Joel Harrison - Anthem of Unity

Styles: Guitar Jazz
Year: 2023
Time: 50:22
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Size: 116,3 MB
Art: Front

(8:16) 1. Anthem Of Unity
(4:35) 2. Survival Instinct
(5:30) 3. The Times They Are A-changin'
(5:08) 4. Today Is Tomorrow's Yesterday
(7:55) 5. Doxy
(4:21) 6. Migratory Birds
(8:31) 7. Parvati
(6:03) 8. Mohawk Valley Peace Dance

American guitarist/composer Joel Harrison showcases the pragmatic eclecticism that characterizes his music on Anthem of Unity, his 25th album as a leader. The disc features phenomenal rhythmic pulsations engendered by legendary drummer Jack DeJohnette, the adventurous melodicism of saxophonist Greg Tardy, and the extra harmonic color of organist Gary Versace, who, together with Harrison, creates colorful groove-centered tapestries.

Inspired by the influential late guitarist Mick Goodrick, the title track opens the album as an enjoyable concoction of funk, rock and Americana. The anthemic theme reveals a mild temperament but the solos by Tardy and Harrison are pure fire. In a similar tone but with a more incisive post-bop attack, “Survival Instinct” features another otherworldly tenor statement and the excellent underpinning of DeJohnette, who assures that his drum fills shine with a special energy.

Only two of the eight tracks that compose this work weren’t penned by Harrison, namely, “The Times Are A-Changin’” and “Doxy”, by Bob Dylan and Sonny Rollins, respectively. The former, a protest folk tune, waltzes smoothly with jazzy colors; the latter, served with jazz and funk ingredients at the base, boasts its heavenly melody with transparency and a laid-back groovy feel.

“Migratory Birds” develops in five and at some point places a heart-reaching flute at the center in unison with guitar, whereas “Today is Tomorrow’s Yesterday” swings energetically with casual post-bop fling. Before bringing the album to a close with “Mohawk Valley Peace Dance”, a blues rock incursion with a saucy wah-wah guitar solo on top of a dub substratum, Harrison offers “Parvati”, a rousing fusion with a great melodic theme, chromatic shifts, and a drum intro that’s quite interesting to hear.

Versatility abounds in a record that, not reaching the levels of America at War (Sunnyside, 2020), consistently satisfies. https://jazztrail.net/blog/joel-harrison-anthem-of-unity-album-review

Personnel: Joel Harrison: guitar; Greg Tardy: tenor saxophone, flute; Gary Versace: Hammond B-3 organ, piano; Jack DeJohnette: drums.

Anthem of Unity

---

Joel Harrison & Anupam Shobhakar, Multiplicity - Leave The Door Open

Styles: Guitar Jazz
Year: 2014
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 59:09
Size: 136,6 MB
Art: Front

( 9:50)  1. The Translator
( 7:04)  2. Leave The Door Open
( 8:06)  3. Madhuvanti
(11:27)  4. Mulitplicity
( 6:20)  5. Spoonful
( 3:19)  6. Kemne Avul
( 3:24)  7. Turning World
( 3:48)  8. Devil Mountain Blues
( 5:46)  9. Deep River

If but a single word must describe guitarist/composer Joel Harrison it's restless; one look at his discography, from his "breakthrough" Free Country (ACT, 2003) to the 19-piece big band of Infinite Possibility (Sunnyside, 2013) and it's clear that this Guggenheim Fellowship Award winner isn't content in any one place for long. Leave the Door Open may be his first album of 2014 and yet another departure, this time exploring an improv-heavy kind of world music sourced from the East and West in collaboration with Indian sarodemaster Anupam Shobhakar but there's another album on the horizon that focuses on Harrison the guitarist (Mother Stump, coming on Cuneiform in May), and yet another already in the can, equally different, and looking for a label.  Harrison's work is always collaborative, but other than covering classic songs from the past, more often than not the guitarist is the sole composer. Leave the Door Open is, then, another anomaly in a career filled with them: a recording that splits compositional duties with Shobhakar in a group called Multiplicity, in addition to bringing in some unique interpretations of an old blues standard, one rearranged piece each from the American and Indian traditions, and a collaborative composition from the two leaders. It's a heady brew that doesn't so much find a meeting point where East and West meet as it does blow the door open between the two, allowing the music to seamlessly ebb and flow from and towards both sides, creating something that's the sum total of both but equally reverent to their individual touchstones.

As ever, Harrison's choice of band mates is astute: the ever versatile keyboardist Gary Versace brings harmonic abstraction and rich color, few able to touch his ability to get past the Hammond organ's soul-drenched jazz tradition and employ it in a more purely textural fashion adaptable to any context; bassist Hans Glawischnig's associations may, more often, be better known than he is, but whether playing in trio with Donny McCaslin or exploring Puerto Rican plena music with Miguel Zenon, he's proven a flexible and creative anchor; drummer/tablaist Dan Weiss may be the most intrinsically suited, having studied Indian music extensively, migrating a traditional tabla solo to drum kit on Tintal Drum set Solo (Chhandayan, 2005). Guests include saxophonist David Binney, who elevates Harrison's opening epic "The Translator" with a solo that picks up where Versace's combination of virtuosity and thematic construction leaves off, shooting it into the stratosphere as the pianist, Glawischnig and Weiss provide the extra boost. But Multiplicity really belongs to Harrison and Shobhakar, whether exploring the meshing of Shobhakar's microtonally capable sarode with electric guitar (Harrison's dark-hued title track); turning to Eastern linearity (Shobhakar's "Mudhuvanti"), the composer's solo building to a whirling dervish of a climax only to later engage in an incendiary, set-defining duet with Weiss; or re-harmonizing bluesman Willie Dixon's classic "Spoonful" into a lyrical ballad where Shobhakar's viscerally bent notes blend seamlessly with Harrison's National steel guitar slide.  With Harrison and Shobhakar's stylistic confluence, intuitive interpretive skills and compelling compositional abilities, Leave the Door Open is a Harrison project that, hopefully, won't be a one-time affair. ~ John Kelman https://www.allaboutjazz.com/leave-the-door-open-joel-harrison-whirlwind-recordings-ltd-review-by-john-kelman.php
 

Personnel: Joel Harrison: electric, National steel, acoustic and baritone guitars; Anupam Shobhakar: sarode; Gary Versace: piano, Hammond B-3organ, accordion; Hans Glawischnig: acoustic and electric bass; Dan Weiss: drums, tabla; David Binney: alto saxophone (1, 3); Todd Isler: percussion (6, 8); Bonnie Chakraborty: voice (6); Chandrashekar Vase: voice (4).

Leave The Door Open

---

Joel Harrison - Urban Myths

Styles: Guitar Jazz
Year: 2009
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 55:38
Size: 128,9 MB
Art: Front

( 6:35)  1. You Must Go Through a Winter
( 6:06)  2. 125 and Lenox
(11:18)  3. Mood Rodeo
( 7:58)  4. Last Waltz for Queva
( 6:19)  5. Straight No Chaser Variatioons
( 8:44)  6. Between the Traveler and the Setting Sun
( 5:00)  7. Urban Myths
( 3:35)  8. High Expectation Low Return

With a string of outstanding records that began with his personal look at the music of George Harrison on Harrison on Harrison (HighNote, 2005), continued with an all-original pairing with guitarist Nguyen Le on Harbor (HighNote, 2007) and culminated with the ambitious The Wheel (Innova, 2008), guitarist Joel Harrison has, over the last few years, been setting an increasingly high bar both compositionally and as a player.Most remarkable is that he's managed, each time, to reach that bar and, in many cases, surpass it. Urban Myths may be an homage of sorts, but it still possesses his personal imprint, avoiding the retro feel of so many others of its kind. Instead, this largely original tribute to electric music of the mid-to-late '70s from legends including Joe Zawinul, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter and John McLaughlin is as modern as they come, while still unmistakably referencing the music that Harrison grew up with back in the day.

Urban Myths has grooves aplenty, but they're couched in the kind of episodic writing that's been an increasing Harrison trademark, turning what is largely an impressive blowing session for friends including altoist David Binney and über-violinist Christian Howes into a series of intriguing compositions that transcend mere heads or vamp-based jams. What traces of Harrison's influences exist are so subsumed in his expansive approach to writing that they're more elemental than direct. Not unlike Binney, Harrison finds new ways to couch his roots in complex structures, as on the fiery "You Must Go Through a Winter," where Howes' fervent solo is supported by the relentless energy of bassist Stephan Crump and drummer Jordan Person. The groove gets darker and greasier on "125 and Lenox," with a staggered melody that concurrently references Shorter and, during Daniel Kelly's Rhodes solo, Headhunters-era Hancock though the rhythm section's open-ended approach is like nothing either artist did in the day. "Mood Rodeo" finds an odd nexus between mid-'70s Miles Davis and Jean-Luc Ponty's irregular metered fusion again, despite sounding like neither of these players, with writing of far greater compositional weight. "Last Waltz for Queva" may be a countrified ballad, but its innate lyricism goes beyond western roots with a melody that's sophisticated yet simple; a tad oblique, but equally memorable and singing.

Harrison delivers some of his best solos to date. His blues-drenched Telecaster on "Last Waltz" navigates its gospel-inflections with deep feeling, while his massively overdriven solo on "125 and Lenox" is the definition of reckless abandon; a visceral foil for solos throughout from Binney and Howes that match Harrison's unbridled passion and clear invention. Urban Myths may appear, on the surface, less challenging than Harbor or The Wheel, but Harrison nevertheless manages to create a more contemporary tribute to decade-old music more often aimed at lengthy soloing. Skewed as only Harrison can, Urban Myths is an homage with a difference, and continues to assert his growing reputation as a writer and performer of great significance. ~ John Kelman https://www.allaboutjazz.com/urban-myths-joel-harrison-highnote-records-review-by-john-kelman.php
 

Personnel: Joel Harrison: guitar; David Binney: alto saxophone; Christian Howes: violin; Daniel Kelly: keyboards; Stephan Crump: acoustic bass; Jordan Person: drums; Fima Ephron: electric bass (2, 8); Ambrose Akinmusire: trumpet (4, 5, 7); Corey King: trombone (4, 5, 7); Jerome Sabbag: tenor saxophone (4, 5).

Urban Myths

---

Joel Harrison - 3 + 3 = 7

Styles: Guitar Jazz 

Year: 1996

File: MP3@320K/s

Time: 55:52

Size: 128,7 MB

Art: Front

(5:19)  1. Ratrace

(2:32)  2. Protest

(6:10)  3. Kali

(7:12)  4. Seven Angels

(4:21)  5. Broderick Crawford's Throat

(7:37)  6. Lovingkindness

(9:44)  7. Someday Earth (For Don Cherry)

(5:14)  8. Child's Dream

(4:25)  9. Cold Day In New York

(3:16) 10. Skin Frontier

San Francisco's guitarist Joel Harrison debuted with the ambitious 3+3=7 (1996) for three guitars and three percussionists, but then wasted his talent on the brief vignettes of Range of Motion (1997) and the confused hodgepodge of Transience (2001).  After relocating to New York, he continued to alternate off lightweight works such as Free Country (2003), a country-music tribute featuring Norah Jones on vocals, Dave Binney on alto sax, violinist Rob Thomas, pianist Uri Caine, and Tony Cedras on accordion, and its follow-up So Long 2nd Street (2004), not to mention the George Harrison tribute Harrison on Harrison (2005), with important and difficult projects such as the post-fusion Harbor (2007), featuring guitarist Nguyen Le, David Binney, and Jamey Haddad, The Wheel (2008), a six-movement suite for guitar and double quartet (string quartet and jazz quartet),  Passing Train (2008) is a collection of songs. Urban Myths (2009) sounds like a tribute to jazz-rock of the 1970s (including the funky Mood Rodeo). Search (2012), featuring saxophonist Donny McCaslin, pianist Gary Versace, violinist Christian Howes, cellist Dana Leong, bassist Stephan Crump, and drummer Clarence Penn is a mixed bag but it contains two of his high-brow compositions: Grass Valley and Beyond and A Magnificent Death.  Holy Abyss (Cuneiform, 2012) was a collaboration with Italian bassist Lorenzo Feliciati featuring trumpeter Cuong Vu, drummer Dan Weiss and keyboardist Roy Powell. http://www.scaruffi.com/jazz/harrison.html

Personnel:  Scott Amendola (Dumbek, Drums, Sound Effects);  John Schott (Guitar, Guitar (Electric));  Joel Harrison (Guitar, Producer, Guitar (Electric), Arranger);  Garth Powell (Drums, Drums (Bass), Sound Effects, Berimbau, Bird Calls);  John Holmes (Cymbals, Drums, Indian Bells, Telephone Voice, Cajon); Brad Dutz (Chimes, Maracas Mbira, Telephone Voice, Frame Drum, Udu, Cowbell, Djembe, Conga, Sound Effects, Tabla, Timbales, Cymbals);  Steve Cardenas (Guitar, Guitar (Electric));  Alex Cline (Chimes, Cymbals, Gong, Bells, Drums);  Glenn Cronkhite (Chimes, Gourd, Bell Tree, Shaker, Drums, Sound Effects);  John Golden (Mastering).

3 + 3 = 7

---

Joel Harrison 7 - Search

Styles: Guitar Jazz
Year: 2011
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 58:12
Size: 133,3 MB
Art: Front

(11:18)  1. Grass Valley and Beyond
(15:00)  2. A Magnificent Death
( 8:24)  3. All The Previous Pages Are Gone
( 6:24)  4. The Beauty of Failure
( 8:26)  5. Whipping Post
( 6:19)  6. O Sacrum Convivium
( 2:18)  7. Search

For over a decade, Joel Harrison has been steadily expanding his palette as a composer, although his penchant for unorthodox instrumental combinations and multicultural folk forms encompass only one facet of his inclusive aesthetic. Harrison's most recent efforts have borrowed heavily from Western neo-classical tenets; The Wheel (Innova, 2008) included an expansive five movement suite for jazz quintet and string quartet, while The Music of Paul Motian (Sunnyside, 2011) featured stately arrangements performed by two electric guitarists and a traditional string quartet. Search contains some of Harrison's most seamlessly integrated writing for disparate forces to date. Supported by an archetypal jazz rhythm section, comprised of pianist Gary Versace, bassist Stephan Crump and drummer Clarence Penn, Harrison is joined by tenor saxophonist Donny McCaslin and two string players: violinist Christian Howes and cellist Dana Leong, who have both collaborated with the guitarist in similar contexts before.

The septet's broad instrumental palette lends the album a wide dynamic range that keenly exploits Harrison's versatile gifts as a composer; he solos infrequently however, allowing his sidemen ample opportunity to express themselves. Harrison's harmonious contrapuntal themes underscore the bulk of the record, as typified on the panoramic opener, "Grass Valley and Beyond," where Versace's prismatic cadences and McCaslin's intervallic salvos paint a vibrant aural canvas; the saxophonist's dramatic altissimo crescendos and multiphonic flourishes punctuate the proceedings like rich impasto accents. Howes and McCaslin engage in spirited interplay with the cagey rhythm section on the capricious swinger "All the Previous Pages Are Gone," while "A Magnificent Death" and "The Beauty of Failure" exhibit a range of classicist tendencies; the former ascends from hypnotic minimalist motifs to a rapturous climax, the later weaves lyrical thematic variations into a romantic coda. 

The session concludes with two unrelated, but unexpectedly complementary covers: a vivacious reading of Allman Brothers Band's "Whipping Post" and a sublime interpretation of Olivier Messiaen's "O Sacrum Convivum." The classic rock staple is given respectful treatment, but surprisingly, it's Leong's sinuous cello that drives the bluesy number, bolstered by Penn's pugilistic drumming. Conversely, Harrison's introspective fretwork accentuates the mystical ethereality of Messiaen's recast choral motet, setting the stage for the titular closer, a fugue-like postlude for solo piano that incisively encapsulates the date's multifaceted approach reconfirming Harrison's sophisticated compositional acumen in the process. ~ Troy Collins  https://www.allaboutjazz.com/search-joel-harrison-sunnyside-records-review-by-troy-collins.php
 

Personnel: Joel Harrison: guitar; Donny McCaslin: tenor saxophone; Gary Versace: piano, Hammond B-3; Christian Howes: violin; Dana Leong: cello; Stephan Crump: bass; Clarence Penn: drums.

Search

---