Gene Harris Quartet - Summertime

[Montauk6]

[Liberty Belle]

1. I loved Gene Harris! I knew him in Idaho, when he played at Peter Schott's bar/restaurant there.

I worked at a music store that had sold the bar that piano.

He was such a powerful player that he kept breaking bass strings on the piano. Baldwin wasn't going to pay for repairs after a while, believing the piano was being abused in the bar.

So my boss took the Baldwin Piano rep to see Gene play. His jaw dropped, and Baldwin signed Gene up to be a Baldwin performing artist with his jazz combo.

He was amazing. He would do tremolos so fast that his hands were quite literally a blur. The more he'd drink, the hotter his improv got, but sadly he paid a price for that.

he died too young of cirrhosis of the liver. He was one of the greatest musicians I've ever seen.

I'd love to find some of his CDs; they are very hard to come by anymore. If anyone knows where I can find some, please pm me. I had a couple that I let someone borrow who never returned them.