Barry Harris – master of Bebop.

Barry Harris Quintet in concert from Bremen this Sunday. Recorded at Jazzclub Ostertor on September 20, 1976.

He’s joined by Lonnie Hillyer – trumpet, Charles McPherson – alto sax – Sam Jones – bass and Leroy Williams – drums.

Barry Harris was an exponent of the bebop style.  Influenced by Thelonious Monk and Bud Powell, Harris in turn influenced and mentored bebop musicians including Donald Byrd, Paul Chambers, Curtis Fuller, Joe Henderson, Charles McPherson, and Michael Weiss.

Harris, who described Bud Powell’s style as the “epitome” of jazz, learned bebop largely by ear, starting with Powell’s recording of “Webb City” with Sonny Stitt and Fats Navarro. Harris made one of his first recordings in Toledo, Ohio, in 1950, and made another in Detroit in 1952 with trombonist Frank Rosolino. Harris said in a later interview that he also recorded a musical for Willie “Face” Smith around this time, but the album was lost.

Barry Harris remained in Detroit through the 1950s and worked with Miles Davis, Sonny Stitt, and Thad Jones, and substituted for Junior Mance in Gene Ammons‘ band. In 1956, he toured briefly with Max Roach, after Richie Powell, the band’s pianist and younger brother of Bud Powell, died in a car crash. Harris left Detroit in 1960 to tour with the Cannonball Adderley quintet.

Between 1982 and 1987, he was responsible for the Jazz Cultural Theatre on 8th Avenue in New York. As a co-manager with promoters Jim Harrison and Frank Fuentes, Harris brought jazz artists to the club, including Jaki Byard, Bill Hardman, Junior Cook, Vernel Fournier, Walter Bishop Jr., Michael Weiss, and Chris Anderson, before closing the club due to increased rent.

From the 1990s onwards, Harris collaborated with Howard Rees on videos and workbooks documenting his harmonic and improvisational systems and teaching process.  He held music workshop sessions in New York City for vocalists, students of piano and other instruments.

Although Harris took his weekly workshops onto Zoom during the COVID-19 pandemic, he died from complications of the virus at a hospital in North Bergen, New Jersey, on December 8, 2021, a week before his 92nd birthday. Harris taught his last music class less than three weeks before his death.

Okay – now you know – and thanks to Wikipedia for the bio help. For more on Barry Harris as well as a deep-dive into his albums, click on the link and go exploring: https://amzn.to/4dgXBgr

In the meantime, press Play and dive into Sunday.