The Best Of Eddie Harris Merrill WI

The Best Of Eddie Harris

Eddie Harris

Atlantic Records, 1989

REVIEW BY: Jason Warburg

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 03/10/2004

Quick, name the artist who issued the first jazz album evercertified gold.

Miles Davis would be a good guess; so would a half-dozen otherjazz greats of the late '50s-early '60s era. The answer, however,is Eddie Harris.

The success of Harris's debut album, 1961's Exodus To Jazz, was considered an amazing fluke at the time;Harris was a complete unknown making his debut album for an r&blabel, not to mention the fact that they signed him as pianist, yethe played nothing but tenor sax on the album.

That was the first big clue that Eddie Harris was not going toplay the music industry's "fulfilling expectations" game. Harris isa musical chameleon who explored the outer reaches of hisaudience's ability to adapt in a 35-year career that veered fromstraight bop to electric jazz to jazz-funk and even a stab at asomewhat raunchy nightclub comedy act. That said, during the '60s,he was one of the most melodic, inventive sax players on the scene,and this 1969 collection -- whose 1989 CD version adds a generousfive tracks and 25 minutes to the original LP -- is all theevidence required.