Another OP Thread - What About Gene Harris, Y'All?

[Dan Gould]

I got no dog in the OP wars so you knew I had to make it about Gene Harris, right?

But seriously, I've often wondered why Gene doesn't get a similar reaction from the anti-OP throng.  To me there are many similarities - power, chops up the ying-yang, blues up the ying-yang, certainly a lot of sameness across albums (Larry's find notwithstanding), a long association with Ray Brown .

 

Sally White (of Sally's Place in Westport, CT) loved OP nearly as much as Gene Harris and I have every reason to believe it was for similar reasons.  If there was no Gene Harris I suspect I'd have gone much deeper into OP's catalog but since there was a Gene Harris, I get what I need from him.

I guess what I am after here is:

Why is Gene "The Blues Man"  and Oscar the faker?

And

If any of you have (rational, irrational or post-rational) hatred of Gene Harris, please post. The former Gene Harris Fanatic will still like you.

 

 

[king ubu]

Not sure Gene Harris is "The Blues Man" in my book ... and playing devil's advocate, he doens't get that reaction because he's simply not an important enough character (similar to, say, Les McCann, in that respect, and I guess in *some* musical respects, too).

Anyway, I do enjoy some Harris in small doses, but he doesn't do nearly as much as OP does for me

[JSngry]

Gene's clothes fit.

[kh1958]

The Three Sounds, I do like, so Gene Harris is perfectly fine in my book. Oscar Peterson, not so much, mostly sonic wallpaper to me. As for bluesy jazzmen, I prefer Junior Mance.

 

[Dan Gould]

Gene's clothes fit.

I think I know where you're going but care to elaborate?

[JSngry]

It's a metaphor. "nuff said?

[Dan Gould]

OK, because by this evidence, OP's clothes fit pretty nice too:

 

 

[JSngry]

Metaphorical clothes. Gene's music fits him like a good suit. OP to me tends to sound like he's always trying to be bigger than he is.

[Peter Friedman]

I like Gene Harris, but would rate Oscar Peterson above him. The comment that Gene Harris and Les McCann shared a similar position

makes sense to me. Now Junior Mance is another case. He is very blues oriented and I enjoy much of his playing, but would rather hear

Horace Parlan. It is impossible for me to explain completely, I hear less depth in the playing of Junior Mance. But Junior is a hell of

a nice guy. 

When it comes to modern jazz piano players with a strong blues orientation, I would rate Horace Silver, Carl Perkins, Kenny Drew and Ray Bryant

above Gene Harris,  Les McCann, or Junior Mance.

 

[Big Beat Steve]

Gene Harris?

Yes that Gene Harris album is quite nice. So what's the deal?

 

[Ted O'Reilly]

What the heck is going on there???

[John Tapscott]

 

Why is Gene "The Blues Man"  and Oscar the faker?

 

 

There is no logical reason. I like 'em both, though I listen to Oscar more frequently.  To me Oscar is the more refined and comprehensive pianist. Just listening now to Oscar's "Exclusively for My Friends Set". That is dam# good stuff and if a person can't hear it, well, Ok...I can't imagine Gene Harris doing the stuff Oscar does on this set. Still, I like Gene Harris. 

Edited August 31, 2015 by John Tapscott

[LarryCurleyMoe]

To me, OP and GH are BOTH great musicians!  Just depends on what I want to listen to.  Neither are superficial and both are accomplished.  Many folks diss Art Tatum too.  But WHY?  The dude was great...just have to be open minded I think...

[duaneiac]

Maybe there is more animosity aimed at OP because he was more high profile over so many decades.  From the 1950's on, Norman Granz did his very best to make OP THE jazz pianist in the mind of the public at large.  Thanks to Mr. Granz's tireless promotion, average music listeners who may not have had many jazz albums in their collection, probably had an OP album (not to mention a Miles Davis album, a Dave Brubeck album, maybe a George Shearing or Erroll Garner album).  Mr. Granz also put OP in the recording studio with literally every one he could get his hands on -- Coleman Hawkins, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Anita O'Day, Stan Getz, Lester Young, Billie Holiday, Roy Eldridge, Clark Terry, Lionel Hampton, Count Basie, Stephane Grappelli and on and on and on.  The sheer number of recordings on which he appeared could have easily worn out his welcome with some listeners.  I don't think any musician, no matter how gifted, could appear on as many recordings as OP did and sound fresh and inventive each and every time.

Gene Harris had a successful career, but on a smaller scale.  Sure he was a Blue Note recording artist, but among jazz fans, he is probably not among the top names that would come to mind when asked to name their favorite Blue Notes musicians.  I don't know that Mr. Harris really achieved the sort of fame among the wider public, which had little interest in jazz, that OP did.  I was not around during the glory years of The Three Sounds, so I don't know how well known they were outside the realm of jazz aficionados.  Then he pretty much disappeared for a few years before making a comeback with the Ray Brown Trio and after that he recorded as a leader for the smaller Concord Records label.  So I don't think he ever had the same level of promotion or visibility that OP benefited from thanks to Mr. Granz.

As far as their playing goes, I enjoy them both, but usually in small quantities -- perhaps an album at a time.  I could never picture myself going on a listening binge of the recordings of either pianist.

[Big Beat Steve]

If it comes down to jazz pianists finding an audience and popularity among non-jazz fans and therefore being viewed with suspicion by "pure" jazz fans, how about another name in the ring:

AHMAD JAMAL?   

[king ubu]

AHMAD JAMAL?   

they don't make 'em like that any more

[JSngry]

They do, they're just making underground hip-hop records now.

Well, sorta. But I like today's findability odds better there than in jazz.

[danasgoodstuff]

IMHO, YMMV, BUT Ahmad and Gene have at least this much in common for me - when they were part of a band that really was a collective effort it's great, after that not so much.  Really not so much and even more so for Ahmad. 

[JSngry]

Backed into some 3 Sounds on youTube the other day, and what I really noticed, appreciated, and dug, was Gene Harris's touch, especially his left hand. I mean, that shit is heavy, no doubt, the dude's there to hit, not caress, but - he never gets all pummelly about it. That's what I mean about his clothes fitting him, there's, not so much "hardness" as it is "heaviness", but it never sounds unnaturally pressed into, it's just, that's him. It's not something that makes me feel all casual or anything, but it never feels abusive, or violational or impositional.

You know how some people are just big by nature, and some people are really just fat? Gene Harris was just big by nature.

this was the cut, btw:

 

If anything was gonna get squashed by being sat on by a fat guy, this would be it. No squashing anywhere that I can tell, no mean feat.

[Milestones]

I have remarkably little familiarity with Gene Harris or Ahmad Jamal.  I know both were very popular at one time--though that was before my time as a jazz listener.  Of course, we know that much popular music does not endure.

There are so many pianists out there.  Talking about favorites is probably even more difficult than talking about favorite saxophonists.