Jazz Articles about Joel Harrison

Joel Harrison String Choir: The Music of Paul Motian

by John Kelman
March 8, 2011

Joel Harrison has stretched the boundaries of form and freedom for over fifteen years, but Urban Myths (HighNote, 2009) and, in particular, the ambitious The Wheel (Innova, 2008), have represented significant evolutionary leaps. The Wheel married a conventional horn-led jazz quintet with a classical string quartet, its collection of Harrison originals pushing the limits of cross-pollination by eliminating all preconceived stylistic delineators. The Music of Paul Motian takes The Wheel's advancements a step further, focusing on Motian's writing, rather than ...

Joel Harrison: Urban Myths

by AAJ Italy Staff
September 25, 2009

Modern Jazz La produzione discografica di Joel Harrison si caratterizza per un vasto eclettismo che ha portato il chitarrista residente a Brooklyn a rivisitare la musica country in maniera anche radicale (Free Country), a improvvisare sulle composizioni dell'ex Beatles George Harrison (Harrison on Harrison), a utilizzare un quartetto d'archi e due chitarre per rendere omaggio alla musica di Paul Motian (String Choir), a trovare un punto d'incontro possibile tra classica e jazz (The Wheel), a scoprire le tradizioni folkloriche in ...

Joel Harrison: Urban Myths

by Donald Elfman
July 8, 2009

A key element in Joel Harrison's history is what he calls the “electric jazz" of the '70s. So this smart and inventive guitarist offers his own reconsideration of the music championed nearly 40 years ago. This is powerfully intense music but also has a sense of play that keeps its ingredients engaging. The set opens with a groove that seems to emerge out of a mist--the curious air of the beginning suddenly develops into what Harrison calls ...

Joel Harrison: Urban Myths

by John Kelman
June 3, 2009

With a string of outstanding records that began with his personal look at the music of George Harrison on Harrison on Harrison (HighNote, 2005), continued with an all-original pairing with guitarist Nguyên Lê on Harbor (HighNote, 2007) and culminated with the ambitious The Wheel (Innova, 2008), guitarist Joel Harrison has, over the last few years, been setting an increasingly high bar both compositionally and as a player.Most remarkable is that he's managed, each time, to reach that bar ...

Joel Harrison: The Wheel

by Donald Elfman
July 13, 2008

Guitarist Joel Harrison has been quietly (and sometimes not so quietly) forging a path of adventure in modern music. Not necessarily content with arbitrary categories, he is discovering ways to utilize all the different musical streams of the world. He has used jazz improvisation as a starting point but it's never the be-all-end-all, the kind of thing that draws more attention to technique than to storytelling. His musicianship and that of his cohorts is always of the virtuoso variety but ...

Joel Harrison: The Wheel

by John Kelman
June 24, 2008

Following three albums focusing more heavily on his skills as an interpreter and performer, guitarist Joel Harrison reminded those aware of him prior to Free Country (ACT, 2003) that his compositional acumen remained sharp with Harbor (HighNote, 2007). The Wheel heads for more ambitious territory--a 38-minute, five-movement suite for jazz quintet and string quartet that doesn't just blur the line between musical styles, but erases it entirely.

Blending interpretive classical constructs with improvisation isn't new; plenty ...

Joel Harrison: Harbor

by Donald Elfman
June 9, 2007

Joel Harrison is a sound explorer and that comes through in his rich, multi-colored compositions, his deftly textured arrangements and his expressive playing. He has forged a career in which each new development builds on what came before it but offers new and different surprises. Harbor is the result of a joint commission by the French Cultural Alliance and Chamber Music America and is so rich in its seamless combination of elements that it feels like a new music no ...