Les Harris Jr.
Bachelor of Music, Berklee College of Music
About Me
Les Harris Jr. is a 1983 graduate
of the Berklee College of Music
and is currently a faculty member
at the University of New
Hampshire, the University of
Southern Maine, and Phillips
Exeter Academy.
Les is the son of retired Berklee
College of Music professor and
drummer Les Harris Sr. and he
began playing the drums at a
young age under the tutelage of
his father. He was sitting in with
jazz greats, Herb Pomeroy, Phil
Wilson, John LaPorta, and Teddy
Wilson by the time he was 14
and began playing professionally
at 15 with Annie Bosteels' trio.
While attending Berklee, Les
studied with Joe Hunt and Robert
Kaufman and upon graduation
studied with legendary drummer
and educator Alan Dawson.
From 1983-1996, Les was the
drummer with the jazz vocal
group, “The Ritz”, appearing on
seven recordings and performing
worldwide including
engagements at The Sea Jazz
Festival in Finland, The Blue Note
Jazz Clubs in Tokyo, Fukuoka,
Jakarta and NYC, The New
Morning Club in Paris, The Village
Vanguard and the Newport Jazz
Festival in Japan.
Les also toured with the Artie
Shaw Orchestra,(under the
direction of Dick Johnson),
saxophonist Scott Hamilton,
(including performances at The
Subway Club in Cologne and the
Montreal Jazz Festival), and
worked with Diana Krall's trio in
Boston throughout the early 90’s.
In 2001 he performed with Cheryl
Bentyne, of The Manhattan
Transfer at Birdland in NYC, The
Egg in Albany, NY and Benaroya
Hall in Seattle.
Les was a longtime member of
the Tommy Gallant Trio, the Paul
Broadnax Trio and has played
with some of the best known
artists in jazz, including Clark
Terry, Milt Jackson, Phil Woods,
Art Farmer, Annie Ross, Hank
Jones, Milt Hinton, Ray Brown,
Marian McPartland, Jimmy Heath,
James Moody, Mark Murphy,
Sheila Jordan and Bobby Watson.
Les currently performs throughout
New England with many of the
areas top jazz artists.
My Jazz Story
I love jazz because... I was first exposed to jazz... I met [musician name]... The best show I ever attended was... The first jazz record I bought was... My advice to new listeners... Or whatever else you have in mind.
