As guitarist, composer and vocalist, Washington D.C. native Joel Harrison occupies a musical space between many worlds: jazz, African and Indian, contemporary classical, blues and Appalachian songs all have a place in his unique approach.
In early 2006, Joel Harrison was commissioned by Chamber Music America and
the French
Cultural Alliance to compose music for an allstar group of French and
American jazz
musicians. The music on Harbor (released in April on Highnote) is a crossroads of jazz, rock, Indian, and African
music where lyricism
meets electronics, raga meets jazz harmony, and the after effects of Miles
meets Messiaen
and the Middle East. The sophisticated writing marks Harrison as one of the
jazz world’s
premier composers. Renowned guitarist Pete McCann replaces French-Vietnamese
guitarist
Nguyen Le for this tour.
In addition to music from Harbor, Harrison may perform work from his
previous CD’s, Free
Country (radical jazz takes on Appalachian songs) and Harrison on Harrison
(re-imaging
George Harrison’s music from a jazz perspective), as well as works from
McCann’s latest CD. Harrison is best known for his composing and arranging skills. He has twice been selected as the winner of the Jazz Composer’s Alliance Julius Hemphill Composition Competition, and has been the recipient of grants from Chamber Music America, Meet the Composer, the Cary Trust, NYSCA, and others. His recent solo for marimba recently won 1st place in the Percussion Arts Society’s worldwide competition. Harrison has been a guest of the MacDowell and VCCA artist colonies. His allies in his various projects have included Dave Liebman, Norah Jones, David Binney, Jamey Haddad, Dan Weiss, Dewey Redman, Uri Caine, Todd Reynolds, Wendy Sutter, Christian Howes, and Caleb Burhans, and of course, the fabulously talented touring group that you are about to hear!
“That the playing on Harbor is uniformly outstanding is a given. What makes
it an early
contender for one of 2007’s best is Harrison’s emergence as a writer who
entirely dispenses
with boundaries and, instead, creates his own pan-cultural and
multi-stylistic mélange that’s
as timeless as it is thoroughly modern.”
All About Jazz
“This is no rattling of cultural loose change…a striking balance between
improvisation,
composition, texture, and color. The feel is contemporary, the moods varied,
the results
impressive.”
Irish Times: 5 star review
"Free-thinking guitarist Joel Harrison is best known for retooling country classics with Norah Jones on the brilliant 2003 disc "Free Country" (and George Harrison tunes on the avant CD "Harrison on Harrison"). But his new album "Harbor" is all about his own fascinating writing, cribbed from Indian music, New Orleans street beats, contemporary classical composers and Miles Davis fusion, among other pleasures. He brings a band capable of realizing his polyglot vision: Memphis-bred bassist/composer Stephan Crump, rockin' jazz guitar renegade Pete McGann and drummer Jordan Perlson. Expect to be wowed." The Big Gigs, Tom Surowicz Minneapolis Star Tribune
Post new comment