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Review

Remi Harris

On Track


by Ian Mann

March 03, 2022

/ ALBUM

Another impressive offering from Harris. The playing is excellent throughout and much skill and care has been lavished on the rhythm arrangements, Sales at live shows will no doubt be brisk.

Remi Harris

“On Track”

(Yardbird Arts)


Remi Harris – guitars, electric bass, Tom Moore – double bass, Simon Smith – double bass


“On Track” is the third official album release from guitarist Remi Harris, following “Ninick” (2014) and “In On The 2” (2016). There was also an earlier live trio recording “Live at The Hatch” which Harris used to sell at gigs back in the day, but which is no longer available. Reviews of both “Ninick” and “In On The 2” can be found elsewhere on this site, as can numerous accounts of Harris’ live performances.

Now based in the Worcestershire countryside Harris was born in the Herefordshire town of Bromyard. At the age of seven he was first inspired to play guitar by listening to his dad’s Led Zeppelin records and he still retains a fondness for rock and blues music. 

Harris began his career as lead guitarist of the rock group Mars Bonfire, a band that built up an impressive local following as well as supporting leading hard rock acts at the 700 capacity rock club The Robin 2 in Bilston, one of the Midlands’ leading rock venues.

However Harris quickly became tired of the restrictions of rock music and developed an increasing fascination with the music of gypsy jazz pioneer Django Reinhardt.
Eventually he quit Mars Bonfire and formed his own all acoustic gypsy jazz trio. A musician of immense technical ability, he quickly mastered the new style and soon began developing a healthy following on the jazz circuit, his reputation flourishing by sheer word of mouth. Audiences at Remi Harris gigs tend to come back for more.

After making his mark as a gypsy jazz guitarist Harris has slowly re-introduced other elements of his musical DNA into his trio’s live shows with aspects of pop, rock, folk, funk, world and blues all finding their way into recent live performances, with the music of Peter Green, Jimi Hendrix and The Beatles representing particular favourites. It’s an approach that has found favour with Harris’ growing army of listeners and has added greater interest and variety to his live shows.

Harris has become one of the UK’s most successful jazz guitarists and an increasingly popular live attraction. He has played sell out shows at the Brecon and Cheltenham Jazz Festivals and in 2016 travelled to Canada to appear at the prestigious Montreal Jazz Festival. Harris’ performances at Cheltenham have led to airplay on Jamie Cullum’s Radio 2 programme and on Cerys Matthews’ show on BBC Radio 6. The summer of 2016 also saw him appearing on national radio and TV as he and his trio guested with Cullum at the latter’s BBC Promenade Concert, for Harris the culmination of a six year journey from the back-room of The Bell pub in Leominster to the Royal Albert Hall.

Harris has always exhibited a remarkable work ethic, a musician who has gigged relentlessly,  and is still playing small local venues in addition to more prestigious locations,  the latter including some of London’s leading jazz clubs. Lockdown put all that on hold for a while but Harris just loves to play and was soon posting regular ‘at home’ performances on social media throughout the pandemic.

In a sense this new album stems from these experiences. The new album finds Harris overdubbing himself to create multiple rhythm guitar parts, a process that began on “In On The 2”, but which is developed even more comprehensively here.  Harris laid down the lead guitar parts first and then responded to them in real time, much in the manner of a live rhythm section. He also plays electric bass on three of the album’s fourteen tracks. Elsewhere bass duties are shared between Harris’ regular duo partner Tom Moore and Simon Smith, both of these musicians playing acoustic double bass.

The “On Track” project was first mooted in 2017 but was delayed for various reasons, not least the pandemic. Essentially it’s a jazz recording,  the programme including a variety of gypsy jazz and ‘songbook’ standards alongside a small clutch of Harris originals. There’s also a brief nod to his rock roots with a short snippet of Led Zeppelin’s “The Rain Song”.

The opening track “Burnout” is a Harris original in the gypsy jazz style with his multi-tracked acoustic guitars augmented by Moore’s double bass. Moore appears on seven pieces and Smith on three. Although performed in a broadly gypsy jazz style the chunkiness of some of the riffs also nods to Harris’ love of rock and blues.

A short version of Cole Porter’s “You’d Be So Nice To Come Home To”  is a genuine solo performance with Harris appearing on guitar only. Again it’s in a broadly gypsy jazz style.

Arthur Johnston’s “Pennies From Heaven” re-unites Harris with Moore, the miracles of overdubbing helping the pair to reproduce the sound of Harris’ gypsy jazz trio.

A lively first take on Maceo Pinkard’s “Them There Eyes”  finds Harris doubling on guitars and electric bass, his guitar soloing a whirlwind of dexterity.

The brief “Siren” is a Harris original, a brief barrage of acoustically generated guitar and double bass (Smith)  noise that does indeed approximate the sound of an emergency vehicle siren.

A degree of normality is resumed as Harris and Smith deliver a delightful version of Django Reinhardt’s beautiful composition “Nuages”, an enduringly popular classic of the jazz guitar repertoire.

It’s ‘hats off’ to Led Zeppelin as Harris and Smith pay homage with a charming all acoustic snippet of the Page / Plant composition “The Rain Song”, from the 1973 Zeppelin album “Houses of the Holy”.

With Moore restored to the bass chair it’s back to more familiar gypsy jazz territory with Reinhardt’s “Dinette”, another genre classic performed in the style of Harris’ gypsy jazz trio.

The self penned title track is another solo performance with Harris doubling on guitar and electric bass.  It’s followed by another Harris original, “In On The 2”, which didn’t actually appear on the album of the same name but is a refreshing slice of gypsy jazz that sounds as if it could have been written by Django Reinhardt himself. Harris and Moore perform the piece with considerable élan and zest.

Hoagy Carmichael’s enduring popular ballad “Skylark” calm things down once more with Harris’ expressive guitar and Moore’s languid double bass.

Jerome Kern’s “The Way You Look Tonight” is delivered at a fast clip, gypsy jazz style, with Moore’s propulsive bass combining with Harris’ crisp rhythm guitar parts to give the music considerable impetus. Harris’ virtuoso lead lines combine rapid fire picking with some dazzling string bending techniques.

Equally rapid fire is a second take on “Them There Eyes” featuring a multi-tracked Harris on lead and rhythm guitars plus electric bass.

The album concludes with its magnum opus, a near eight minute version of Eden Ahbez’s “Nature Boy”, notable for the interplay between Harris and Moore as the bassist comes to the fore for the first time. The piece unfolds slowly and organically, with a strong narrative arc, as Harris carefully builds the tension through the astute deployment of his various guitars. The dramatic closing section is pure blues as he explores the full range of his influences.

Expanding on the success of the “In On The 2” album “On Track” represents another impressive offering from Harris. The playing is excellent throughout and much skill and care has been lavished on the rhythm arrangements, with recording engineer Josh Watkins again playing an important role in the process. The album was recorded in difficult circumstances, but emerges sounding bright and fresh.

“On Track” is an album that will satisfy Harris’ regular gypsy jazz audience and most of the music is broadly in this vein. He is now gigging regularly again and sales at live shows will no doubt be brisk. The album is also available via http://www.remiharris.com and www.yardbirdarts.com

Having enjoyed seeing Harris playing with his Electric Beat Combo featuring bass guitarist Darren Beale and drummer Shane Dixon just before the first 2020 lockdown I’d like to see a recording featuring the blues and rock side of his talent as the next album. Now that things are at last starting to get back to normal there’s the chance that this might actually become a reality. In the meantime we still have the excellent “On Track” to enjoy.

 

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