We are currently migrating our data. We expect the process to take 24 to 48 hours before everything is back to normal.

Last updated: 5 hours ago

One of the most accessible of all jazz pianists, Gene Harris' soulful style (influenced by <a href="spotify:artist:6zkX5fhrSD4tdVOmimR9wB">Oscar Peterson</a> and containing the blues-iness of a <a href="spotify:artist:1KTUh4AYegM2fSdac5xqPb">Junior Mance</a>) was immediately likable and predictably excellent. After playing in an Army band (1951-1954), he formed a trio with bassist <a href="spotify:artist:1faQyKsZGOomiky8WZwSfp">Andy Simpkins</a> and drummer Bill Dowdy which was, by 1956, known as <a href="spotify:artist:5wVeG4RM2VXsFwyylF8vXi">the Three Sounds</a>. The group was quite popular, and recorded regularly during 1956-1970 for Blue Note and Verve. Although the personnel changed and the music became more R&B-oriented in the early '70s, Harris retained <a href="spotify:artist:5wVeG4RM2VXsFwyylF8vXi">the Three Sounds</a> name for his later Blue Note sets. He retired to Boise, ID, in 1977, and was largely forgotten when <a href="spotify:artist:0SvD7DL5CQTbcrMtns1US8">Ray Brown</a> persuaded him to return to the spotlight in the early '80s. Harris worked for a time with <a href="spotify:artist:0SvD7DL5CQTbcrMtns1US8">the Ray Brown Trio</a> and led his own quartets in the years to follow, recording regularly for Concord and heading the Phillip Morris Superband on a few tours; 1998's Tribute to Count Basie even earned a Grammy nomination. While awaiting a kidney transplant, he died on January 16, 2000, at the age of 66. ~ Scott Yanow, Rovi

Monthly Listeners

213,573

Followers

32,505

Top Cities

6,967 listeners
4,410 listeners
3,183 listeners
3,055 listeners
2,817 listeners