Eddie Harris' final "authorized" studio date, like most in the last decade-and-a-half of his life, is a conservative acoustic blowing session, trying one last time to capture the minds and hearts of bop-minded purists. Frankly, he never sounded better on tenor than he does here, his tone luminous, the freak high notes perfectly integrated into his uniquely swinging style, his ballad phrasing infused with an even more poignant singing quality. He had a crack backup piano trio in tow, anchored by his old cohort
Billy Hart on drums (who sounds freer than ever), with the emerging
Jacky Terrasson on piano and
George Mraz on bass. Yet the CD's mainstream idiom is cautious in the extreme -- "Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho" à la
Trane is about as adventurous as this quartet gets (and
Harris was into that style when it was current) -- and the only
Harris original is the title tune, albeit superbly done. As a document of
Eddie Harris in full bloom as a hard bopper,
Freedom Jazz Dance is marvelous, but reveals only one side of this bewilderingly multi-faceted, innovative musician -- and as such, it is an incomplete memorial. [A Japanese version adds a bonus track.]