Stan Harrison - Some Poor Soul Has a Fire (2024) [Hi-Res]

Stan Harrison, born in Philadelphia, raised in New Jersey, and a resident of New York City for the last few decades (with a two-year stay in London tucked in there), is a saxophone player/composer who has traveled the globe performing and/or recording, sound-checking, rehearsing, bussing, flying, dining, laughing, emoting, etc., with David Bowie, Serge Gainsbourg, Radiohead, Laurie Anderson, They Might Be Giants, The Borneo Horns, Talking Heads, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Duran Duran, Taylor Mac, Bruce Springsteen, Mick Jagger, Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes, Stevie Van Zandt, and many others.

But don’t let these credits mislead you. Harrison is also a jazz musician and has been since he first heard the music of Cannonball Adderley, John Coltrane, Miles Davis. He studied composition most recently with the phenomenal composer, Huang Ruo, and less recently with Dennis Sandole (with whom he also studied improvisation and music in general) and Robert Moevs. He is one of a growing number of musicians who are just as at home listening to Elliott Carter as to James Carter; Anton Webern as to Anna Weber. The world of music is his oyster, to embarrassingly borrow a tired cliche, and as will be heard in his distinctive music, there is no obvious way to define it.

Which brings us to Harrison’s current album, Some Poor Soul Has a Fire. And which brings me to speaking in the first person. For one thing, the music on this album is quite varied. Once you listen to 'They Must Be Praying' or 'All That Remains' you might be surprised to hear a piece like 'It’s Time to Put the Dog to Bed.' 'What’s Left Unsaid' could not be further away from 'Introduction to a Continuation/To Be Continued...', which is as far away from anything I’ve written as anything I’ve ever written with the exception of 'Some Poor Soul Has a Fire.' 'Joy' might (or might not) be said to tie things together, to come full circle, to end things on a positive note, to recall the sort of music you heard at the beginning with the opening notes of '(Smaller Than) The Big Picture' and 'The Details.'

The music is, for the most part, performed by a quartet of bass, drums, piano/keys, and tenor saxophone. A guitar player joins us on two pieces. A string quartet, on another one, along with a vocal by yours truly. Clarinet, bass clarinet and alto flute also make an appearance. I’ll name the musicians elsewhere but that’s all that I’ll tell you. As you can see, I’m being vague, but I’m being vague on purpose. Trying to describe music accurately is somewhere between difficult and impossible and I’d only end up misleading you. So, I won’t. But there’s just a bit more to say...

As the liner notes show, some of the music is inspired by extra-musical things: incidents which occurred long ago that continue to occupy a space in my mind, a torn page in a comic book, a sentence in a novel, an overarching view of existence...maybe that does sound a bit much. But it’s all part of it. Then again, it’s not always part of it. The music and the titles often come from and lead to different places. The title, 'The Details,' is more about a way of thinking than about any one piece of music. '(Smaller Than) The Big Things'...What does that mean? You tell me. How does it relate to the music? I can’t answer that.

Some Poor Soul Has a Fire... Now, that title is filled with personal meaning which I don’t think anyone will figure out on their own. But it’s all explained in the liner notes. Let’s just say that it’s cathartic to a small degree. It gives voice to a phrase which has been bouncing around in my head since my Mother said it, many, many years ago. The details will be continued elsewhere. Everything will be continued.

Everything is an introduction to a continuation...

PS - In case you’re wondering what I did during the Covid lockdown, I released a well-accepted (if I may say so) series of short compositions, each with video accompaniment. They can be heard and seen on YouTube under the title, Twenty Seconds of Something. And in them you might hear a hint of what is on Some Poor Soul Has a Fire.

Stan Harrison’s latest album, Some Poor Soul Has a Fire, is a collection of nine original pieces, all quite different from one another but unified by their distinctive sound and approach. There is an equal emphasis on composition and improvisation, often combined in imaginative and unexpected ways, and always energetically performed. Harrison is joined by a cast of absolutely fantastic musicians: Kim Cass (bass), Steven Crammer (drums) and Elias Stemeseder (piano, Una Cords, synths) who provide the backbone of the album. Virtuoso guitarist, Michael Gregory Jackson, can be heard wailing on two pieces, and a string quartet - Sara Caswell (violin), Erin Benim Mayland (violin), Carla Fabiani (Viola) and Jessie Reagen (cello) - are a major part of the only vocal piece on the album, a piece unlike any of the others.

Kim Cass - Bass
Steven Crammer - Drums
Elias Stemeseder - Piano, Una Corda, Synths
Stan Harrison - Tenor Sax, Secondary guitar (2, 4), Vocal (7)
Michael Gregory Jackson - Guitar (2, 4)
Sara Caswell - Violin (7)
Erin Benim Mayland - Violin (7)
Carla Fabiani - Viola (7)
Jessie Readen - Cello (7)