Eddie Harris (October 20, 1934 – November 5, 1996) was an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

musician, best known for playing

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (whi ...

and for introducing the electrically amplified saxophone. He was also fluent on the

electric piano An electric piano is a musical instrument that has a piano-style musical keyboard, where sound is produced by means of mechanical hammers striking metal strings or reeds or wire tines, which leads to vibrations which are then converted into ele ...

and organ. His best-known compositions are "Freedom Jazz Dance", popularized by

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th century music, 20th-century music. Davis ado ...

in 1966, and "Listen Here".

Biography

Harris was born and grew up in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. His father was from

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

and his mother from Mississippi. He studied music under Walter Dyett at DuSable High School, as had many other successful Chicago musicians (including

Nat King Cole Nathaniel Adams Coles (March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965), known professionally as Nat King Cole, alternatively billed as Nat "King" Cole, was an American singer, jazz pianist, and actor. Cole's career as a jazz and Traditional pop, pop ...

Clifford Jordan Clifford Laconia Jordan (September 2, 1931 – March 27, 1993) was an American jazz tenor saxophone player and composer. Originally from Chicago, Jordan later moved to New York City, where he recorded extensively in addition to touring across ...

Johnny Griffin John Arnold Griffin III (April 24, 1928 – July 25, 2008) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. Nicknamed "the Little Giant" for his short stature and forceful playing, Griffin's career began in the mid-1940s and continued until the month of ...

Gene Ammons Eugene "Jug" Ammons (April 14, 1925 – August 6, 1974), also known as "The Boss", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. The son of boogie-woogie pianist Albert Ammons, Gene Ammons is remembered for his accessible music, steeped in soul and R ...

Julian Priester Julian Priester (born June 29, 1935) is an American jazz trombonist and occasional euphoniumist. He is sometimes credited "Julian Priester Pepo Mtoto". He has played with Sun Ra, Max Roach, Duke Ellington, John Coltrane, and Herbie Hancock. Biog ...

, and others). He later studied music at

Roosevelt University Roosevelt University is a private university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1945, the university was named in honor of United States President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. The university enrolls arou ...

; by that time he was proficient on piano,

vibraphone The vibraphone (also called the vibraharp) is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using Percussion mallet, mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone ...

, and tenor saxophone. While in college he performed professionally with

. After college, Harris was drafted into the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

and while serving in Europe, he was accepted into the 7th Army Band which also included

Don Ellis Donald Johnson Ellis (July 25, 1934 – December 17, 1978) was an American jazz trumpeter, drummer, composer, and bandleader. He is best known for his extensive musical experimentation, particularly in the area of time signatures. Later in his ...

, Leo Wright, and

Cedar Walton Cedar Anthony Walton Jr. (January 17, 1934 – August 19, 2013) was an American hard bop jazz pianist. He came to prominence as a member of drummer Art Blakey's band, The Jazz Messengers, before establishing a long career as a bandleader and c ...

. Leaving military service, Harris worked in New York City before returning to Chicago where he signed a contract with Vee Jay Records. His first album for Vee Jay, '' Exodus to Jazz'', included his own jazz arrangement of Ernest Gold's theme from the movie '' Exodus''. A shortened version of the track, which featured his playing in the upper register of the tenor saxophone, was heavily played on radio and became the first jazz record ever to be certified gold. The single, "Exodus", climbed into the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and reached No. 16 in the U.S. R&B

chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphics, graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can repres ...

. He moved to

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

in 1964 and then to

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

the following year where he re-established himself. In 1965, Atlantic released '' The In Sound'', a bop album which won back many of his detractors. During the next few years, he began to perform on

and the electric Varitone saxophone, and to perform a mixture of jazz and

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

that sold well in both the jazz and

rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated within African American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predomina ...

markets. In 1967, his album '' The Electrifying Eddie Harris'' reached second place on the R&B chart. The album's second track, "Listen Here", was issued as a single climbing to No. 11 R&B and No. 45 on the Hot 100. Harris released several different versions of his composition over the years, including both studio and live concert recordings. The first appeared on an early Atlantic album, ''Mean Greens'', featuring him on electric piano. He was to re-work the track two years later, stretching it out to over seven minutes in length, for his hit version on which he played saxophone. The entire track appeared on both sides of the Atlantic hit single and edited into two parts. For the 11th Annual Grammy Awards in 1968, Harris was nominated for the Best Instrumental Jazz Performance for Small Group or Soloist with Small Group for the Album – '' The Electrifying Eddie Harris''. In 1969, he performed with pianist and vocalist Les McCann at the

Montreux Jazz Festival The Montreux Jazz Festival (formerly Festival de Jazz Montreux and Festival International de Jazz Montreux) is a music festival in Switzerland, held annually in early July in Montreux on the Lake Geneva shoreline. It is the second-largest annu ...

. Although the musicians had been unable to rehearse, their session was so successful that a recording of it was released by Atlantic as '' Swiss Movement''. This became one of the best-selling jazz albums ever and was nominated during the 13th Annual Grammy Awards (1970) for the Best Jazz Performance – Small Group or Soloist with Small Group. Harris also came up with the idea of the reed trumpet, playing one for the first time at the 1970

Newport Jazz Festival The Newport Jazz Festival is an annual American multi-day jazz music festival held every summer in Newport, Rhode Island. Elaine Lorillard established the festival in 1954, and she and husband Louis Lorillard financed it for many years. They hire ...

. He moved from Chicago to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

in the 1970s. From 1970 to 1975, he experimented with new instruments of his own invention (the reed trumpet was a trumpet with a saxophone mouthpiece, the was a saxophone with a trombone mouthpiece, and the guitorgan was a combination of guitar and organ), with singing the

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

, with

jazz-rock Jazz fusion (also known as jazz rock, jazz-rock fusion, or simply fusion) is a popular music Music genre, genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and jazz improvisation, improvisation with rock music, funk, a ...

(he recorded an album with

Steve Winwood Stephen Lawrence Winwood (born 12 May 1948) is an English musician and songwriter whose genres include blue-eyed soul, rhythm and blues, blues rock, and pop rock. Though primarily a guitarist, keyboard player, and vocalist prominent for his dis ...

Jeff Beck Geoffrey Arnold Beck (24 June 1944 – 10 January 2023) was an English musician. He rose to prominence as the guitarist of the rock band the Yardbirds, and afterwards founded and fronted the Jeff Beck Group and Beck, Bogert & Appice. In 1975, ...

Albert Lee Albert William Lee (born 21 December 1943) is an English guitarist known for his fingerstyle and hybrid picking technique. Lee has worked, both in the studio and on tour, with many famous musicians from a wide range of genres. He has also m ...

, Ric Grech,

Zoot Money George Bruno "Zoot" Money (17 July 1942 – 8 September 2024) was an English vocalist, keyboardist and bandleader. He was best known for playing the Hammond organ and for his leadership of the Big Roll Band. Inspired by Jerry Lee Lewis and Ra ...

, Ian Paice and other rockers). He also started singing comic R&B/blues songs, such as "That is Why You're Overweight" and "Eddie Who?". In 1975, however, he alienated some of his audience with his album ''

The Reason Why I'm Talking S--t ''The Reason Why I'm Talking S—t'' is an album by American jazz saxophonist Eddie Harris recorded in 1975 and released on the Atlantic label.

'', which consisted mainly of comedy. After recording for Atlantic for over 12 years, Harris left the record company after completing his final album for the label in 1977. He then signed with RCA Records and recorded two albums. Harris died of congestive heart failure in Los Angeles on November 5, 1996, at the age of 62.

Discography

As leader

*1961: '' Exodus to Jazz'' ( Vee-Jay) *1961: '' Mighty Like a Rose'' (Vee-Jay) *1961: '' Jazz for "Breakfast at Tiffany's"'' (Vee-Jay) *1962: '' A Study in Jazz'' (Vee-Jay) *1962: '' Eddie Harris Goes to the Movies'' (Vee-Jay) *1963: '' Bossa Nova'' (Vee-Jay) *1963: ''Half and Half'' (Vee-Jay) *1964: '' For Bird and Bags'' ( Exodus) also released as ''Sculpture'' ( Buddah) *1964: '' Cool Sax, Warm Heart'' ( Columbia) *1964: '' Here Comes the Judge'' (Columbia) *1965: '' Cool Sax from Hollywood to Broadway'' (Columbia) *1965: '' The In Sound'' (

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

) *1966: '' Mean Greens'' (Atlantic) *1967: '' The Tender Storm'' (Atlantic) *1968: '' The Electrifying Eddie Harris'' (Atlantic) *1968: '' Plug Me In'' (Atlantic) *1968: '' Pourquoi L'Amérique'' (Disc'Az) soundtrack *1968: ''

Silver Cycles ''Silver Cycles'' is an album by American jazz saxophonist Eddie Harris recorded in 1968 and released on the Atlantic Records, Atlantic label.

'' (Atlantic) *1969: ''

High Voltage High voltage electricity refers to electrical potential large enough to cause injury or damage. In certain industries, ''high voltage'' refers to voltage above a certain threshold. Equipment and conductors that carry high voltage warrant sp ...

'' ive(Atlantic) *1969: '' Swiss Movement'' (Atlantic) with Les McCann *1969: ''Sculpture'' ( Buddah) previously released as '' For Bird and Bags'' ( Exodus) *1969: ''

Free Speech Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recognise ...

'' (Atlantic) *1970: '' Come on Down!'' (Atlantic) *1970: '' Live at Newport'' (Atlantic) *1970: '' Smokin''' (

Janus In ancient Roman religion and myth, Janus ( ; ) is the god of beginnings, gates, transitions, time, duality, doorways, passages, frames, and endings. He is usually depicted as having two faces. The month of January is named for Janus (''Ianu ...

) *1971: ''

Second Movement ''Second Movement'' is an album by American jazz saxophonist Eddie Harris and pianist/vocalist Les McCann recorded in 1971 and released on the Atlantic Records, Atlantic label.

'' (Atlantic) with Les McCann *1971: '' Instant Death'' (Atlantic) *1972: '' Eddie Harris Sings the Blues'' (Atlantic) *1973: '' Excursions'' (Atlantic) *1974: '' E.H. in the U.K.'' (Atlantic) *1974: '' Is It In'' (Atlantic) *1974: '' I Need Some Money'' (Atlantic) *1975: ''

Bad Luck Is All I Have ''Bad Luck Is All I Have'' is an album by American jazz saxophonist Eddie Harris recorded in 1974 and 1975 and released on the Atlantic Records, Atlantic label.

'' (Atlantic) *1975: ''

That Is Why You're Overweight ''That Is Why You're Overweight'' is an album by American jazz saxophonist Eddie Harris recorded in 1975 and released on the Atlantic label.

'' (Atlantic) *1975: ''

The Reason Why I'm Talking S--t ''The Reason Why I'm Talking S—t'' is an album by American jazz saxophonist Eddie Harris recorded in 1975 and released on the Atlantic label.

'' (Atlantic) *1976: '' How Can You Live Like That?'' (Atlantic) *1978: '' I'm Tired of Driving'' (

RCA RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded in 1919 as the Radio Corporation of America. It was initially a patent pool, patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Westinghou ...

) *1979: '' Playin' with Myself'' (RCA) *1980: '' Sounds Incredible'' (Angelaco) *1981: ''The Versatile Eddie Harris (Featuring Don Ellis)'' (Atlantic) recorded 1977 *1981: '' Steps Up'' ( SteepleChase) *1982: '' The Real Electrifying Eddie Harris'' (Mutt & Jeff) *1983: ''Exploration'' (

Chiaroscuro In art, chiaroscuro ( , ; ) is the use of strong contrasts between light and dark, usually bold contrasts affecting a whole composition. It is also a technical term used by artists and art historians for the use of contrasts of light to ach ...

) *1986: ''Eddie Who?'' ( Timeless) *1987: ''People Get Funny'' (Timeless) *1989: ''Live in Berlin'' (Timeless) *1990: ''Live at the Moonwalker'' (Moonwalker Label) *1991: ''A Tale of Two Cities'' ive(Night/

Virgin Virginity is a social construct that denotes the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. As it is not an objective term with an operational definition, social definitions of what constitutes virginity, or the lack thereof ...

) recorded 1978 and 1983 *1991: ''There Was a Time – Echo of Harlem'' ( Enja) *1993: ''For You, For Me, For Evermore'' ( SteepleChase) *1993: ''Yeah You Right'' (Lakeside) *1993: ''Listen Here'' (Enja) *1993: ''Artist's Choice: The Eddie Harris Anthology'' (

Rhino A rhinoceros ( ; ; ; : rhinoceros or rhinoceroses), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant taxon, extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates (perissodactyls) in the family (biology), famil ...

) 2-CD *1994: ''Freedom Jazz Dance'' (Musicmasters/BMG) *1994: ''Vexatious Progressions'' (Flying Heart) *1994: ''The Battle of the Tenors'' (Enja) with Wendell Harrison *1996: ''Dancing by a Rainbow'' (Enja) *1996: ''All The Way Live'' (

Milestone A milestone is a numbered marker placed on a route such as a road, railway, railway line, canal or border, boundary. They can indicate the distance to towns, cities, and other places or landmarks like Mileage sign, mileage signs; or they c ...

) with Jimmy Smith; recorded 1981 *1997: ''The Last Concert'' (ACT) *2005: ''Exodus: The Best of the Vee-Jay Years'' ( Charly) *2017: ''Live: Las Vegas 1985'' (Hi-Hat)

As sideman

With Buddy Montgomery *'' Ties of Love'' (Landmark, 1987) With

Bernard Purdie Bernard Lee "Pretty" Purdie (born June 11, 1939) is an American drummer, and an influential R&B, soul, funk and jazz musician. He is known for his precise time-keeping and his signature use of Tuplet, triplets against a half-time backbeat: the P ...

*''Bernard Purdie's Soul to Jazz'' (ACT, 1996) With

*'' Beyond Mobius'' (RCA, 1976)"Cedar Walton Catalog"
JazzDisco.org. With Ellis Marsalis, Jr. *''Homecoming'' (Spindletop, 1985)Nastos, Michael G.
"Homecoming"
AllMusic review. With Horace Parlan *'' Glad I Found You'' (Steeplechase, 1986) With

Horace Silver Horace Ward Martin Tavares Silver (September 2, 1928 – June 18, 2014) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger, particularly in the hard bop style that he helped pioneer in the 1950s. After playing tenor saxophone and piano at sch ...

*'' Spiritualizing the Senses'' (Silveto, 1983) *'' There's No Need to Struggle'' (Silveto, 1983) With

John Scofield John Scofield (born December 26, 1951) is an American guitarist and composer. His music over a long career has blended jazz, jazz fusion, funk, blues, soul and rock. He first came to mainstream attention as part of the band of Miles Davis; he ...

*'' Hand Jive'' (

Blue Note Blue Note Records is an American jazz record label now owned by Universal Music Group and operated under Capitol Music Group. Established in 1939 by German-Jewish emigrants Alfred Lion and Max Margulis, it derived its name from the blue no ...

, 1994)

References

External links

*
Eddie Harris Illustrated Discography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Eddie 1934 births 1996 deaths 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century American saxophonists ACT Music artists African-American jazz musicians American jazz tenor saxophonists American male jazz musicians Enja Records artists Hard bop saxophonists Jazz fusion saxophonists Jazz-funk saxophonists Mainstream jazz saxophonists Jazz musicians from Chicago Roosevelt University alumni Soul-jazz saxophonists SteepleChase Records artists Timeless Records artists Ubiquity Records artists United States Army Band musicians Vee-Jay Records artists