Jazz Articles about Zacc Harris

About Zacc Harris

Album Review

Zacc Harris: American Reckoning

Read "American Reckoning" reviewed by Pierre Giroux

by Pierre Giroux
July 16, 2026

There is something quietly compelling about guitarist-composer Zacc Harris's continued revisiting of the American songbook. Rather than treating these familiar melodies as museum pieces, he treats them as living conversations spanning generations. In American Reckoning, his reunion with longtime collaborators Matthew Peterson on bass and Lars-Erik Larson on drums deepens the exploration, which is both musically adventurous and emotionally resonant. Throughout, the trio reshapes a set of nine well-known songs through inventive reharmonizations, shifting metres, and subtle textural interplay.

Album Review

Zacc Harris: American Reckoning

Read "American Reckoning" reviewed by Kyle Simpler

by Kyle Simpler
July 13, 2026

Americana originally developed from folk and country music, but in recent decades it has grown to incorporate other musical genres. For example, jazz artists such as Bill Frisell and Pat Metheny frequently incorporate elements of Americana into their work. With American Reckoning, guitarist Zacc Harris follows their lead, drawing from sources ranging from traditional folk songs and Stephen Foster compositions to Brian Wilson and Bob Dylan. Harris, a Minneapolis-based guitarist and composer, established a reputation for his expressive ...

Album Review

Atlantis Quartet: Live at Berlin

Read "Live at Berlin" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
November 13, 2025

Naming a debut live album after the venue itself is a bold move, proclaiming the music and space as one. With Live at Berlin, recorded during the opening week of Minneapolis' newest jazz haunt in February 2024, Atlantis Quartet--saxophonist Brandon Wozniak, guitarist Zacc Harris, bassist Chris Bates, and drummer Pete Hennig--does not merely make the case; they etch it in neon. This album captures a band and a room in perfect, combustible alignment. For nearly two decades, this ...

Album Review

Atlantis Quartet: Live at Berlin

Read "Live at Berlin" reviewed by Kyle Simpler

by Kyle Simpler
November 9, 2025

Since arriving on the scene in 2006, the Minneapolis-based Atlantis Quartet has established itself as a vital voice in modern jazz. With five albums already under their belt, the group continues to honor tradition while exploring new sonic territory. Live at Berlin captures their remarkable group chemistry during an engagement at the city's newest jazz venue, Berlin. Atlantis Quartet features four of Minnesota's most exciting jazz musicians: saxophonist Brandon Wozniak, guitarist Zacc Harris, bassist Chris Bates and drummer ...

Album Review

Zacc Harris: Chasing Shadows

Read "Chasing Shadows" reviewed by Troy Dostert

by Troy Dostert
February 6, 2025

Long a fixture in the Minneapolis jazz scene, guitarist Zacc Harris has been at the nexus of a strong group of musicians, many of which are featured on Chasing Shadows, Harris' follow-up to 2021's well-received Small Wonders (Shifting Paradigm Records). Utilizing a quintet format as a vehicle for Harris' fervent melodicism, the results are a highly listenable slice of modern guitar-based jazz, both easy on the ears and skillfully played throughout. Most of the members of Harris' current ...

Album Review

Dylan Hicks & Small Screens: Modern Flora

Read "Modern Flora" reviewed by Neil Duggan

by Neil Duggan
August 30, 2024

In years gone by, record stores would sometimes categorise their albums by genre, so there would be sections on jazz, pop and singer-songwriter, etc. Modern Flora from Dylan Hicks & Small Screens is the sort of album that could cause the record store owner a problem, as the album would comfortably fit into all those categories. Even from a 2024 perspective, a 1970s-style singer-songwriter backed by a jazz nonet is not a natural fit in our genre-specific, box-ticking world.

Album Review

Jake Baldwin, Zacc Harris, Pete Henning: Boundaries

Read "Boundaries" reviewed by Kyle Simpler

by Kyle Simpler
June 21, 2024

Some music defies definition. If it fits into a recognizable style, it is not that difficult to describe. When artists step outside traditional boundaries to create a different sound, it frequently becomes one of those “you just have to hear it" moments. Such is the case with Boundaries, the debut release from the trio of trumpeter Jake Baldwin, guitarist Zacc Harris and drummer Pete Hennig. These three musicians are some of the top jazz players in ...