Barry Harris
Piano Solo on
Meditation

About

Barry Harris's piano solo is the second of two improvisations on this recording, following Gordon's tenor saxophone. Taking one chorus of the 56-bar AABA form in C at 144 BPM, Harris brings his bebop-rooted approach to the bossa nova context. The meeting of his hard bop vocabulary with Jobim's harmonic language creates an intriguing contrast, Harris navigating the extended form with the fluency and harmonic sophistication that made him one of the most respected jazz pianists of his generation.

Barry Harris was 39 to 40 years old at the time.