Gene Harris

Gene Harris (September 1, 1933, Benton Harbor, Michigan – January 16, 2000) was an American jazz pianist known for his warm sound and blues and gospel infused style that is known as soul jazz.

From 1956 to 1970, he played in The Three Sounds trio with bassist Andy Simpkins and drummer Bill Dowdy. During this time, The Three Sounds recorded regularly for Blue Note and Verve.

He was mostly retired to Boise, Idaho, starting in the late 1970s, although he performed regularly at the Idanha Hotel there. Then, 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, until his death from kidney failure in 2000.

Harris's rendition of "Ode to Billie Joe" is known as a jazz classic. One of his most popular numbers was his "Battle Hymn of the Republic," a live version of which is on his Live at Otter Crest album, published by Concord.

As leader

 * Our Love Is Here To Stay (1955, Jubilee)
 * Introducing the 3 Sounds (with The Three Sounds) (1958, Blue Note)
 * Genie in My Soul (1959, Jubilee)
 * LD + 3 (Lou Donaldson with The Three Sounds) (1959, Blue Note)
 * Standards (with The Three Sounds) (1959, Blue Note)
 * Bottoms Up! (with The Three Sounds) (1959, Blue Note)
 * Good Deal (with The Three Sounds) (1959, Blue Note)
 * Blue Hour (The Three Sounds with Stanley Turrentine) (1960, Blue Note)
 * Moods (with The Three Sounds) (1960, Blue Note)
 * Feelin' Good (with The Three Sounds) (1960, Blue Note)
 * Here We Come (with The Three Sounds) (1960, Blue Note)
 * It Just Got to Be (with The Three Sounds) (1960, Blue Note)
 * Hey There (with The Three Sounds) (1961, Blue Note)
 * Babe's Blues (with The Three Sounds) (1962, Blue Note)
 * Out of This World (with The Three Sounds) (1962, Blue Note)
 * Black Orchid (with The Three Sounds) (1962, Blue Note)
 * Blue Genes (with The Three Sounds) (1962, Verve)
 * Anita O'Day & The Three Sounds (The Three Sounds with Anita O'Day) (1962, Verve)
 * Jazz on Broadway (with The Three Sounds) (1962, Mercury)
 * Some Like It Modern (with The Three Sounds) (1963, Mercury)
 * Live at The Living Room (with The Three Sounds) (1964, Mercury)
 * Three Moods (with The Three Sounds) (1964, Limelight)
 * Beautiful Friendship (with The Three Sounds) (1965, Limelight)
 * Today's Sounds (with The Three Sounds) (1966, Limelight)
 * Vibrations (with The Three Sounds) (1966, Blue Note)
 * Live at The Lighthouse (with The Three Sounds) (1967, Blue Note)
 * Coldwater Flat (with The Three Sounds) (1968, Blue Note)
 * Elegant Soul (with The Three Sounds) (1968, Blue Note)
 * Soul Symphony (with The Three Sounds) (1969, Blue Note)
 * Live at The "It Club" (with The Three Sounds) (1970, Blue Note)
 * Live at The "It Club" (with The Three Sounds) (1970, Blue Note)
 * The 3 Sounds (1971, Blue Note)
 * Gene Harris of the Three Sounds (1972, Blue Note)
 * Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow (1973, Blue Note)
 * Astral Signal (1974, Blue Note)
 * Nexus (1976, Blue Note)
 * In A Special Way (1976, Blue Note)
 * Tone Tantrum (1977, Blue Note)
 * Nature's Way (1980, JAM)
 * Live at Otter Crest (1981, Concord)
 * Hot Lips (1982, JAM)
 * The Gene Harris Trio Plus One (1985, Concord)
 * Tribute to Count Basie (with the Gene Harris All-Star Big Band) (1987, Concord)
 * Listen Here! (1989, Concord)
 * Live at Town Hall, N.Y.C. (with The Philip Morris Superband) (1989, Concord)
 * At Last (Gene Harris/Scott Hamilton Quintet) (1990, Concord)
 * World Tour 1990 (with the Philip Morris Superband) (1990, Concord)
 * Black and Blue (1991, Concord)
 * ''Like A Lover (1992, Concord)
 * Gene Harris Live at Maybeck Recital Hall, Vol. 23 (1992, Concord)
 * Brotherhood (1992, Concord)
 * A Little Piece of Heaven at Ste. Chapelle Winery (1993, Concord)
 * Funky Gene's (1994, Concord)
 * Its the Real Soul (with Frank Wess (1995, Concord)
 * Live (Gene Harris & The Philip Morris All-Stars (1995, Concord)
 * In His Hands (1996, Concord)
 * Down Home Blues (with Jack McDuff) (1996, Concord)
 * Alley Cats (1998, Concord)
 * Live in London (2008, Resonance Records) - recorded in 1996
 * Another Night in London (2010, Resonance Records) - recorded in 1996

As sideman

 * Branching Out (with Nat Adderley) (1958, Riverside)
 * A Double Dose of Soul (with James Clay) (1960, Riverside)
 * Organ-izing (with Melvin Rhyne) (1960, Jazzland)
 * Anita O'Day & The Three Sounds (The Three Sounds with Anita O'Day) (1962, Verve)
 * Blue Note Live at The Roxy (with Blue Note All-Stars) (1976, Blue Note)
 * 'SWonderful: Concord Jazz Salutes Ira Gershwin (with various artists) (1979, Concord)
 * Soul Route (with Milt Jackson Quartet) (1983, Pablo)
 * When The Sun Goes Down (with Ernestine Anderson) (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)
 * A Gentleman and His Music (with Benny Carter) (1985, Concord)
 * Love Me Tender (with Junko Mine and the Ray Brown Trio) (1986, All Art)
 * Summer Wind: Live at The Loa (with the Ray Brown Trio) (1988, Concord)
 * Bam Bam Bam (with the Ray Brown Trio) (1988, Concord)
 * 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)
 * Moore Makes 4 (with Ralph Moore and the Ray Brown Trio) (1990, Concord)
 * At Last (Gene Harris/Scott Hamilton Quintet) (1990, Concord)
 * Live at The Apollo (with B.B. King) (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) (1994, Concord)
 * Its the Real Soul (with Frank Wess (1995, Concord)
 * Down Home Blues (with Jack McDuff) (1996, Concord)
 * Dreaming A Dream (with Niki Haris) (1996, RCA/BMG)
 * Just Friends (with Marian McPartland) (1997)

Compilations

 * The Best of The Three Sounds (with The Three Sounds) (1993, Blue Note)
 * Gene Harris: The Concord Jazz Heritage Series (1998, Concord)
 * The Blue Note Years (with The Three Sounds) (1999, EMI/Blue Note)
 * Gene Harris: The Best of the Concord Years (2000, Concord)
 * The Complete Blue Hour Sessions (The Three Sounds with Stanley Turrentine) (2000, Blue Note)
 * Big Band Soul (with the Gene Harris Superband) (2002, Concord)
 * Swinging in the Blues (2002, Recall)
 * Ballad Essentials (2003, Concord)
 * Instant Party (2004, Concord)