Rare live work from the legendary Three Sounds trio – tracks recorded at a small jazz club in Seattle, at a time when the group were turning out their classic albums on Blue Note and Verve! There's a looser, more laidback vibe to some of these cuts than those studio records – and Gene Harris is especially amazing on his solos – blowing our mind even more than before with his deft, soulful approach to the keys – almost hitting Bobby Timmons territory on some of these tracks, given his non-stop ability to groove while still opening up on the melody! All tracks also feature the great Andy Simpkins on bass – a wonderfully warm player who really shapes the sound – and drummers include Carl Burnett, Bill Dowdy, and Kalil Madi – depending on the tunes. Material was recorded in 1964, 1966, and 1968 – and very well-recorded, too – presented here with a clarity that rivals their albums of the decade. Titles include "AM Blues", "Girl Talk", "Blue Genes", "Night Has A Thousand Eyes", "Rat Down Front", "The Boogaloo", "Caesar & Cleopatra", and "The Shadow Of Your Smile". CD

Funky pianist Gene Harris had spent most of the 60s playing in a standard trio format with his group The Three Sounds – but by the time of this live set, the group was evolving into a monster jazz funk combo, and Harris was getting beautifully heavy handed in his approach to rhythm. This live set was recorded by Blue Note in 1970, but for some reason it was left unreleased until the mid-90s – a decision that's really a mystery when you hear how funky some of the tracks are! Black Jazz bassist Henry Franklin is part of Harris' combo at the time, and the drummer is the nice tight Carl Burnett. The set includes some excellent versions of Monk Higgins tracks like "Funky Pullett" and "Sittin' Duck" – and Higgins also produced the whole thing for Blue Note. Very nice, and another great session we're glad was dug out of the vaults! CD

A great little session by The Three Sounds – and one that features the band grooving away in a style that's a lot more lively than some of their studio recordings from the time! The whole thing was captured live at the legendary Lighthouse – and Gene Harris plays both piano and organ, while the group runs through some lively material that includes "Still I'm Sad", "Blues March", "Makin Bread Again", and "I Held My Head In Shame". LP, Vinyl record album

"Moods" is right – as the album's got a wonderfully dark undercurrent, one that makes it one of the most captivating early Three Sounds albums for Blue Note! Pianist Gene Harris leads a trio that includes Andrew Simpkins on bass and Bill Dowdy on drums – and even though the set list includes a few familiar tunes, the overall pitch of the album makes the music really unique. The group play some sweet renditions of "Love For Sale" and "Green Dolphin Street", plus a great reading of Clifford Brown's "Sandu", which works very well as a piano tune. Also includes the tracks "Loose Walk" and "Tammy's Breeze". LP, Vinyl record album

Go out of the world with The Three Sounds on this sweet little set for Blue Note – as the trio are at their early best, and working with a care of craft that you won't find on other 60s albums for labels like Verve or Mercury! The mighty Gene Harris is in the lead on piano, moving between a great blend of lyrical and more soul-based styles – given great accompaniment from Bill Dowdy on drums and Andy Simpkins on bass – the latter of whom is an overlooked genius, with this round tone and solid touch that really holds the group together! Titles are a nice mix of exotic standards and gutbuckety originals – and tunes include "My Silent Love", "Just In Time", "Out Of this World", "Out Of the Past", "Sanctified Sue", and "Girl Of My Dreams". LP, Vinyl record album

Great early work by the Three Sounds, before they'd lapsed a bit too much into their formulaic trio style on Blue Note – and when they were adding some excellent little flourishes to the music to distinguish themselves from the rest of the crowd. Drummer Bill Dowdy's in great shape here, working his way across the kit with the ferocity of a bossa drummer – adding in lots of great fills that bring out the best in Gene Harris sharp piano work. Plus, the album even features a bit of Harris on the celeste – creating a cool vibes-y sound on the track "Blue Bells". Other titles include "O Sole Mio", "Goin Home", "It's Nice", and "Both Sides". LP, Vinyl record album

Great early work by the Three Sounds, before they'd lapsed a bit too much into their formulaic trio style on Blue Note – and when they were adding some excellent little flourishes to the music to distinguish themselves from the rest of the crowd. Drummer Bill Dowdy's in great shape here, working his way across the kit with the ferocity of a bossa drummer – adding in lots of great fills that bring out the best in Gene Harris sharp piano work. Plus, the album even features a bit of Harris on the celeste – creating a cool vibes-y sound on the track "Blue Bells". Other titles include "O Sole Mio", "Goin Home", "It's Nice", and "Both Sides". CD features an alternate take of "Goin Home". CD

Nat and Johnny Griffin front The Three Sounds in this easy-going soul jazz session with a nice rolling groove. The set's got a couple of originals – "Sister Caroline" and "Branching Out" – plus versions of "Well You Needn't" and "I've Got Plenty Of Nothin". Gene Harris & The Three Sounds make for a nice backing, and Johnny Griffin's solos are as sharp as they ever were at this point. CD

A masterpiece from Gene Harris – an album that's probably been his biggest influence on the sound of soul in the 21st Century, and for good reason too! The set moves way beyond both Harris' acoustic piano roots in the Three Sounds, and his other electric sides of the 70s – into sublime spacey territory that's wrapped up in soul – as much a pinnacle of his musical vision as early 70s records were for Herbie Hancock or George Duke! The vibe here is a bit between the looser styles of Duke's MPS recordings, and the tighter grooves of the Mizell generation – and arrangements are by Harris, Harvey Mason, and Jerry Peters, the latter of whom really adds some great elements to the record. Harvey's drums make for a great funky undercurrent – and the album features the funky break track "Higga-Boom", the great groover "Losalamitoslatinfunklovesong", and the cuts "Rebato Summer", "Don't Call Me N*gger, Whitey", "Love Talkin", "I Remember Summer", "Green River", and "My Roots". LP, Vinyl record album

The bottom is certainly "up" on this one – as the Three Sounds groove things from the ground up, taking soul jazz piano to the next level with an approach that quickly made them one of the most popular Blue Note acts of the early 60s! Gene Harris leads the group on piano – and also plays celeste on one track (!) – and the other Sounds at this point are Andrew Simpkins on bass and Bill Dowdy on drums – a really great rhythm section that have a way of being soulfully quiet, with a very subtle groove – one that's much more understated than you might find in the Ramsey Lewis trio, but equally hip. Tracks include "Jinne Lou", "Besame Mucho", "Love Walked In", "Angel Eyes", "Falling In Love With Love", and "Time After Time". LP, Vinyl record album

A pivotal album from the Three Sounds – one that has the group moving past the straighter trio format of their initial Blue Note sides, really hinting at the funkier sounds to come on their classic albums of the late 60s! Gene Harris is definitely taking a page from the Ramsey Lewis bag at times – playing the piano with a wonderfully heavy left hand, which makes for a killer groove, and a feel that's a lot more soul jazz than usual. Plus, a few tracks also feature Harris working on organ – which really changes up the sound nicely too, and almost puts the album somewhere in the territory that Cadet and Prestige Records were hitting at the time! Titles include "Fever", "Pavane", "Charade", "Let's Go Get Stoned", and "Something You Got", plus a nice original called "The Frown". LP, Vinyl record album

A really great one in the early catalog of Nat Adderley – a set that has Cannonball's brother stepping out as a leader with bold tenor sax work from Johnny Griffin, and rhythm work by Gene Harris and the original Three Sounds trio! The set's got a couple of originals – "Sister Caroline" and "Branching Out" – plus versions of "Well You Needn't" and "I've Got Plenty Of Nothin". Gene Harris & The Three Sounds make for a nice backing, and Johnny Griffin's solos are as sharp as they ever were at this point. LP, Vinyl record album

Wonderful work from the Three Sounds – a tight little combo who weren't out to break any rules in jazz, but who made some excellent albums for Blue Note in the early 60s! The groove here is hard-edge soul jazz piano at its best – similar to early Les McCann work of the same vintage, with a strong sense of rhythm on the left hand, and some wonderfully complicated lines on the right – an early example of the genius of Gene Harris. Harris also shows a nice sense of thoughtfulness on the mellower cuts, too – which still swing in their own sort of way, thanks to the work of Andrew Simpkins on bass and Bill Dowdy on drums. Titles include the great original "Dap's Groove" – plus "Sermonette", "Hey There", "Nothin But The Blues", "Street Of Dreams", and "Little Girl Blue". CD

During the early 60s, Blue Note wisely cut a number of sessions that took advantage of their soulful in-house rhythm trio The Three Sounds. The group recorded more than a few successful albums under their own name – but they also did a few great records that feature them backing up a more famous soloist. Such is the case with this one, in which Gene Harris and crew back up Stanley Turrentine for a beautifully mellow set of late nite tracks, played with an easy rolling groove missing from some of Turrentine's other, more full-on sessions at the time. Titles include "Blue Riff", "I Want A Little Girl", and "Willow Weep For Me". CD

A pretty darn heady set of tracks from Blue Note – featuring a lot of thought-provoking material from the late 60s, including many tracks by artists who were really hitting their prime! Unlike other comps in this series, this one also includes 2 great unreleased tracks – a funky version of "Inner City Blues" by Bobby Hutcherson, and a beautiful rare version of "Until It's Time For You To Go", recorded by Lorez Alexandria & Teddy Edwards during an obscure session in 1971! Those 2 tracks are worth the price of the set alone – but you also get 13 more great ones, including "I Wanna Testify" by Bobby Bryant, "Illusions" by Andrew Hill, "I Had A Little Talk" by Horace Silver & Andy Bey, "Untitled Boogaloo" by Lee Morgan, "Book Of Slim" by Gene Harris & The Three Sounds, "Save The Children" by Marlena Shaw, and "Sunflower" by Alphonze Mouzon. One of the best of these comps, and filled with great stuff! CD

A classic meeting between alto giant Lou Donaldson and Blue Note's crack Three Sounds combo – the great piano trio led by the mighty Gene Harris! The formula was one that Blue Note employed on a number of sessions from the time – and it makes a lot of sense, because the Three Sounds are a very tight rhythm group, just waiting for a strong soloist to front their rolling soulful grooves – in ways that really set sessions like this apart from their standard albums for the label. On this one, the Sounds give Lou a nice tight backing, and he repays the favor by laying down some very tight, very in-the-pocket solos with a good soul jazz groove. Tracks include "Jump Up", "Confirmation", "Smooth Groove", and "Blue Moon". LP, Vinyl record album

Sweet sweet keyboards from the amazing Gene Harris – one of his seminal electric sides for Blue Note in the 70s – recorded between his earliest fame in the Three Sounds, and his later return to acoustic styles in the 80s! The sound here is equal parts jazz and soul – as Gene's working with vocalist/arranger Jerry Peters, who brings in a good deal of his own groove to the tracks – giving them a strong focus that's sometimes missing from other solo Harris sets. Both Peters and Harris play Fender Rhodes and other keyboards on the album – alongside a variety of players that include Donald Byrd on trumpet, Harvey Mason on drums, and Chuck Rainey on bass. Tracks include the Peters tunes "If You Can't Find Love" and "A Minor", a two-part remake of Duke Pearson's "Christo Redentor", the sweet stepper "Peace Of Mind", and a strong vocal take on Stevie Wonder's "As". LP, Vinyl record album

An unusual large group recording from this legendary pianist from the Three Sounds – definitely done in a Basie mode, with Gene on piano – and other players who include Jon Faddis and Snooky Young on trumpets, Marshal Royal on alto, Bob Cooper on tenor, Jack Nimitz on baritone, Thurman Green and Garnett Brown on trombones, Herb Ellis on guitar, and Ray Brown on bass. CD

A rare non-Blue Note session from The Three Sounds – recorded in the early 60s for Verve, and really the group's only straight album for that label! The style here is similar to the Blue Note sides – with Gene Harris firmly at the helm of the group on piano – hitting that fluidly soulful approach to the keys that made him an instant standout from the earliest albums of his career. Bass is by Andrew Simpkins and drums by Bill Dowdy – and the set list includes the original compositions "Gina My Love" and "Blue Genes", plus takes on "Mr Wonderful", "Autumn In New York", "Love Somebody", and "Whims Of Chamberland". LP, Vinyl record album

The Three Sounds pull away from the curb in a sweet sports car – a great cover image that really sets the tone for the entire record! The album's the epitome of early 60s class and cool that the group had to offer – as they effortlessly mix soulful groovers with mellower, more introspective pieces – all delivered by the godlike hands of Gene Harris on acoustic piano – already a giant in jazz, even at the start of his long career. The rhythm is great, too – sublime bass from Andy Simpkins, whose round, warm tone we always love – and just the right sort of work on drums from Bill Dowdy, who always keeps things on track. Titles include "Now's The Time", "Summertime", "Poinciana", "Here We Come", and "Sonnymoon For Two". Great cover too – with one of the all-time best "car jazz" images! LP, Vinyl record album

A great little session by The Three Sounds – and one that features the band grooving away in a style that's a lot more lively than some of their studio recordings from the time! The whole thing was captured live at the legendary Lighthouse – and Gene Harris plays both piano and organ, while the group runs through some lively material that includes "Still I'm Sad", "Blues March", "Makin Bread Again", and "I Held My Head In Shame". Plus, this CD reissue includes a huuuuuuuge amount of extra tracks – for a total of 17 cuts that also includes "Sunny", "Bad Bad Whiskey", "River Shadow", and "Why Am I Treated So Bad". Much more gutbuckety than even the LP version! CD

"Moods" is right – as the album's got a wonderfully dark undercurrent, one that makes it one of the most captivating early Three Sounds albums for Blue Note! Pianist Gene Harris leads a trio that includes Andrew Simpkins on bass and Bill Dowdy on drums – and even though the set list includes a few familiar tunes, the overall pitch of the album makes the music really unique. The group play some sweet renditions of "Love For Sale" and "Green Dolphin Street", plus a great reading of Clifford Brown's "Sandu", which works very well as a piano tune. Also includes the tracks "Loose Walk" and "Tammy's Breeze". CD