Anthology

Like David "Fathead" Newman, Eddie Harris mixed R&B with jazz. Harris enjoyed pop hits with 1961's "Exodus," 1968's "Listen Here," and his 1969 live album with Les McCann, Swiss Movement. Harris never achieved Newman's robust "fathead" tone on the sax nor his supple melodicism, and is likely to be remembered as a journeyman saxophonist who scored a few fluke hits and dabbled with electronic reeds and trumpets with reed mouthpieces. Nine of the box set's 24 tracks, selected and annotated by Harris himself, feature the superlative rhythm section of Billy Higgins, Ron Carter, and Cedar Walton, but Harris's pinched tone and predictable chord-running fail to take advantage. --Geoffrey Himes