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Jazz Articles about Donald Harrison

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Album Review

Eddie Henderson: Witness To History

Read "Witness To History" reviewed by Mike Jurkovic


Make no mistake: it is the hot buttered soul, “Shaft"-like theme of “Scorpio Rising" that first snags one's attention. But once snagged, the old cool sets in and Witness To History, trumpeter Eddie Henderson's self curated soundtrack, unwinds with a wicked fervor. A deep, wicked joy. Henderson--who has pretty much seen it all from the impulsive, jazz rock Realization (Capricorn, 1973) through The Cookers to the still palpable Shuffle and Deal (Smoke Avenue, 2020)--looks back for a PBS ...

5
Album Review

Eddie Henderson: Witness To History

Read "Witness To History" reviewed by Dave Linn


Dr. Eddie Henderson, 82 years old at the time of writing in 2023, has one of the most interesting stories in modern jazz and is a true Renaissance man. His parents were entertainers; his mother was a dancer at the original Cotton Club while his father was a member of the popular singing group Billy Williams and the Charioteers. Later, his stepfather was a doctor to Miles Davis, John Coltrane and Duke Ellington. When he was nine years old, his ...

1
Liner Notes

Dino Betti van der Noot: Here Comes Springtime

Read "Dino Betti van der Noot: Here Comes Springtime" reviewed by AAJ Staff


There are some musicians whose instrument is the orchestra. They hear multiple voices, textures, harmonic designs. And if they are jazz composers, they hear the sweet and pungent tension between the orchestra and the improvising soloist. If, moreover, they are composers interested in more than self-gratification, they hear, as they write, particular players so that the ultimate scores reflect a range of individual personalities, each of them telling their own stories as well as that of the composer.

6
Album Review

The Headhunters: Speakers In The House

Read "Speakers In The House" reviewed by Doug Collette


Herbie Hancock's Headhunters (Columbia, 1973) remains one of the seminal works of the jazz fusion era. The group's heavy emphasis on rhythm not only separated it from its guitar-oriented peers of the era, the Mahavishnu Orchestra and the middle-period Return to Forever, but also from Weather Report: grooves became increasingly more prominent as that band evolved, but never to the depth of Hancock and company's all-encompassing funk. That solid foundation is more than enough distinction for the first ...

3
Album Review

The Headhunters: Speakers In The House

Read "Speakers In The House" reviewed by Chris May


Although it appears to have been self-released in limited numbers in 2019, this Ropeadope release of Speakers In The House is effectively the Headhunters's first album since Platinum (Owl) in 2011. The band continues to be led and produced by its two Herbie Hancock-era members, percussionist Bill Summers and drummer Mike Clark, who together have kept the outfit intermittently active since Hancock moved on to other things in the mid 1970s. Summers played on the band's debut, ...

7
Album Review

Clifford Lamb: Blues & Hues New Orleans

Read "Blues & Hues New Orleans" reviewed by Kyle Simpler


There are quite a few cities in the world that have an important musical legacy, and in many cases, the city's musical history might be one of the first things people associate with it. Take New Orleans. Commonly known as the birthplace of jazz, it's hard to imagine New Orleans without conjuring up brass bands, jazz clubs and juke joints. San Francisco-based pianist Clifford Lamb explores New Orleans' musical and cultural aspects with Blues & Hues New Orleans by offering ...

5
Radio & Podcasts

Art Blakey and the Young Lions - The Marsalis Bros., Donald Harrison Jr, Bobby Watson (1981 - 1991)

Read "Art Blakey and the Young Lions - The Marsalis Bros., Donald Harrison Jr, Bobby Watson (1981 - 1991)" reviewed by Russell Perry


As the 1970s came to a close, many musicians searching for alternatives to jazz-rock fusion or free jazz found a home in straight-ahead acoustic jazz. Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, whose Blue Note contract was not renewed in 1964, had spent a decade in relative obscurity, when he came roaring back with a series of legendary ensembles that fueled this return to jazz classicism. The alumni of this revived band became the core of The Young Lions, as they ...


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