Barry HarrisThe method

People Barry talks about

Sonny Stitt

alto and tenor saxophone

Alto and tenor saxophonist of the bebop generation, heard on Webb City, the record Barry first learned to solo from, and later a leader Barry often recorded with as pianist.

mentions
6
recordings
6
Barry speaking
2

What Barry says

The first thing Barry learned to play as a soloist was Webb City, a record with Sonny Stitt, Bud Powell and Fats Navarro, slowed down on a borrowed record player. It just happened, he says, to be Bud with Stitt and not Oscar Peterson.

Barry Harris on WKCR-FM ¶38Barry Harris on WKCR-FM ¶198Barry Harris on WKCR-FM ¶306Ted Panken, For Barry Harris’ 82nd Birthday ¶7Andrew Velez, Barry Harris: A Thousand Percent Music Man ¶9

Stitt, Barry says, learned from Bird just as everyone did, and then became himself. Luckily for those learning from them, Bird and his circle were correct players: correct changes, or, as Barry prefers to say, correct movements.

Barry Harris on WKCR-FM ¶100

Barry contrasts Stitt with Bird on rhythm. Bird knew the ‘six’, the feel of six running against the four beats, and Barry could hear it in his ballads. Stitt did not, so at fast tempos he could make you think of Bird, but on a ballad he lacked the feeling.

Believe: a talk to musicians31:4832:22Brian Jude de Lima, Reanimating Dissonance: Cultivating the Antecedents of Barry Harris’ Concept of Movement as a Multidimensional Pedagogical Tool for Ontario Post-Secondary Jazz Curricula ¶877

Before Live at the Jazz Workshop, Barry went from Detroit to Chicago with Frank Gant and Will Austin to record with Stitt for Argo in 1958; when that session ended they were asked to make a trio record as well.

Barry Harris on WKCR-FM ¶90Barry Harris on WKCR-FM ¶293

On their later sessions Barry was a steadying influence. When Stitt dawdled and did not want to play, Barry would call a tune such as Idaho and Stitt would go ahead and wail; the A&R man said Barry might as well have his job.

Barry Harris on WKCR-FM ¶438Barry Harris on WKCR-FM ¶440Barry Harris on WKCR-FM ¶442Barry Harris on WKCR-FM ¶444

Stitt is one of the players Barry names as having a sound of his own, a quality he misses in young horn players, who now sound alike.

Interview: Bird, Hawkins, Monk and New York11:1411:50

Barry lists Stitt with Bird, Bud, Coleman Hawkins and Prez as the associations that taught him that jazz musicians are the continuation of centuries of improvisation, and so classical musicians in their own right.

Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶289

Asked what it was like as a young man to work with more advanced players such as Dexter Gordon and Stitt, Barry says he felt honoured.

Victor L. Schermer (interviewer); Barry Harris, Barry Harris: Iconic Jazz Pianist and Keeper of the Flame ¶10Victor L. Schermer (interviewer); Barry Harris, Barry Harris: Iconic Jazz Pianist and Keeper of the Flame ¶11

In his own words

So the first thing I learned how to play was Webb City! Now, see, Webb City is Sonny Stitt and Bud Powell. So that’s what I learned.

Barry Harris on WKCR-FM. WKCR 1999, on learning to solo from records ¶38

Sonny Stitt learned from Bird, same thing, and then he became Sonny Stitt. Fortunately, Bird and them were very correct playing people.

Barry Harris on WKCR-FM. WKCR 1999, on Bird’s language ¶100

Because, see, Sonny, if he was messing around and wouldn’t want to do nothin’ and taking his time, I would say, “Sonny, let’s play ‘Idaho,’” and he said “okay,” and we played it.

Barry Harris on WKCR-FM. WKCR 1999, on recording sessions with Stitt ¶440

we recorded with Sonny Stitt, and after that was over the cat said, “Why don’t you all make a trio record?” I said, “Okay,” and we made a trio record.

Barry Harris on WKCR-FM. WKCR 1999, on his Argo sessions in Chicago ¶90

Bird knew the 6, I could tell it by his ballads. Sonny Stitt didn’t know the 6... he could fool you, make you think of Bird when he played fast, but when he played a ballad, forget about it

Brian Jude de Lima, Reanimating Dissonance: Cultivating the Antecedents of Barry Harris’ Concept of Movement as a Multidimensional Pedagogical Tool for Ontario Post-Secondary Jazz Curricula. Almeria talk, as transcribed in de Lima’s 2017 thesis ¶877

Every mention

6 moments in the recordings, 2 of them Barry speaking. Each says who is talking.

Believe: a talk to musicians

Almería, 2014

  1. 32:22

    Barry

    Unlike Bird, Stitt did not know the six; he passed for Bird fast but not on ballads.

    Watch on YouTube at 32:22

Interview: Bird, Hawkins, Monk and New York

various, 1987–2019

  1. 11:14

    Barry

    Names Stitt (captioned ‘sunny stits’) among players who each had a different sound.

    Watch on YouTube at 11:14

Jazz Harmony According to Barry Harris. Part 1 [SUBTITLES]

  1. 36:22

    A teacher

    A teacher explaining Barry’s harmony says phrases built on F minor and diminished triads are heard from Parker or Stitt.

    Watch on YouTube at 36:22

Jazz GUITAR Reflections on BARRY HARRIS

  1. 50:34

    A student

    A musician who attended Barry’s classes recalls his piano teacher giving him tapes of Barry playing with Stitt.

    Watch on YouTube at 50:34

Ali Jackson’s ’Bout It, episode 7

  1. 0:00

    Someone else

    The episode’s host lists Stitt (‘sunny stick’) first among the elite musicians Barry worked with in the 1950s.

    Watch on YouTube

Barry Harris Workshop Madrid 2018

Madrid, 2018

  1. 0:00

    Someone else

    A Spanish presenter lists Stitt among the musicians Barry has played with.

    Watch on YouTube

In the interviews and notes

Recordings that name them

Barry’s performances and records in the archive that credit or name them.

Method ideas nearby

Ideas of the method taught in the classes where they come up, with how many mentions fall in each.

  1. 1.4Triplets and thinking in six1
  2. 11.1Two hands together1
  3. 11.2Keep the left hand low and make it interesting1
  4. 11.5Touch1
  5. 12.2Know the song; learn many songs; find your key1
  6. 15.4The lineage1
  7. 2.2The two whole-tone scales (‘man and woman’)1
  8. 2.3The three diminished seventh chords (‘the children’)1