Monday, September 7, 2009

Eddie Harris High Voltage LP


Atlantic jazz circa 69-73 has a real special place in my heart. It flirts with funk,soul,whatever but always manages to come up with it's own interpretation of the times. I thought this might have been limitted to Les McCann, but this Eddie Harris record keeps my faith in this time period alive.
I am not a fan or opponent to the "electric" angle of Eddie Harris. It never seemed super gimmicky to me and it doesn't get in the way of the tunes.
This LP opens up with a killer. Moving on Out. True,it's not Moving on Up, but what can you do? Next up is the killer "Funky Doo". The only thing stopping this from being a "rare groove" monster is the trippy effects at the end which really only make it more of a monster. This 2 song A side justifies the purchase of this LP on sight. The A side of this LP demonstrates all that is good about Atlantic jazz in this time period. It is funky but not generic, informed of it's era, but not bound to it.
Side 2 had 4 tracks. Some more straight ahead stuff and a nod to the tenors of old. Not as mind blowing as the A-side, but "Listen Here" keeps it moving.
It is pretty crazy to think that Atlantic was dropping this alongside Led Zep,Aretha, Do Covay, The MC5,and Roberta Flack.

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