Search - Eddie Harris :: Bad Luck Is All Have / How Can You Live Like That

Get your groove on!

scott gossard | Anaheim, CA | 10/01/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Randomly grab ten Eddie Harris CD's and chances are you'll be exposed to ten distinct musical approaches: from the straight-ahead jazz of There Was A Time (Echo of Harlem) to the big band sounds of The Last Concert; from the experimental work on The Electrifying Eddie Harris to the light-hearted jazz of Eddie Who. Through it all, as central as the sun is to our universe, is Eddie's infectious love of the swingin', groovin' pulse. This two-CD collection comes from Eddie's '70's funk-jazz phase, and so is particularly heavy on the groove! The five stars are mainly for How Can You Live Like That, which shows off Eddie's eclecticism within the wider setting of '70's funk. You get a little straight-ahead; a bit of reggae and latin; a few classic vocal tracks from Eddie (including the big band blues of the title track -- awesome!); and Eddie dusts off a horn section for a number of the songs, including a fantastic big band arrangement of "Ambidextrous." Along with Eddie's great sax, piano, and vocals, you can enjoy the excellent backing musicians, including Cedar Walton, Billy Higgins, Ron Carter, Paul Humphrey, Ronald Muldrow, Bradley Bobo, et al. Folks, you just can't go wrong here! (For a point of reference, Eddie Who is my favorite CD from Eddie; How Can You Live Like That is a close second.) As if that isn't good enough, you get Eddie's Bad Luck Is All I Have; another fun CD, also from Eddie's '70's funk-jazz phase, and also featuring a nice mix of styles. Do yourself a favor and grab this collection!"

Eddie Begins a Decline...

William Jones | Rockville, MD USA | 10/03/2000

(3 out of 5 stars)

"He wasn't the same in the mid-seventies. With titles like "Bad Luck is All I Have", "I Need Some Money", "How Can You Live Like That?" and "That is Why You're Overweight", one might get the sense that he was a little bitter. After all, the electric reed trumpet never really caught on and the seventies were rather hard on varitone tenor players. There are a couple funky moments on these albums and some serious straight ahead jazz playing as well ("Ambidextrous"), but overall this is a very unfocused set and not at all easy to listen to."