Arville Harris

Last updated March 11, 2019

Arville Shirley Harris (1904–1954) was an American jazz reedist. He was the brother of Leroy Harris, Sr..

Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, United States, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and developed from roots in blues and ragtime. Jazz is seen by many as "America's classical music". Since the 1920s Jazz Age, jazz has become recognized as a major form of musical expression. It then emerged in the form of independent traditional and popular musical styles, all linked by the common bonds of African-American and European-American musical parentage with a performance orientation. Jazz is characterized by swing and blue notes, call and response vocals, polyrhythms and improvisation. Jazz has roots in West African cultural and musical expression, and in African-American music traditions including blues and ragtime, as well as European military band music. Intellectuals around the world have hailed jazz as "one of America's original art forms".

Harris was born in St. Louis and played on riverboats in the early 1920s. He worked in the bands of Hershal Brassfield and Bill Brown, then worked with Clarence Williams, including on recordings, late in the decade. Around the same time he recorded with Fats Waller, King Oliver, Eva Taylor, and Sara Martin. He played in Cab Calloway's group, including on tours of Europe, between 1931 and 1935. In the latter half of the 1930s he worked with Jacques Butler, Baron Lee, and Claude Hopkins. He led a band under his own name in New York at the Majestic Ballroom from ca. 1944 until his death.

Clarence Williams (musician) American jazz pianist, composer, producer, and publisher

Clarence Williams was an American jazz pianist, composer, promoter, vocalist, theatrical producer, and publisher.

Thomas Wright "Fats" Waller was an American jazz pianist, organist, composer, singer, and comedic entertainer. His innovations in the Harlem stride style laid the groundwork for modern jazz piano. His best-known compositions, "Ain't Misbehavin'" and "Honeysuckle Rose", were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1984 and 1999.

King Oliver American jazz cornet player and bandleader

Joseph Nathan "King" Oliver was an American jazz cornet player and bandleader. He was particularly recognized for his playing style and his pioneering use of mutes in jazz. Also a notable composer, he wrote many tunes still played today, including "Dippermouth Blues", "Sweet Like This", "Canal Street Blues", and "Doctor Jazz". He was the mentor and teacher of Louis Armstrong. His influence was such that Armstrong claimed, "if it had not been for Joe Oliver, Jazz would not be what it is today."

Related Research Articles

Fletcher Henderson American pianist, bandleader, arranger and composer

James Fletcher Hamilton Henderson Jr. was an American pianist, bandleader, arranger and composer, important in the development of big band jazz and swing music. He was one of the most prolific black musical arrangers and, along with Duke Ellington, is considered one of the most influential arrangers and bandleaders in jazz history. Henderson's influence was vast. He helped bridge the gap between the Dixieland and the swing eras. He was often known as "Smack" Henderson.

Tadley Ewing Peake Dameron was an American jazz composer, arranger, and pianist. Saxophonist Dexter Gordon called him the "romanticist" of the bop movement, while reviewer Scott Yanow wrote that Dameron was the "definitive arranger/composer of the bop era".

Stan Getz was an American jazz saxophonist. Playing primarily the tenor saxophone, Getz was known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, his prime influence being the wispy, mellow timbre of his idol, Lester Young. Coming to prominence in the late 1940s with Woody Herman's big band, Getz is described by critic Scott Yanow as "one of the all-time great tenor saxophonists". Getz performed in bebop and cool jazz groups. Influenced by João Gilberto and Antônio Carlos Jobim, he popularized bossa nova in America with the hit single "The Girl from Ipanema" (1964).

Andrew Hill was an American jazz pianist and composer.

Raymond Matthews Brown was an American jazz double bassist known for extensive work with Oscar Peterson and Ella Fitzgerald.

Joe Henderson was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. In a career spanning more than four decades, Henderson played with many of the leading American players of his day and recorded for several prominent labels, including Blue Note.

Jack DeJohnette is an American jazz drummer, pianist, and composer.

Percy Heath was an American jazz bassist, brother of saxophonist Jimmy Heath and drummer Albert Heath, with whom he formed the Heath Brothers in 1975. Heath played with the Modern Jazz Quartet throughout their long history and also worked with Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Wes Montgomery, and Thelonious Monk.

Eddie Harris was an American jazz musician, best known for playing tenor saxophone and for introducing the electrically amplified saxophone. He was also fluent on the electric piano and organ. His best-known compositions are "Freedom Jazz Dance", recorded and popularized by Miles Davis in 1966, and "Listen Here."

Bill Harris was a jazz trombonist.

Locksley Wellington "Slide" Hampton is an American jazz trombonist, composer and arranger. Described by critics as a master composer, arranger and uniquely gifted trombone player, Hampton's career is among the most distinguished in jazz. As his nickname implies, Hampton's main instrument is slide trombone, but he also occasionally plays tuba and flugelhorn.

Barry Doyle Harris is an American jazz pianist, bandleader, composer, arranger and educator. He is an exponent of the bebop style.

Thomas Lee Flanagan was an American jazz pianist and composer. He grew up in Detroit, initially influenced by such pianists as Art Tatum, Teddy Wilson, and Nat King Cole, and then by the newer bebop musicians. Within months of moving to New York in 1956, he had recorded with Miles Davis and on Sonny Rollins' landmark Saxophone Colossus. Recordings under various leaders, including the historically important Giant Steps of John Coltrane, and The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery, continued well into 1962, when he became vocalist Ella Fitzgerald's full-time accompanist. He worked with Fitzgerald for three years until 1965, and then in 1968 returned to be her pianist and musical director, this time for a decade.

John Josephus Hicks, Jr. was an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger. He was leader for more than 30 recordings and played as a sideman on more than 300.

Ralph Jose P. Burns was an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger.

Jack Wilson (jazz pianist) American pianist

Jack Wilson was an American jazz pianist and composer.

William Henry "Bill" Graham is an American jazz saxophonist.

Clyde Edric Barron Bernhardt was an American jazz trombonist.

Le Roy W. Harris Sr. was an American jazz multi-instrumentalist, who played banjo, guitar, and flute.

Le Roy Watts Harris Jr. was an American jazz reedist. He was the son of Leroy Harris Sr., and his uncle was Arville Harris.

References

"Arville Harris". The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz . 2nd edition, ed. Barry Kernfeld, 2004.

Barry Dean Kernfeld, is a musicologist and jazz saxophonist who has researched and published extensively about the history of jazz and the biographies of its musicians.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.