Renowned guitarist Joel Harrison has been a fixture on the contemporary jazz scene for decades, yet that hasn’t stopped from exploring disparate parts of the musical spectrum. In fact, some of his most popular works have featured jazz interpretations of unlikely material, be they country music standards or George Harrison-penned classics.
Harrison’s latest effort, The Other River, finds him tackling the singer-songwriter style from a progressive jazz angle as he blends a contemporary sound with lyrics reminiscent of Leonard Cohen or Paul Simon. The forthcoming album is slated for release on July 14, but today we’re premiering it’s second track. Dubbed “Scarecrow Ray,” the song tells a story through the eyes of a conflicted man who has an encounter with a person whose suffering he struggles to understand.
“This song is based on an experience I had long, long ago on a Greyhound bus traveling across Texas,” Harrison explains. “A rail-thin man sat down next to me who was mute. He had no bags, and was dressed in threadbare clothes. He tried to converse with me with his hands. He began to have an epileptic seizure, and I literally stuck my hand down his throat (twice) and kept him from suffocating. His mute suffering, mixed with his gentle and lovely smile, his terrible helplessness, seemed mythic to me. Here was the suffering of all the world in one lonely man, and the whole bus looked away, while I, an innocent young lad, fought off my fear and helped him. Would I do it today? I don’t know. Most of us turn away from the suffering of others. We can’t help it. He was thrown off the bus in the middle of nowhere.”
The song’s dark and introspective lyrics are complemented by an intriguing, understated groove that almost seems cheery compared to the subject matter. According to Harrison, this contrast was part of the plan.
“I wanted a ‘Peter Gabriel’ type feel to the groove, having abandoned a rather conventional ballad approach,” Harrison notes. “The three guitars overlaid on top of the groove interlock in a weave and hopefully draw the listener into a mesmerizing, hypnotic place. Maybe I was also thinking of mesmerizing beats like ‘Yellow Moon’ by the Nevilles. Something to buoy you up in the face of the blue subject matter.”
Give “Scarecrow Ray” a listen and hear for yourself:
