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Eddie Harris put out a lot of albums during his lengthy career, some better than others, “The Electrifying Eddie Harris” is one of his best. Long time fans may at first mistake this album for a greatest hits package because so many of Harris’ best loved tunes are on here. The mix of music on here is typical for a late 60s Harris album; you get a couple hot proto-funk numbers, an experimental avant-garde workout as well as some pretty lounge music too. “Theme in Search of a Movie”, (by Charles Stepney) is one of the nicest melodies Harris has ever recorded, its twisting modulations backed by light shimmering strings and a subtle Latin beat have made it a classic favorite with the exotica crowd. “Listen Here” and “Sham Time” are the funk numbers and feature those short punchy call and response riffs that Harris is the absolute master of. In a career full of great funk jazz numbers, these two are some of Harris’ best.
On “Spanish Bull” Harris gets with the modern free crowd with a North African flavored modal jam in the style of Coltrane and Pharoh Sanders. The album closes with “I Don’t Want No One But You”, classic blues based soul jazz, the kind of music Harris built his early career on. Eddie Harris fans will want to get this one, it rates alongside “Is It In” as a career highlight.
