Bossa Nova

When the bossa nova wave came crashing through America, naturally the folks at VeeJay thought that their star saxophonist should give it a shot -- and this LP came and went with the tide. But far from being a casual response to a fad, this is a great record, one where Harris came to his own comfortable accomodation with the Brazilian idiom without the aid of a single Luiz Bonfa or A.C. Jobim standard. Harris not only retains his own sound, he leans pleasingly into the bossa groove with a lightness of tone and swing that rivals pack leader Stan Getz, and he even stretches out into feverish Coltrane territory in his solo on the ten-minute "Cev Y Mar." Credit a young neighborly Argentinian, the endlessly versatile Lalo Schifrin, for the solid piano work, half of the tunes, and the gritty group arrangements, but it is Eddie who comes up with the most beguiling composition, "Lolita Marie." Also guitarist Jimmy Raney checks in on a few tracks with some relaxed bop licks. ~ Richard S. Ginell