Harris describes Legacy Dances as both a celebration and a tribute to electro-soul-jazz innovator Casey Benjamin who passed away in 2024. These are his last recordings. They are memorable for his crusty sax solos as well as his vocoder voice manipulations and the strange sounds from the aerophone.
Back down on Planet Earth, along with his band Blackout, Harris plays vibes and marimba very effectively throughout. Libation features Braimah's djembe and there's all sorts going on beneath Dwayne Clark's dramatic narration of We Are an African People.
Echoes of the Lion and West End Blues are inspired by Willie 'the Lion' Smith and Louis Armstrong respectively. The former, not surprisingly, has a lot of piano whilst on the latter Harris recreates note for note what was, arguably, the first great jazz cadenza on record.
It took me awhile before I got to grips with everything that was happening and the philosophical concept is something I'm still struggling with but, at the end of the day, it's one to seek out and to make your own mind up. You'll find a lot of hidden depths. One thing is for sure, if you're into vibraphones you'll want to add it to your bucket list. Lance
Legacy Dances; Wonderful World Intro; What a Wonderful World; Echoes of the Lion; West End Blues; I Know Love; Ell's Boogie; A Radical's Love; Libation; We Are an African People; I Know Love (extended version)
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