Barry Harris RIP

[Dan Gould]

I trust Allen Lowe's report on FB that Barry has passed.

Terrible loss. RIP.

[JSngry]

A life not wasted.

Congratulations, RIP, and thank you.

[clifford_thornton]

Damn. RIP.

[soulpope]

Thank you for the music .... R.I.P ....

[sidewinder]

Sad news - but a really great legacy. RIP.

[Peter Friedman]

Very distressing. I first heard Barry Harris play in Detroit in the mid-50's. He quickly became one of my Favorite jazz piano players and has remained so for the past roughly 75 years!!!!

R.I.P.

[T.D.]

1 hour ago, sidewinder said:

Sad news - but a really great legacy. RIP.

+1

Have been fearing this for a while, but will focus on the legacy.

[porcy62]

1 hour ago, JSngry said:

A life not wasted.

Best obituary I can think of.

[ghost of miles]

Mark Stryker's NPR obit.  This has been a rough couple of days.  Never got to see Harris perform, but did get to hear him talk at Jazz Congress a couple of years ago.  The term "master" may tend to be overused, but not for him.  A grandmaster, in fact, of jazz knowledge and of life.  Glad that he had such a long run, and was teaching till the end.  

[mikeweil]

Sigh ....... R.I.P.

[mikeweil]

Will play this later:

[HutchFan]

A proverbial "Keeper of the Flame" if there ever was one.

R.I.P.

 

[Hardbopjazz]

What a loss.  RIP Barry. Thanks for the music. 

[BillF]

So the grand old man of jazz piano and jazz education has gone.

A sad day indeed!

[Rabshakeh]

RIP

[mjzee]

RIP.  While he's obviously associated with Detroit, I always thought he was a premier NYC jazz ambassador.  He leaves a huge gap.  Will play The Sidewinder today in his memory.

[Brad]

1 hour ago, porcy62 said:

Best obituary I can think of.

Indeed. He’s probably one of my three or five favorite pianists. He leaves an amazing legacy. 91 years young. RIP. 

[sgcim]

Oh no, this is turning into a horrendous year- first Pat Martino and now Barry Harris. RIP, Maestro...

[Brad]

Obituary by Mark Stryker.

Barry Harris, beloved jazz pianist devoted to bebop, dies at 91

[ghost of miles]

Statement from Michael Weiss:

Today, with sadness we mourn the loss of a great man. With joy we celebrate the life of a great man.

 

Background:

I met Barry Harris in 1979, receiving a piano lesson while Barry was in Indianapolis for a concert. After moving to New York in 1982 we established a close musical and personal relationship. Over the years he would call me or I would call him with a musical challenge, an investigation, or a conundrum – he at his piano and me at mine. In the 1980s I performed several times at Barry's Jazz Cultural Theater as a member of the Junior Cook/Bill Hardman Quintet. We collaborated on numerous projects, including concerts in tribute to Bud Powell and Thelonious Monk, and an extensive co-interview recorded and transcribed for the liner notes to the Complete Bud Powell on Verve. In 2012 Barry commissioned me to transcribe his complete compositional output. Despite a thirty year difference in age, there was a bond, a kinship, a sharing of the same musical aesthetic and values. Barry was my musical soulmate.

 

As a pianist:

Barry orchestrated melodies and constructed his improvisations in an easy-going, unhurried, free flowing narrative – a lyricism delivered with a laissez-faire attitude, never resorting to virtuosity for its own sake, yet complex or as simple as needed. But his rhythm was profound – he grabbed the beat in his phrasing that tugged at your very soul. He was a brilliant and effective musical orator.

 

As an educator:

Barry’s own codification of the bebop language stands alone, apart from most of the trite attempts at jazz theory in the academic world, because it goes to the heart of what makes a melody melodic. He married the horizontal and the vertical in a unified whole of tonality: melodies existing inside chords and chords existing inside melodies. As the best practitioner of his theoretical concepts, Barry mined extraordinary beauty in exploring all the harmonic and melodic possibilities he could derive. To the very end he remained curious - always looking for new answers and looking for new questions.

 

As a person:

He gave tirelessly of himself as a teacher and as a human being, always wanting to help others. For this he was revered and loved throughout the world. Anybody who has known Barry well over the years, probably feels like they had a special and unique relationship with him, and I'm no exception. But he was just Barry.

 

 

[Hardbopjazz]

COVID-19 still wreaking havoc. 

[Jim Duckworth]

I'm so sorry to hear this...

[paulfromcamden]

Gutted to learn of this today. I came to his music probably a lot later than many board members but I'm so glad I had the opportunity to see him play so many times in London over the past decade - just a joy to behold. Thank you Barry.

A life very well lived. 

[chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez]

the greatest music of all time!

[John L]

It feels like the end of an era.