More on Prince. Tavis Smiley interviews. Re-invention. Fan trust. Covers. What’s in a name? Lenny Bruce. Goyish or Jewish?

Roger CortonI read your post on Prince. You’ve talked many times of the difficulty in mixing yourself.

JCHIt’s awful. You tend to hear the music as you wish it sounded. You don’t hear it as it is. I’ve rarely talked with other musicians about it, but it’s as clear to me as a sky of azure that almost everyone suffers from this to one degree or another. Which is why it’s so dangerous to be a one-man-band. But he had that gift. Apart from all his other talents, that was the deal–seeing reality for what it is.

RCSo you’re downplaying his playing (sorry.) But you do the same things. You do it all.

JCHI’m gonna get punished for this, but from what I can hear he was an OK guitar player, drummer, whatever.

RCSeriously? ‘OK’?

JCHLook, I’m not Trump so don’t […]

Second details on an upcoming new album called “Progress”. Calculus or just derivative? Chaplin vs. Lucy and Ethel. Jon Anderson. Fusion guitar shredding. Guitar quartets at 120db. Self-driving cars and a total loss of control.

Roger CortonIn our last action-packed episode, we started talking about your new album progress, and the concept behind it. You said that you thought that “progress” was inevitable, or at least that we all think it is inevitable. We are so indoctrinated to the idea that progress is good that we can’t imagine life any other way. You even compared it to gravity; a hidden force that we all assume is ever present.

JCHWhat a concise summation, dear friend. I salute you.

RCAnd I salute your salutation. You also hinted at the music. Care to comment on that?

JCHSure. When I started thinking about this record, I fretted and fretted and fretted and fretted.

RCAnd not on the geetar.

JCHCute. As I was saying, I […]

First details on an upcoming new album called Progress. Genesis 1:28. Star Trek. The Organians. Klingons. Nietzche. Chinese island builders. Brave New World. The irony of a static music culture in an ever-changing world.

Roger CortonSo it’s time to start talking about the next record? I seem to recall you first hinting at this way back last July.

JCHYes. It’s a concept I’ve been thinking about for a looooong time. The working title is “Progress”.

RCAnd is that title ironic? I also seem to recall you going on about how much you hate how sarcastic and ironic the world has become. First the price hike and now this. The hypocrisy of it all.

JCHPerhaps you’re right. I’m less argumentative than I used to be.

RCYOU?

JCHMe. Perhaps it’s age catching up with me. But the idea of the record is definitely to question the idea of progress.

RCExplain, please.

JCHIt dawned on me one day that my […]

Prices on CDs raised to $16.95! But hell hasn’t frozen over. Yet. But wait: there’s a totally cheesy sale on remaining CDs. But only if you act now! FAQ hypocrisy. Artistic worth.

Roger CortonJC Harris seems to have raised the price of his CDs to the industry standard $16.95. And yet–I’ll have to check the weather on my phone–but hell does not appear to be freezing over at the moment.

JCHI assume you’re referring to this:

$9.95 Seems Like An Odd Amount To Charge?

RCYes. So, the first question is: are you now eating your words? Could it be that your pricing model was, as (cough) some of us have suggested over the years, too damned cheap? Are you, like The Fonz, now ready to say, “I was wrrrrrrrrrrrrron….”

JCHEnough already. I feel bad enough […]

Keith never made the turn into the great second career he deserved as a serious composer. On the other hand, he almost single handedly invented the position of keyboard player and that is more than enough for him to be remembered as one of the greatest musicians of our age.