February 23, 2015

101 Reel-to-Reel Tapes 96: Joe Harriott Double Quintet & John Mayer ~ Indo-Jazz Suite

  


In addition to my 20,000 Vinyl LP collection I'm selling, I have reel-to-reel, pre-recorded tapes for sale. If interested, contact me by email please, not by a comment. 

The Joe Harriott ~ Indo-Jazz Suite reel-to-reel tape, was for sale on eBay. I have others for sale on eBay now (see links below).    

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Joseph Arthurlin "Joe" Harriott was a Jamaican jazz musician and composer, whose principal instrument was the alto saxophone. He was a pioneer of free-form jazz. Harriott was part of the wave of Caribbean jazz musicians who arrived in Britain during the 1950s, including Dizzy Reece, Harold McNair, Harry Beckett and Wilton Gaynair.


Joe Harriott Quintet ~ Indo-Jazz Suite 
reel-to-reel tape
photography by Michael Joseph
photo by Styrous®


Harriott was born on July 15, 1928, in Kingston, Jamaica, where he received his schooling. Harriott was influenced by Charlie Parker. He developed a style that fused Parker with his own Jamaican musical sensibility - most notably the mento and calypso music he grew up with. He turned to what he termed "abstract" or "free-form" music. He had been experimenting with some loose free-form ideas since the mid-1950s, but finally settled upon his conception in 1959. Harriott's free-form music has been compared to that of Ornette Coleman. Harriott's method demanded more complete group improvisation than displayed in Coleman's music, and often featured no particular soloist. Instead of the steady pulse of Ornette's drummer and bass player, Harriott's model demanded constant dialogue between musicians, which created an ever-shifting soundscape. Tempo, key and meter always free to alter in this music, and often did so. The presence of pianist Pat Smythe also gave the band a completely different texture to Coleman's, which by then had dispensed with the need for a pianist.  


Joe Harriott Quintet ~ Indo-Jazz Suite 
reel-to-reel tape box back
photo by Styrous®


His line-up consisted of Shake Keane (trumpet, flugelhorn), Pat Smythe (piano), Coleridge Goode (bass) and Bobby Orr (drums). The legendary Frank Holder also toured with Harriott and contributed to recording projects over this period. He recorded three albums during this period. The quintet effectively broke up when Shake Keane moved to Germany in 1965. From this point onwards, Harriott worked freelance.


Joe Harriott Quintet ~ Indo-Jazz Suite 
reel-to-reel tape box back detail
detail photo by Styrous®



Review

"Written and directed by John Mayer in 1966, the Indo-Jazz Suite offered the closest ever collaboration and fusion of East and West music. Based on the five-note raga -- or tonic scale that Indian classical music emanates from -- and Western modalism." 

"The band Harriott assembled for this album included pianist Pat Smythe, bassist Coleridge Goode, and drummer Allan Ganley -- as well as trumpeter Kenny Wheeler, flutist Chris Taylor, Diwan Mothar on sitar, Chandrahas Paiganka on tamboura, Keshan Sathe on tabla, with Mayer playing violin and Harriott alto sax. Of the four pieces, the "Overture" and "Contrasts" are rooted in blues and swing, though they move from one set of ascending and descending notes to the other, always ending on the tonic, and involve more than the five, six, or seven notes of Indian classical music, while the latter two -- "Raga Megha" and "Raga Gaud-Saranga" -- are out to lunch in the Western musical sensibility and throw all notions of Western harmony out the window."  

- Thom Jurek review on AllMusic (link below)




Joe Harriott Quintet ~ Indo-Jazz Suite 
reel-to-reel tape box back detail
detail photo by Styrous®


Joe Harriott died of cancer on January 2, 1973, and is buried in Bitterne churchyard, in Southampton. On his gravestone, his own oft-quoted words provide his epitaph: "Parker? There's them over here can play a few aces too." 



Joe Harriott Quintet ~ Indo-Jazz Suite 
reel-to-reel tape box spine
photo by Styrous®

Joe Harriott Quintet ~ Indo-Jazz Suite 
reel-to-reel tape box spine details
detail photos by Styrous®






Joe Harriott Quintet ~ Indo-Jazz Suite 
reel-to-reel tape
photo by Styrous®




Joe Harriott Quintet ~ Indo-Jazz Suite 
reel-to-reel tape label detail
detail photo by Styrous®



Tracklist:

Side 1:

A1     Overture     8:03
A2     Contrasts     9:28

Side 2:

B1     Raga Megha     8:30
B2     Raga Gaud-Saranga     9:10

Companies, etc.:

    Manufactured By – Rhino Records (2)
    Distributed By – Scorpio Music, Inc.
 
Credits:

    Alto Saxophone – Joe Harriott  
    Bass – Coleridge Goode   
    Drums – Alan Ganley*   
    Flute – Chris Taylor (5)   
    Piano – Pat Smythe     
    Sitar – Diwan Motihar   
    Tabla – Keshav Sathe   
    Tambura – Chandrahas Paigankar  
    Trumpet – Kenny Wheeler   
    Violin, Harpsichord – John Mayer (2)   
    Supervised By – Denis Preston  
    Written-By – John Mayer (2)    
    Engineer – Adrian Kerridge     
    Liner Notes – Charles Fox (3)    
    Design [Album Design] – Marvin Israel 
    Photography By – Michael Joseph (4)  

Atlantic ‎– ALC 1465   
Format: reel-to-reel
Country: US  


Indo Jazz Suite review by Thom Jurek on AllMusic 
   



The Joe Harriott Quintet ~ Indo-Jazz Suite, reel-to-reel tape, was for sale on eBay 
  

Other reel-to-reel tapes now for sale on eBay  



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