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Stu Harrison
Multi-genre professional pianist based in Toronto, Canada.
About Me
Stu Harrison is a Toronto-based jazz pianist with an extensive background in
classical, music theatre, music direction, and corporate entertainment. He's been
performing extensively since 2000, and maintains a busy schedule in and out of
Toronto. He released his debut CD in 2016 with Terry Clarke and Neil Swainson
titled “Volume 1”, and is currently working on Volume II and III.
He is frequently called on as a vocal accompanist, solo pianist, as well as a side-
man, band leader, and studio session player.
My Jazz Story
The sound of jazz has always tantalized my ears. I can remember endlessly playing my dad's old Mancini record collection, and
jumping around the room every time a big-band section would blare out of the speakers. There was something about the drive
and the energy of those rhythms that was infectious to me. Even though my early childhood was filled primarily with classical
piano culture, I never missed a chance to listen to jazz.
My journey from a classical piano player to an improviser was less than conventional. At the age of 14 I got a job as a church
organist and choir director. And being a less-than-diligent teenager, I began "composing" all of the preludes, postludes, and
hymn accompaniments...it gave me a relevant application for all the counterpoint I was learning for my classical piano studies,
and an excuse to work out a whole ton of voicings and textures. It wasn't until 17 that I ever got any type of jazz instruction,
when I went up to National Music Camp in Northern Ontario. From that point on, I was totally hooked - I loved playing in
combos, I loved the freedom the art form afforded, and I LOVED performing. That's my jazz story.
