George Coleman
tenor saxophone
Memphis-born tenor saxophonist; Barry played with him at the Tin Palace in New York, where, Barry says, they played Cherokee in every key.
- mentions
- 5
- recordings
- 4
- Barry speaking
- 1
What Barry says
When his radio interviewer describes Jaki Byard making students play a tune in all twelve keys, Barry says that when he played at the Tin Palace with George Coleman (caption ‘George Coven’), they played Cherokee in every key.
Asked how they did it, he says they just did it: you make yourself do it. It was not that he had set out to practise in every key or come prepared. He ties it to movements that players should know so well they become automatic, which young pianists lack.
In his own words
When I was playing there with George [Coleman], [Tin] Palace, we played Cherokee in every key.
We just did it... You know, make yourself do it... It’s not that I set up a practice in every key... It’s not like that. It’s something else.
Every mention
5 moments in the recordings, 1 of them Barry speaking. Each says who is talking.
Interview: Detroit, Bud Powell and the shuffle
- 14:46
Played Cherokee in every key with Coleman (caption ‘George Coven’) at the Tin Palace.
Justin Robinson Interview: Barry Harris Masterclasses, Roy Hargrove, Jiu-Jitsu & Music, & More
Barry Harris Funeral
- 43:40
Someone else
At Barry’s funeral, Gene Gee recalls playing a church tribute with Coleman, his mentor, while Barry watched.
In the interviews and notes
Charles McPherson says that in the middle or late 1960s he and Barry started working together again, in a group with George Coleman, Lonnie Hillyer, McPherson himself and Peck Morrison on bass, with various drummers.
Ted Panken (interviewer); Tommy Flanagan, Tommy Flanagan ¶213Ted Panken (interviewer); Tommy Flanagan, Tommy Flanagan ¶214
Brian de Lima sets Coleman’s advice to students beside Barry’s: learn bebop first, since it lets you play anything after that, and get a good sound and learn harmony before trying to play free.
Answering a claim that great jazz players never think about theory, a Reddit user who attended Barry’s workshops says Barry and nearly all the greats knew theory, and points to Coleman as a player who was always thinking it.
23 Reddit users (handles kept per comment), Reddit: first-hand recollections of Barry Harris’s classes ¶9723 Reddit users (handles kept per comment), Reddit: first-hand recollections of Barry Harris’s classes ¶98
Method ideas nearby
Ideas of the method taught in the classes where they come up, with how many mentions fall in each.