The Music Of JC Harris

positively the most intelligent progressive rock on this here planet

positively the most intelligent progressive rock on this here planet

Rants By Topic

Music Appreciation

I Remember It Like It Was Yesterday

Taylor Swift in 1989. Miles Davis in 1969. The Emperor’s New Clothes. Hypothermia. Why there is no new music. And why we like it that way.

Roger CortonSo you had a letter printed in Time?

JCHWell, a snippet. I wrote one of my rants about the recent cover story on Taylor Swift.

RCWith all that’s going on in the world, why get worked up about some pop star?

JCHShe ain’t ‘some pop star’. She’s the pop star. And, as you may know, the title of the record (1989) is her birth year. The gag is that it’s supposed to be a summary of all the influences throughout her life.

RCBut it doesn’t sound like 1989. At least, not the music I remember from 1989.

JCHExactamundo. EDM wasn’t around. If the beats sound like 1989, it’s a porn soundtrack from 1989.

RCAll EDM sounds like a porn soundtrack.

JCHIt’s true. Anyhoo, I had this realisation: I can’t think […]

Please Stop Trying To Milk That Poor, Little Tarkus!

I originally wrote this rant in November of 2014 but left it unpublished.

Emerson, Lake & Palmer recorded the album Tarkus in 1971. But since they disbanded many years ago, I think I’ve seen enough ‘solo versions’ of Tarkus for a Jon Stewart montage. Keith Emerson with a big band. Keith Emerson with an orchestra. Keith Emerson unplugged. Keith Emerson with some young guys. Keither Emerson with some old guys.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKNOlDtZluU

Look, Tarkus is a great piece of music. I don’t mean ‘for prog’, I mean of any kind of music. It may be the best instrumental piece of the entire genre. In fact, it may be one of the best pieces of music of any kind composed in my lifetime. It’s way better than almost any of the pretentious concert music I can think of at the moment. It sounds as fresh and challenging today as it did when Keith wrote it in 1971. But guess what? Tarkus was done in 1971. Complete. Fin.

The thing that irks the living crap […]

Pay Attention, Frank. It’s The Commendatore!

Frank Zappa. Don Giovanni, Intentional listening.

Roger CortonWe got the most comments since I’ve been on board about your remark regarding Frank Zappa Guitar Player. You touched a nerve.

JCHYeah, I don’t have to work very hard to alienate people it seems. I got to fill in at Don Giovanni and it happened there too.

RCI didn’t know there were any parts for Telecaster in Mozart.

JCHThere’s not. But there is a mandolin bit at the beginning of Act II. A lot of operas have these oddball interludes. I actually only had about two minutes of work and that was the problem. They were not thrilled when I asked if I could split after my part was over. There’s this seemingly inviolable rule against moving once the music starts. If you don’t have anything to do? Tough. So asking was in itself a reason to not be considered for future work.

RCSo this is what gets me about you. You know this, […]

Post Tour Wrap-Up 2014

Recovering from the smash hit Fall Tour 2014. Frank Zappa. Prokofiev. James Brown. Whatever happened to radio? Real DJs and The Electrifying Mojo?

Roger CortonSo now that you’re back from Fall Tour 2014, how did it all go? I saw some cell phone video and you were really playing the piano. What was that?

JCH(laughing) People always seem so surprised. I don’t get it.

RCWell, you do some virtuosic stuff on record, but it’s always in these short bursts. It’s just different when…

JCH…when it’s more than fifteen seconds. (laughing) No I get it. I just read an old Frank Zappa column…

RCMay he rest in peace.

JCH…yeah I forgot you’re one of those acolytes. Anyhoo, in it Frank admits that he’s just not that great a player and…

RCSacrilege!

JCHYeah, yeah, yeah. As I way saying, he basically talks about how he’s trying to tell a story with his solos and he’s got some notes […]

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