The Joe Harriott Quintet - Abstract

We had a request for this a while back, and from what I can see, it's becoming hard to find. The cd reissue of this record, that is. I don't have the cd, so this will take us back to the early 60s lp version of this one, out on the Capitol label in the US. Hope folks don't mind the original sound of this record, though it may not be up the sonic standard of remastered cds.

What to say about "Abstract"? Well, it's a classic (alongside the earlier Free Form), though not truly recognised as such, but we will fly the Harriott flag on this blog, and do our bit towards better recognition. We've posted several Hariott records in the past, all very out of print, and should Free Form suffer the same fate, we'll put up that one, too.

A brief description of what this music is about, can be found in the attached liner notes on the back of the sleeve, with track by track annotations from the man himself. (Just click on the picture and it will blow up to a legible size.) As the man says, don't expect all of this music to swing, it isn't meant to. But it is exciting and to these ears, still fresh, though not as revelatory as it might have been back in the days of be bop hegemony.

1. Subject
2. Subject
3. Oleo
4. Modal
5. Tonal
6. Pictures
7. Idioms
8. Compound

Personnel:
Joe Harriott - alto sax
Shake Keane - trumpet
Pat Smythe - piano
Coleridge Goode - bass
Bobby Orr - drums (1-4)
Phil Seamen - drums (5 - 8)
Frank Holder - bongos (5,8)

1-4 recorded May 10, 1962, in London; 5-8 November 22, 1961, in London.
Cover painting: Yvonne Miranda