Joel Harrison | |
|---|---|
 Harrison in Aarhus in Denmark, 2011 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | July 27, 1957 Washington, D.C., United States |
| Genres | Jazz, avant-garde jazz |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, composer, arranger |
| Instrument(s) | Guitar |
| Labels | 9 Winds, Koch Jazz, ACT, HighNote, Sunnyside, Cuneiform, Whirlwind |
| Website | www |
Joel Harrison is an American jazz guitarist, singer, composer, and arranger.
Harrison was born in Washington, D.C., and graduated from Bard College, New York, in 1980 with a Bachelor of Arts in composition and performance. [1] His father was Gilbert Harrison, the editor and owner of the magazine The New Republic , [2] and his mother was Anne Harrison (née Blaine.)
Harrison has identified the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, the Allman Brothers Band and Washington guitarist Danny Gatton as early influences. [2] Having begun his career as a musician in Boston during the early 1980s, [3] Harrison moved to the Bay Area of San Francisco, where he led several musical ensembles and became a session musician. [4] Since 1999, he has been based in New York City. [4] His mentors and teachers have included Joan Tower, Ali Akbar Khan, W. A. Mathieu, and Charlie Banacos. [1] [3]
In 2010, Harrison was appointed a Guggenheim Fellow. [3] That same year, he founded the Alternative Guitar Summit (AGS), [3] an annual festival in New York that aims to present and explore the guitar's potential in all musical genres. [5] The AGS advisory board is headed by Pat Metheny, while the Summit has included dozens of guitarists including Marc Ribot, Nels Cline, Michael Gregory Jackson, Bill Frisell, Fred Frith, Steve Cardenas,and Miles Okazaki. [6]
Several of Harrison's albums have received critical acclaim, including Free Country (2003), Harrison on Harrison (2005) and Urban Myths (2009). [4] His work has included film scores, big-band projects, [4] and a collaboration with Indian sarod player Anupam Shobhakar titled Leave the Door Open (2013). [7] The AllMusic website describes Harrison's style as an "electrifying blend of creative jazz, modern classical, and ethnic fusion", [4] while Down Beat magazine has rated him "a guitarist, composer and arranger of amazing skill and breadth". [3] His collaborators have included Dave Liebman, Donny McCaslin, Gary Versace, David Binney, Dewey Redman, Norah Jones, Uri Caine and Christian Howes. [1]
The Quarrymen are a British skiffle/rock and roll group, formed by John Lennon in Liverpool in 1956, which evolved into the Beatles in 1960. Originally consisting of Lennon and several schoolfriends, the Quarrymen took their name from a line in the school song of their school, the Quarry Bank High School. Lennon's mother, Julia, taught her son to play the banjo, showed Lennon and Eric Griffiths how to tune their guitars in a similar way to the banjo, and taught them simple chords and songs.
James "Kermit" Driscoll is an American jazz bassist. He is known for his long association with guitarist Bill Frisell.
David “Dave” Holland is an English cellist, double bassist, bass guitarist, composer and bandleader who has been performing and recording for five decades. He has lived in the United States since the early 1970s.
Stephen Paul Motian was an American jazz drummer, percussionist, and composer. Motian played an important role in freeing jazz drummers from strict time-keeping duties.
Kurt Rosenwinkel is an American jazz guitarist, composer, bandleader, producer, educator, keyboardist and record label owner.
Kenny Barron is an American jazz pianist, who has appeared on hundreds of recordings as leader and sideman and is considered one of the most influential mainstream jazz pianists since the bebop era.
Ben Allison is an American double bassist, composer, producer, bandleader, educator. In addition to his work as a performer, he co-founded the non-profit Jazz Composers Collective and served as its Artistic Director for twelve years. Allison is an adjunct professor at New School University and serves on the board of the New York chapter of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, where he serves as President.
John Hollenbeck is an American jazz drummer and composer known for his work with The Claudia Quintet and Bob Brookmeyer.
David Binney is an American alto saxophonist and composer.
Miles Okazaki is an American jazz guitarist and composer. Okazaki is a lecturer of jazz guitar at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
Raymond Russell is an English session musician and experimental Jazz/Rock guitarist. He is also a record producer and composer. Russell made his professional debut as Vic Flick's replacement as lead guitarist in the John Barry Seven.
Donald Paul McCaslin is an American jazz saxophonist. He has recorded over a dozen albums as a bandleader in addition to many sideman appearances, including on David Bowie's final studio album, Blackstar (2016).
Steve Cardenas is a guitarist who began his career in Kansas City, Missouri and has been part of the New York City jazz community since 1995.
Anupam Shobhakar is an Indian musician, composer, instrumentalist, record producer, and classically trained sarodist currently living in Brooklyn, New York. He has released three world fusion albums, and one classical Indian music album. He has performed live around the world at various venues and for charitable causes. Shobhakar's track "Water" made it to the first round of the Grammy Awards.
Rez Abbasi is a Pakistan-born American jazz guitarist, composer, and record producer based in New York City.
Nir Felder is a Grammy-winning American jazz and session guitarist, composer, and music producer. In addition to leading his own band, Felder has performed and recorded with a diverse array of artists across the jazz and popular music genre spectrum, including Diana Krall, Brad Mehldau, John Mayer, Rina Sawayama, Ben Platt, Chaka Khan, Keyon Harrold, Robert Glasper, Chris Dave, PJ Morton, Snarky Puppy, Terrace Martin, Kamasi Washington, Erykah Badu, Common, Anderson .Paak, Dave Chapelle, Dave Matthews Band, Benson Boone, Cautious Clay, Faith Evans, Skylar Grey, Pigeons Playing Ping Pong, Terri Lyne Carrington, Vijay Iyer, Blood Sweat and Tears, Chuck Mangione, Greg Osby, Jordan Smith, Amy Schumer, Victor Wooten, Shoshana Bean, Jack DeJohnette, Esperanza Spalding, Bobby McFerrin, Meshell Ndegeocello, Dianne Reeves, the New York City Opera, and others. In both 2021 and 2023, he won Downbeat Magazine's Critic's Poll for "Rising Star Guitarist."
Leave the Door Open is an album by American jazz guitarist Joel Harrison and North Indian sarod player Anupam Shobhakar. It was released on 10 March 2014 on Whirlwind Recordings.
Harrison on Harrison, subtitled Jazz Explorations of George Harrison, is an album by the American jazz guitarist and arranger Joel Harrison released in October 2005. It contains jazz interpretations of ten songs written by the former Beatle George Harrison, who died in November 2001, together with a version of the gospel standard "In My Father's House".
Free Country is an album by the American jazz guitarist and arranger Joel Harrison released in June 2003. It consists of jazz interpretations of country and folk songs. The album contains musical contributions from David Binney, Uri Caine and, as a guest vocalist, Norah Jones. Free Country has received praise from music critics for its success in fusing the jazz and country genres.
Vicente Archer is an American jazz musician.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Academics | |
| Artists | |
| Other | |
