Cass Harrison - The Duke and I + Wrappin' It Up (2 LP on 1 CD) (2023)

The Duke and I
Born in New York in 1917, Cass Harrison studied classical piano and composition at Julliard. He toured with the big bands of the 1940s and his own groups throughout the United States and South America. In 1956, on his first M-G-M album, Harrison delved into Duke Ellington’s extensive songbook. In addition to two familiar selections, “Azure” and “Prelude”, he brought out some minor treasures, old Ellington tunes like “Move Over”, “Yearning for Love”, “Stevedore’s Serenade” or “Ridding on the Moon”, which are an interesting testament to his genius. Harrison shows that he was a very talented pianist who should have been better known. He was technically facile, imaginative, fresh in his harmonic conception and possessed one of the most rock-ribbed beats imaginable.

Wrappin' It Up
Three decades of jazz piano are reflected in this second album by Cass Harrison, recorded in 1957 also for M-G-M, in which the pianist interprets the work of six outstanding pianist-composers: Fats Waller, Earl Hines, Horace Henderson, Duke Ellington, Fletcher Henderson and George Wallington. While Cass Harrison’s playing was thoroughly modern, he tried to be faithful to each composition, interpreting it in the rhythm and style of his creator while infusing each piece with something new through his own harmonic and rhythmic ideas. Three seasoned musicians of the New York jazz scene, Milton Hinton on bass, along with either Cozy Cole or Jo Jones on drums, provided backing for Cass Harrison on this recording.