Bill Harris - The Blues-Soul of Bill Harris. Complete Mercury Recordings (2013)

When Bill Harris recorded his first album as a leader in 1956, he had already been the electric guitar accompanist for The Cloversone of the most outstanding R&B vocal groupssince 1949. Fellow guitarist Mickey Baker recommended him to Mercury/EmArcys A&R head, Bob Shad, and it is to Shads credit that he gave Harris so much scope on his debut. The full colored natural sound of Harriss unamplified Spanish guitar is a rare and interesting pleasure. In the words of Nat Hentoff, the blues-soul of Harris courses richly through everything he plays.

On his second album for the label, The Harris Touch, Bill was backed by a conventional rhythm section and a bongo player. The session featured the excellent piano work of Hank Jones, with three of the tunes vehicles to showcase of Harriss electric guitar. On the Mercury/Wing album, Harris again performs solo, displaying his remarkable feeling for the unamplified guitar in both jazz and semi-classical contexts. The fourth album on this set is also a solo recital, recorded during a Bill Harris concert in Washington in 1962. Harris plays with engaging easiness in a live program which mainly includes material from the other three albums, demonstrating his abilities as an improviser of lovely, rhythmically resilient variations.

Down Beat magazine defined his style as a combination of beauty, lyricism, charm and solid strength. This collection of performances is both a masterpiece of guitar versatility and a master class in improvisation.