Gene Harris (born Eugene Haire, September 1, 1933 – January 16, 2000) 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, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

pianist known for his warm sound and

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

and

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

infused style that is known as

soul jazz Soul jazz or funky jazz is a subgenre of jazz that incorporates strong influences from hard bop, blues, soul, gospel and rhythm and blues. Soul jazz is often characterized by organ trios featuring the Hammond organ and small combos including ten ...

. From 1956 to 1970, he played in

The Three Sounds The Three Sounds (also known as The 3 Sounds) were an American jazz piano trio that formed in 1956 and disbanded in 1973. The band formed in Benton Harbor, Michigan, United States, as the Four Sounds. The original line-up consisted of Gene Harri ...

trio with bassist

Andy Simpkins Andrew Simpkins (April 29, 1932 – June 2, 1999) was an American jazz bassist. Born in Richmond, Indiana, he first became known as a member of the group The Three Sounds, with which he performed from 1956 to 1968.allmusic biography/ref> After ...

and drummer

Bill Dowdy Bill Dowdy (August 15, 1932 – May 12, 2017) was an American jazz musician and teacher. He was the drummer with the jazz trio, The Three Sounds. The Three Sounds recorded over ten jazz albums from the 1950s through the early 1970s and played ...

. During this time, The Three Sounds recorded regularly for

Blue Note In jazz and blues, a blue note is a note that—for expressive purposes—is sung or played at a slightly different pitch from standard. Typically the alteration is between a quartertone and a semitone, but this varies depending on the musical co ...

and

Verve Verve may refer to: Music * The Verve, an English rock band * ''The Verve E.P.'', a 1992 EP by The Verve * ''Verve'' (R. Stevie Moore album) * Verve Records, an American jazz record label Businesses * Verve Coffee Roasters, an American coffee ho ...

. He mostly retired to Boise, starting in the late 1970s, although he performed regularly at the Idanha Hotel there. Ray Brown convinced him to go back on tour in the early 1980s. He played with the Ray Brown Trio and then led his own groups, recording mostly on

Concord Records Concord Records is an American record label owned by Concord and based in Los Angeles, California. Concord Records was launched in 1995 as an imprint designed to reach beyond the company's foundational Concord Jazz label. The label's artists have ...

, until his death from kidney failure in 2000. One of his most popular numbers was his "

Battle Hymn of the Republic The "Battle Hymn of the Republic", also known as "Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory" or "Glory, Glory Hallelujah" outside of the United States, is a popular American patriotic song written by the abolitionist writer Julia Ward Howe. Howe wrote her l ...

," a live version of which is on his ''Live at Otter Crest'' album, published by Concord. The singer and actress

Niki Haris Niki Haris (born April 17, 1962) is an American singer and dancer of pop, R&B, dance music and jazz, perhaps best known for having been one of Madonna's backing vocalists from 1987 to 2001, and as being the guest lead vocalist on various Snap! s ...

is his daughter.

Discography

As leader

As sideman

* '' Branching Out'' (with

Nat Adderley Nathaniel Carlyle Adderley (November 25, 1931 – January 2, 2000) was an American jazz trumpeter. He was the younger brother of saxophonist Julian "Cannonball" Adderley, whom he supported and played with for many years. Adderley's composition " ...

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 ...

) (1958,

Riverside Riverside may refer to: Places Australia * Riverside, Tasmania, a suburb of Launceston, Tasmania Canada * Riverside (electoral district), in the Yukon * Riverside, Calgary, a neighbourhood in Alberta * Riverside, Manitoba, a former rural m ...

) * ''

A Double Dose of Soul ''A Double Dose of Soul'' is the second album by saxophonist/flautist James Clay featuring performances recorded in 1960 and originally released on the Riverside label.

'' (with James Clay,

) (1960, Riverside) * ''Organ-izing'' (with

Melvin Rhyne Melvin Rhyne (October 12, 1936 – March 5, 2013), was a jazz organist best known for his work with Wes Montgomery. Biography Melvin Rhyne was born in Indianapolis in 1936 and started playing the piano shortly after. At 19 years old, Rhyne s ...

) (1960, Jazzland) * ''Blue Note Live at The Roxy'' (with the Blue Note All-Stars) (1976, Blue Note) * '' 'S Wonderful: Concord Jazz Salutes Ira Gershwin'' (with various artists) (1979, Concord) * ''Soul Route'' (with

Milt Jackson Milton Jackson (January 1, 1923 – October 9, 1999), nicknamed "Bags", was an American jazz vibraphonist, usually thought of as a bebop player, although he performed in several jazz idioms. He is especially remembered for his cool swinging solo ...

Quartet) (1983,

Pablo Pablo is a Spanish form of the name Paul. People * Pablo Alborán, Spanish singer *Pablo Aimar, Argentine footballer *Pablo Armero, Colombian footballer * Pablo Bartholomew, Indian photojournalist *Pablo Brandán, Argentine footballer * Pablo Bren ...

) * ''When the Sun Goes Down'' (with

Ernestine Anderson Ernestine Anderson (November 11, 1928 – March 10, 2016) was an American jazz and blues singer. In a career spanning more than six decades, she recorded over 30 albums. She was nominated four times for a Grammy Award. She sang at Carnegie Hall, ...

) (1984, Concord) * ''Soular Energy'' (with the Ray Brown Trio) (1984, Concord) * ''Don't Forget the Blues'' (with the Ray Brown All Stars) (1985, Concord) * ''The Red Hot Ray Brown Trio'' (with the Ray Brown Trio) (1985, Concord) recorded live at the 'Blue Note' * '' A Gentleman and His Music'' (with

Benny Carter Bennett Lester Carter (August 8, 1907 – July 12, 2003) was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, trumpeter, composer, arranger, and bandleader. With Johnny Hodges, he was a pioneer on the alto saxophone. From the beginning of his career ...

) (1985, Concord) * ''Love Me Tender'' (with Junko Mine and the Ray Brown Trio) (1986, All Art

apan Apan is a city and one of the 84 municipalities of Hidalgo, in central-eastern Mexico. The municipality covers an area of 346.9 km². Overview As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 39,247. It was an important site in the Wa ...

* ''Summer Wind: Live at The Loa'' (with the Ray Brown Trio) (1988 990 Concord) * ''Bam Bam Bam'' (with the Ray Brown Trio) (1988, Concord) recorded live at the Fujitsu-Concord Jazz Festival * ''The 20th Concord Festival All-Stars'' (with various artists) (1988, Concord) * ''Black Orpheus'' (with the Ray Brown Trio) (1989, Evidence) * ''Mr. Blue'' (with Takashi Ohi and the Ray Brown Trio) (1989,

Denon is a Japanese electronics company started in 1910 by Frederick Whitney Horn, an American entrepreneur. Denon produced the first cylinder audio media in Japan and players to play them. Decades later, Denon was involved in the early stages of de ...

) * ''Moore Makes 4'' (with

Ralph Moore Ralph Moore (born 24 December 1956) is an English jazz saxophonist. Early life Moore was born in Brixton, London, England. His mother was the dancer Josie Woods, and his father was in the US military. He spent his childhood in Brixton, and afte ...

and the Ray Brown Trio) (1990, Concord) * ''At Last'' (Gene Harris/ Scott Hamilton Quintet) (1990, Concord) * ''Live at The Apollo'' (with

B.B. King Riley B. King (September 16, 1925 – May 14, 2015), known professionally as B.B. King, was an American blues singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. He introduced a sophisticated style of soloing based on fluid string bending, shi ...

) (1990, GRP) * ''Concord Jazz Festival: Live 1990'' (with various artists) (1990, Concord) * ''Concord Jazz Festival: Live 1990, Vol. 3'' (with various artists) (1990, Concord) * ''Three Dimensional'' (with the Ray Brown Trio) (1991, Concord) * ''A Concord Jazz Christmas'' (with various artists) (1991, Concord) * ''Georgia on My Mind'' (with the Ray Brown Trio) (1991, All Art

* ''Jazz Celebration: Tribute to Carl Jefferson'' (with various artists) (1992, Concord) * ''Fujitsu-Concord 25th Jazz Festival'' (with various artists) (1993, Concord) * ''Fujitsu-Concord 26th Jazz Festival'' (with various artists) (1994, Concord) * ''I Waited for You'' (with

Mary Stallings Mary Stallings (born August 16, 1939) is an American jazz vocalist and mother of soul singer Adriana Evans. Biography One of eleven children, Mary Stallings was born in San Francisco, California. She grew up in the neighborhood of Laurel Hei ...

) (1994, Concord) * ''Spectrum'' (with

) (1996, Concord) * ''It's the Real Soul'' (with

Frank Wess Frank Wellington Wess (January 4, 1922 – October 30, 2013) was an American jazz saxophonist and flutist. In addition to his extensive solo work, Wess is remembered for his time in Count Basie's band from the early 1950s into the 1960s. Critic ...

(1996, Concord) * ''Down Home Blues'' (with

Jack McDuff Eugene McDuff (September 17, 1926 – January 23, 2001), known professionally as "Brother" Jack McDuff or "Captain" Jack McDuff, was an American jazz organist and organ trio bandleader who was most prominent during the hard bop and soul jazz era ...

) (1997, Concord) * ''Dreaming A Dream'' (with

) (1997, BMG) * ''Just Friends'' (with

Marian McPartland Margaret Marian McPartland OBE ( Turner;Hasson, Claire"Marian McPartland: Jazz Pianist: An Overview of a Career" PhD Thesis. Retrieved 12 August 2008. 20 March 1918 – 20 August 2013), was an English–American jazz pianist, composer, and wri ...

) (1998, Concord)

Compilations

* ''The Best of The Three Sounds'' (with

) (1993, Blue Note) * ''Gene Harris: The Concord Jazz Heritage Series'' (1998, Concord) * ''The Blue Note Years'' (with

) (1999, Blue Note) * ''Gene Harris: The Best of the Concord Years'' (2000, Concord) 2-CD * ''The Complete Blue Hour Sessions'' (

with

Stanley Turrentine Stanley William Turrentine (April 5, 1934 – September 12, 2000) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. He began his career playing R&B for Earl Bostic and later soul jazz recording for the Blue Note label from 1960, touched on jazz fusion dur ...

) (2000, Blue Note) 2-CD * ''Big Band Soul'' (with the Gene Harris Superband) (contains ''Live At Town Hall, N.Y.C.'' + ''World Tour 1990'') (2002, Concord) 2-CD * ''Swingin' the Blues'' (2002, Recall) 2-CD * ''Ballad Essentials'' (2003, Concord) * ''Live From New York To Tokyo'' (with the Ray Brown Trio) (contains ''The Red Hot Ray Brown Trio'' + ''Bam Bam Bam'') (2003, Concord) 2-CD * ''Instant Party'' (2004, Concord)

References

External links

Official websiteGene Harris discographyGene Harris Jazz FestivalBiography
(Allmusic via VH1)
Gene Harris on Resonance Records
Honors The Gene Harris bandshell in Boise's Ann Morrison park is named in his honor. The Gene Harris Jazz Festival is an annual event in Boise that brings together the best of Boise jazz and education in memory of the city's most famous jazz musician. {{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Gene 1933 births 2000 deaths Soul-jazz musicians African-American pianists American jazz pianists American male pianists People from Benton Harbor, Michigan Blue Note Records artists Concord Records artists Jazz musicians from Michigan 20th-century American pianists 20th-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians The Three Sounds members 20th-century African-American musicians