Jazz Articles about Donald Harrison

Donald Harrison: Free Style

by Keiran Smalley
June 9, 2005

Coming across the music of Donald Harrison was something of a happy accident for me. I was not really listening to our local jazz radio station late one evening; my thoughts were wandering elsewhere. Suddenly this great tune came on. It consisted of a stripped-down funky rhythm overlaid with a simple yet insistent alto line which grew more and more intense and free as the track wore on. By this point the radio had my full attention and I was ...

Donald Harrison: Free Style

by John Kelman
November 8, 2004

They say context is everything, and nobody knows that better than alto saxophonist Donald Harrison, who recorded Free Style literally back-to-back with his last Nagel Heyer release, Heroes , featuring bassist Ron Carter and drummer Billy Cobham. While both sessions are trio dates--with the exception of three tracks featuring pianist Glen Patscha--one couldn't find two more diametrically opposed records. And yet, strangely enough, Harrison's distinctively meticulous style links both sessions. While the inclusion of two tunes from the Free Style ...

Donald Harrison: Heroes

by Jeff Stockton
October 5, 2004

Ron Carter, one of altoist Donald Harrison's heroes and the primary bassist on this recording, makes the point that Harrison comes from New Orleans, but doesn't insist that he does. Harrison approaches his tradition with a pure heart, and from his apprenticeship with Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers in the mid '80s through his own leadership in the '90s, he has evolved an historical idiom into an absolutely contemporary, individual style. The title track kicks things off ...

Donald Harrison: Heroes

by John Kelman
May 11, 2004

Stripping down from his quintet début on Nagel Heyer, '02's Real Life Stories , saxophonist Donald Harrison teams up with bassist Ron Carter and drummer Billy Cobham, two of his personal heroes. Having an intermittent history with both musicians, Harrison obviously felt that the combination would provide the perfect combination of groove, freedom and exploration. The result is a mainstream set that purposefully raises the bar for Harrison, forcing him to think outside the box and deliver one of his ...

Donald Harrison: Real Life Stories

by C. Michael Bailey
September 13, 2002

Nouveau Swing...

Alto saxophonist Donald Harrison is all about dance. It is danceable rhythms that fuel his nouveau swing vision of jazz. Not necessarily Latin in texture, the rhythm is at once angular and smooth—a musical dichotomy. The 42-year-old New Orleans native has been recording since the mid 1980s and has produced a solid track record writing, arranging and performing original and standard repertoire using his nouveau swing roadmap. It is this vision and road map that allows Harrison the ...

Donald Harrison: Real Life Stories

by Dave Nathan
July 24, 2002

It's can be disconcerting reading the liner notes for albums of such well known jazz artists as Donald Harrison. The undertaking is characterized as something just short of the second coming, of the reincarnation of Charlie Parker and John Coltrane and everyone of note in between these two. The music is described as revolutionary, evolutionary, a prime mixture of modern approach to all sorts of musical genre such as contemporary, R & B, soul with jazz eventually being mentioned too ...

Donald Harrison: Free To Be

by Robert Spencer
April 1, 1999

Donald “Duck" Harrison is an alto saxophonist of confidence and power, as this bold and enjoyable set abundantly attests. The first two tracks, “Free to Be" and “Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise" place his instrument's lyrical cry in a driving, straightforward setting, in which Harrison charges through the changes with complete authority. On these tracks he's backed by pianist Andrew Adair, bassist Reuben Rogers, and drummer John Lamkin, all of whom are fine. Adair has a taste for Tynerisms, ...