Harry South is virtually unknown in the States today, but in the U.K. and throughout much of Europe, he was a highly regarded English jazz pianist, composer and arranger. South began his career in the early 1950s and remained active until 1990, when he died in March of that year. Interestingly, many of his small-group recording sessions in the 1950s had a West Coast jazz feel while the big bands he led tended to have an swinging East Coast feel.
Now, Britain's RnB Records has released Harry South: The Songbook, a compilation of South's work over four decades. In the States, this compilation appears on a single album, but in Europe, it's a four-CD set. I have the box and it's killer, so if you can find it on eBay, grab it.
South was an interesting player and leader. In the 1950s, the ensembles he played with were packed with aggressive British jazz superstars. Recordings such as Bandbox (with a band led by drummer Basil Kirchin), Dance of the Aerophragytes and Ode to Ernie (with saxophonist Tubby Hayes) remain powerhouse examples of British jazz at its very best. By 1960, South led one of the finest modern big bands in England, on par with ones led by Hayes and Vic Lewis. The band's arrangements had a Quincy Jones jazz-meets-TV feel, especially on songs such as The Goblin, Afterthought and Closing Time. In fact, by the 1970s, South worked extensively for British television. Perhaps he's best known there today for his theme to the ITV police drama The Sweeney.
As South says on a short clip at the end of the box, "I've been asked to give a cross-section of the music I've been asked to write.... The only thing I can say is it's all my music." Indeed it was.
JazzWax tracks: In the States, you'll find the album (a single album) here. It's also available on Spotify.
If you want what Europe has—the four-CD box set with a 36-page liner notes booklet—go to eBay and be sure to type in "four-CD" and confirm that this is the product you're buying. The South biography in the notes is by Mark Baxter; Simon Spillett wrote an analysis of South's music.
JazzWax clips: Here's South's big band on Last Orders in 1965...
Here's a bunch of songs from the album...
from JazzWax http://ift.tt/2t5IC4r
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