.___________________________________________________________________________. |========================-==-..:.::. SOUNDz .::.:..-==-=====================| | ___________/_ _______ /\ |\/\/| _\___________ | : |_ /_ _( )_ \/ .---. _|____//> __ /\ _\ _| : . | __ / | |____ | |___\_ | /_____\ \ \/ \ __ | . ! | /___/_ | ___ | | | || \ | \/ |_ \ _\___\ | ! . | \ ! \ / | | | || \| \ | \ / | . <>!_______ \ / | | | || \ \ | |\ \ _______!<> ==\-----. \ \ \ | )_( || \ \ \| |_\ \ / .-----/zNr .==/\ /___\ |_ _| || \ \ \ /___\ /\dS! :=/ |'-------'/_________\! |\ \_________/ \= /____/\_________|===================='-\-'=\________|=====|_________/\____\ ___\/_______________________________/_\___________________________\/___ //// // // // // // // // // / \ \ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\\\ /// // // // // // // // // / /\\ \ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\\ /___/___/___/___/___/___/___/___/___/_//\\\_\___\___\___\___\___\___\___\___\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \ \\_// / // // // // // // // // \\\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \ \\/ / // // // // // // // /// \\\___\___\___\___\___\___\___\___\___\ \ /___/___/___/___/___/___/___/___/// . ------------------------------------\ /-------------------------------- . : \ : | / \ | | | | | | R E L E A S E D E T A I L S >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> | | ----------------------------- <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< | | | | Gene_Harris_and_The_Three_Sounds-Elegant_Soul-WEB-1969-SOUNDz_iNT | | --------------------------------------------------------------------- | | | | Artist______________ Gene Harris & The Three Sounds | | Title_______________ Elegant Soul | | Label_______________ Blue Note | | Genre_______________ Soul | | Year________________ 1969 | | Release Date________ 2019-07-20 | | Street Date_________ 1969-00-00 | | Source______________ WEB | | Encoder_____________ MP3 / Lavf | | Quality_____________ CBR 320kbps 44.1kHz | | Size________________ 89.6MiB | | Playtime____________ 0:38:53 | | URL_________________ https://play.google.com/store/music/album/ | | ?id=Bkelk7mphf4ieg3uwt4vzuwarl4 | | | | | | 1. Elegant Soul 03:14 | | 2. Do It Right Now 06:19 | | 3. Sittin' Duck 09:16 | | 4. (Sock It To Me) Harper Valley P.T.A. 02:46 | | 5. Sugar Hill 02:46 | | 6. African Sweets 04:29 | | 7. Black Gold 03:27 | | 8. Book Of Slim 03:23 | | 9. Walls Of Respect 03:14 | | | | | | R E L E A S E N O T E S >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> | | ------------------------- <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< | | | | | | After the release of Coldwater Flat five months earlier, Three Sounds | | pianist Gene Harris and bassist Andy Simpkins found themselves faced | | with yet another personnel change: Donald Bailey, who'd been with | | group for only two albums, left the group (after replacing founding | | drummer Bill Dowdy) and was replaced by Carl Burnett. The jazz-pop | | direction that Harris and Simpkins pursued on the fine Coldwater Flat | | set - where the trio fronted the Oliver Nelson band and a string | | section - was followed up here with composer and saxophonist Monk | | Higgins as arranger, conductor, and co-producer (with Dee Ervin). | | | | Elegant Soul, one of two albums Higgins did with the trio, is indeed | | fittingly titled. The pop tunes on the set include a reading of Tom | | T. Hall's hit "Harper Valley P.T.A.," featuring additional players | | like drummer Paul Humphrey (who appears on the entire album for added | | muscle), Alan Estes on vibes, guitarist Al Vesvoco, and nine string | | players, adding a perverse, lush, deeply soulful sheen with shuffling | | breaks laid down by Burnett, Humphrey, and a chorus of uncredited | | female backing vocalists. | | | | The centerpiece of this beautiful - and underappreciated at the time | | - album is Higgins' nine-plus-minute "Sittin' Duck," with Harris at | | his hooky gospelized best, playing the hell out of the changes and | | filling the measures with his requisite taste and feel. The two | | drummers shuffle in unison, and Estes' vibes articulate the melody | | with Harris adding a warmer dimension. The strings are rich, but are | | employed mostly in the codas and tags, adding to the dramatic weight | | of the tune, which is otherwise a long, dance-worthy strut. | | Elsewhere, the strings are varied in their texture on the gorgeous | | "Sugar Hill"; they outdo those in the hits of the day like Paul | | Mauriat's "Love Is Blue," or even Roger Williams' "Born Free." | | | | Ervin's "African Sweets" is one of the set's highlights, too. It | | lifts six notes from the Rolling Stones' "Paint It Black" on top of a | | happening bass vamp and some slamming snare to introduce the cut. | | This is down-and-dirty soul-jazz dressed for Saturday night at the | | club; Harris beats the hell out of the piano's middle register in | | pure groove ecstasy. The added flamenco-style guitar and | | rough-and-rowdy flute solo add to an already heady brew. | | | | All of this is just the tip of the iceberg in a sense. Elegant Soul | | was - and could even be currently - dismissed with a casual listen as | | lightweight pop with a compelling rhythmic sense. But that would be | | selling it way short. This album warrants close listening to discern | | all that's happening in its production and arrangements. Whether it's | | on the dancefloor, for sampling, for feel-good or deep listening, or | | for finger-popping, it satisfies on all levels. | | | | Previously only available as an import, Elegant Soul was reissued in | | 2008 as part of Blue Note Records' venerable Rare Groove series. | | | | | | YOU KNOW YOU HAVE TO BUY THIS SHIT IF YOU LIKE IT RIGHT?! | | | | | | . . | | |\/\/| | | |____| | |------------------------------=---=-======-=---=-------------------------| |===/\===============================SOUNDz==========================/\===| '--/__\--------------------------=-2013-2019-=----------------------/__\--'