Groovin’ Hard: Live at the Penthouse 1964-1968 (Remastered)

It may come as a surprise to hardcore Blue Note Records fans that The Three Sounds were the best selling artists from the venerable label during the 1958-1962 period that they recorded for Blue Note. Their bluesy soul jazz piano trio recordings were addictive to the public. They recorded seventeen sessions for Blue Note at Rudy Van Gelder’s studio, and backed both Stanley Turrentine and Lou Donaldson, two soul jazz legends. Their music was mainstream jazz with strong blues and gospel influences. It was the blues piano voicings of leader Gene Harris that made the Three Sounds special.

Resonance Jazz has again stepped up in their efforts of issuing significant previously unknown live jazz from well recorded sources. The Penthouse club in Seattle opened in 1962 and was active for seven years. Jim Wilke, a local jazz expert from KING-FM recorded many live Penthouse shows and has assisted Resonance Jazz honchos, George Klabin and Zev Feldman by providing the tapes from the Three Sounds sets at the club. Gene Harris and bassist Andy Simpkins were on board from the 1964-1968 time period. Original drummer Bill Dowdy held down the drum chair until 1966, and he appears here on four of the ten tracks. The other six tunes are split evenly between drummers Kalil Madi and Carl Burnett.

Jazz standards were chosen for this release. They range from Neil Hefti’s “Girl Talk” and Johnny Mandel’s sublime “The Shadow of Your Smile,” Ray Brown’s “A.M. Blues” to band originals “Blue Genes,” “Rat Down Front” and “The Boogaloo.” What they all share in common is a heavy groove, catchy riffs, and Gene Harris’ soulful piano. Listening to this group’s live recordings fifty years later is a real treat.

The old tapes hide in the archives, deep in the dark corners of record company closets, and even the occasional back yard tool shed — Hal Schaefer's How Do You Like this Piano Playing (Summit Records, 2009).

Finding and bringing these lost treasures to the listening public seems to have turned into an industry of its own. And praise be the effort. The year 2016 saw the release of newly discovered gems including pianist Bill Evans with Some Other Time. Now Resonance Jazz, riding the crest of the wave of the undiscovered treasures game, offers up Groovin' Hard: Live At the Penthouse, 1964-1968 by The Three Sounds featuring Gene Harris.

Harris held down the piano chair during the fifteen year life span of the group. Drummers changed; the bass changed. Gene Harris was the constant in a group that released fifteen albums on Blue Note Records, achieving the distinction of being one of the label's top selling acts between 1958 and 1962. The group's sound was soulful, always in the groove.

Groovin' Hard stacks up well with the best of The Three Sounds discography — consistency was a big thing with Harris. Consistency and the joy of creation. He sounds like a born entertainer, someone who lived to give the people what they wanted to hear. In this set, recorded in four different stints at Seattle's now-defunct Penthouse, the group grooves into Neal Hefti's "Girl Talk," the classic "The Night Has A Thousand Eyes," given a bossa-funk feel here, and the American Songbook jewel "The Shadow of Your Smile."

Harris had such chops, and such a flair for bringing deep soul into the proceedings, such panache, such exuberant confidence in his artistry. And the trios certainly matched Harris in their zest creating an assertive interplay and an engaging sound.

"Blue Genes," a Harris original, boogie woogie's like mad, and "Rat's Down Front," another offering from the Harris pen, ramps that approach up a couple of notches, while "Yours Is My Heat Alone" dances with a light step, with the trio at his most effervescent.

Another fine discovery. Kudos to Resonance Jazz for bringing it into the light.