We're excited to bring the music of Bennie Harris (affectionately known as "Little" Bennie Harris) to the jazzleadsheets.com catalog. Bennie was a trumpeter and composer associated with the original bebop scene in the '40s. Several of his compositions have become standards, but they're not always properly credited. Wahoo, one of two Harris songs now on jazzleadsheets.com, has often hidden in plain sight: it's frequently played as a shout chorus for the Juan Tizol standard Perdido, whose chord progression it shares. Wahoo definitely stands alone as its own song; our lead sheet is based on the first issued recording, a live version by Tadd Dameron's quintet.
Bennie Harris stopped playing in the '50s, but he remained closely connected to the scene as a talent scout, helping to launch the careers of younger hard bop musicians such as Joe Gordon and Tina Brooks. Evidently, he was still composing in the '60s, as shown by Mid Nite Lament. This beautiful, haunting ballad is still very obscure but, by making the lead sheet available, we hope it will get the recognition it deserves. It was recorded in 1963 in Los Angeles by alto saxophonist Earl Anderza, featuring the brilliant but under-recognized trumpeter Dupree Bolton; this recording was unreleased until 2007. We also now have a video of this song on our YouTube channel, played by alto saxophonist Elijah Shiffer and pianist Ben Rosenblum at the jazzleadsheets.com studio.
One more Don Friedman song is also now available. From A To Z is a Friedman classic—equal parts bossa and baroque. Like others of his songs, Don recorded this one several times in a variety of settings and tempos. Our lead sheet is based on the last recording of this song, from his quartet album "Friday A.M." In 2011, Don recorded it in a duo setting with then 15-year-old bass prodigy Daryl Johns at Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. Exclusive audio and video is available as well as for the other songs Don and Daryl recorded at this session.