Joe Harriott is best remembered for his avant-garde/free jazz explorations of the '60s which found him playing music similar to but not overly derivative of
Ornette Coleman, and for his mixture of jazz with Indian music. This double-CD, however, is much different. Consisting of
Harriott's earliest recordings as a leader plus his significant sideman appearances with Buddy Pipp's Highlifers,
Kenny Baker's Jazz Today Unit, singer
Lita Roza and the
Ronnie Scott Orchestra,
Harriott is featured between 1954-1956 as a boppish altoist who was definitely under the influence of
Charlie Parker and (tonewise)
Sonny Criss. He is featured with several quartets, in
Scott's big band, a few medium-size groups, and even with a string section (sounding like
Bird with Strings) on "I'll Remember April" and "Easy to Love." The ten-minute "Blues in Threes" by trumpeter
Kenny Baker's all-star group matches
Harriott with fellow altoists
Bruce Turner and
Bertie King in a similar fashion as
Charlie Parker's studio jam session encounter with
Johnny Hodges and
Benny Carter. The only thing wrong with this well-conceived reissue of rare material is its title, since
Benny Golson's "Killer Joe" had not been written yet. The subtitle, "Birth of a Legend," sums up this retrospective better. Well worth searching for.