. I fell in love with his playing in the mid-'70s, after recording a set for NPR with three alto players, one of whom was Sonny Stitt. Two decades later, he played for our wedding reception at the club.
As a non-musician, but serious listener since my childhood in the '50s, I fell in love with Barry's lyricism and harmonic inventiveness, and I love the qualities described here about his treatment of Monk's music. The evolution of his explorations from one yearly visit to another was obvious even to my non-musician's ears. After moving from Chicago to Santa Cruz in 2006, we made trips to hear him at festivals in Portland and Phoenix, and visited with him briefly after his last visit to SFJazz on Monk's birthday. Barry really enjoyed playing with Chuck Israels in Portland, and was considering taking him to EU. I have a well-recorded tape of a set with Barry, Chuck and Lee Konitz from Seattle.
About five years ago I learned that Barry Harris often went to the 11th St. Bar (on the Lower East Side in New York) on Monday nights when they have jazz. I went and was fortunate enough to sit at his table and ask a couple of questions. I asked him who among the pianists who were his contemporaries played the real bebop. I was surprised when he said it was Bobby Timmons since I associated him with the soul jazz of Moanin' and Dat Dere. Barry sat in with the house band on Ruby My Dear and Round Midnight. After he gave an impromptu master class for his students and other musicians and demonstrated how to reharmonize A Nightingale Sings in Berkeley Square.
As Barry was being escorted to his car I told him how much I had enjoyed his playing over the years and we chatted a bit. He told me he had visited Ben Riley the other day and he didn't recognize him. Fearing the worst I asked him why. Barry answered, "we old" and was gone. As Ethan would say, more ancient than we can know, more modern than we can imagine.
thanks for delightful comment!
Barry was proud of that "Sidewinder" riff -- one Sunday, probably in the early '00s, during a break between a Jazz Showcase matinee and first evening set at a restaurant where Joe Segal booked the music, as band broke into the tune, Barry observed that it was his contribution.
I strongly agree about chasing down his sideman contributions to Schlitten-produced sets; I especially enjoy the session with Al Cohn, another of my favorite players. And long time friend pianist John Campbell turned me on to his sets with Yusef, as well as to Stryker's book, which I greatly enjoyed.
Joe Segal loved Barry's playing, and booked him as often as possible, although the room was often near empty for later sets. I took care of Joe's sound for three decades, so had a pass at the door, and took advantage of it, never missing one of Barry's sets. I have a lot of them on tape, even a few on video. I fell in love with his playing in the mid-'70s, after recording a set for NPR with three alto players, one of whom was Sonny Stitt. Two decades later, he played for our wedding reception at the club.
As a non-musician, but serious listener since my childhood in the '50s, I fell in love with Barry's lyricism and harmonic inventiveness, and I love the qualities described here about his treatment of Monk's music. The evolution of his explorations from one yearly visit to another was obvious even to my non-musician's ears. After moving from Chicago to Santa Cruz in 2006, we made trips to hear him at festivals in Portland and Phoenix, and visited with him briefly after his last visit to SFJazz on Monk's birthday. Barry really enjoyed playing with Chuck Israels in Portland, and was considering taking him to EU. I have a well-recorded tape of a set with Barry, Chuck and Lee Konitz from Seattle.
terrific comment, Mr. Brown! Thank you so much.