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Harish Raghavan

After arriving in New York in 2007, bassist Harish Raghavan has begun to make a name for himself among the rising stars of his generation.

Raghavan has played/toured with Kurt Elling, Taylor Eigsti, Vijay Iyer, Ambrose Akinmusire, Eric Harland, Mark Turner, Aaron Parks, Greg Osby, Billy Childs, Benny Green, Geoffry Keezer, Terrell Stafford, Mike Moreno, Rodney Green, Logan Richardson, Fabian Almazan, Justin Brown, Dayna Stephens, Julian Lage, Gerald Clayton, Marcus Gilmore, Walter Smith III, among others.

Raghavan grew up in Northbrook, Illinois, just north of Chicago. At age eight he began studying Western and Indian percussion, and later switched to the double bass at seventeen. He studied bass with John Clayton at the University of Southern California and also with Robert Hurst. During his years in Los Angeles he recorded and played with many legendary West Coast musicians.

In 2009 he was a semi-finalist in the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Bass Competition.

Raghavan is a regular instructor at the Stanford Jazz Workshop and the Jazz at Centrum summer program in Port Townsend, Washington. He is featured on pianist Taylor Eigsti's 2010 Concord release, Daylight at Midnight.

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6
Album Review

Gregory Groover Jr.: Old Knew

Read "Old Knew" reviewed by Pierre Giroux


With Old Knew, tenor saxophonist Gregory Groover Jr. offers a mature and deeply rooted statement that gracefully balances reverence for tradition with openness to spontaneous expression. Recorded without rehearsal and driven by a diverse group of top-tier collaborators, including Joel Ross on vibraphone, Paul Cornish on piano, Harish Raghavan on bass, and Kendrick Scott on drums, this 11-track set reveals a leader eager to let the music flow, communicate, and develop in the moment. The result is a highly interactive ...

8
Album Review

Gregory Groover Jr.: Old Knew

Read "Old Knew" reviewed by Jack Bowers


Even though he has surely heard this more than a few times, Gregory Groover is a pretty hip name for a jazz saxophonist. Not so much for the pastor of Boston's Charles Street AME Church, the position held by the Groover for whom he is named, Gregory Sr., who no doubt grooves in his own way. Gregory Jr. plays high-energy tenor on Old Knew, the second recording under his name, wherein he leads a sturdy quintet through its paces on ...

2
Album Review

Alex Hitchcock: Letters From Afar

Read "Letters From Afar" reviewed by Don Ball


Alex Hitchcock made his name as an emerging talent in London when he decided to move to New York City  to, as he put it, “engage with the music being made here, because as a white British musician playing Black American music, engaging with the context in which that music is made is important." Letters from Afar is his first shot across the bow from America, putting together a stellar band from the city's local jazz scene. The songs are all ...

24
Album Review

Geoffrey Dean: Conceptions

Read "Conceptions" reviewed by Jack Bowers


Conceptions, the second album by pianist Geoffrey Dean's able quartet, is a neatly drawn recording whose ten original compositions were written by members of the group: five by Dean, three by trumpeter Justin Copeland, and a pair by drummer Eric Binder. The concept behind the album was to showcase a diversity of genres within a jazz setting while emphasizing the group's versatility. As such, it works quite well. Dean is a sure-handed soloist and accompanist, Copeland a ...

94
Album Review

Travis Reuter: Quintet Music

Read "Quintet Music" reviewed by Glenn Astarita


Released as the long-anticipated encore to his avant-garde debut, Rotational Templates (New Focus, 2011), Travis Reuter's Quintet Music is a masterpiece of musical sorcery, brimming with bold invention and innovative creativity. Reuter, a maverick guitarist who is unafraid to color outside the lines, leads his band of equally audacious virtuosos through a sonic wonderland that most musicians only dare to visit in dreams. The quintet, with Peter Schlamb swapping the traditional piano for the vibraphone, tosses the jazz ...

22
Album Review

Geoffrey Dean Quartet: Foundations

Read "Foundations" reviewed by Jack Bowers


Foundations is a generally swinging debut recording by Washington, DC-based pianist and educator Geoffrey Dean's quartet. The studio date pays tribute to the groundwork laid by its storied predecessors, especially those steeped in the hard bop movement that helped change the course of jazz, well before Dean or his sidemen were born. The album consists of seven relatively unsung compositions by Sam Rivers, Sonny Clark, Duke Pearson, Elmo Hope, Peter Bernstein and Andrew Hill, and two others--Miles ...

24
Album Review

Walter Smith III: Return To Casual

Read "Return To Casual" reviewed by Dave Linn


Walter Smith III released his debut album, Casually Introducing (Fresh Sound New Talent, 2006), to enthusiastic reviews. On it, he covered Sam Rivers, Charles Mingus and Ornette Coleman and wrote the other six tracks, showcasing a mature and varied sense of composition. His playing and arrangements showed him to be a new, young (he was 26 years old) artist on the rise. Over the ensuing years, he released eight other albums, mainly for European labels. These recordings (including one live ...

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4
Recording

Washington D.c. Based Jazz Pianist Geoffrey Dean Releases His New Quartet Album 'Foundations' Featuring Harish Raghavan, Justin Copeland, Eric Binder

Washington D.c. Based Jazz Pianist Geoffrey Dean Releases His New Quartet Album 'Foundations' Featuring Harish Raghavan, Justin Copeland, Eric Binder

Source: Scott Thompson Public Relations

Dr. Geoffrey Dean is a jazz pianist, composer, author and educator currently performing in the Washington D.C. area. Dean has recorded and performed with notable jazz musicians across the globe including Terell Stafford, Steve Turre, Greg Tardy, and many others. Dr. Dean recently published an educational book on jazz harmony titled Kenny Kirkland's Harmonic and Rhythmic Language: A Model For The Modern Jazz Pianist. Dean has also contributed as an author on modern jazz piano approaches for the Masterclass series ...

3
Recording

ACT - Featuring Ben Wendel, Harish Raghavan & Nate Wood Proudly Announces The Release Of Their Second Recording, Act II

ACT - Featuring Ben Wendel, Harish Raghavan & Nate Wood Proudly Announces The Release Of Their Second Recording, Act II

Source: Jason Byrne, Red Cat Publicity

ACT—Featuring Ben Wendel, Harish Raghavan & Nate Wood Proudly Announces the Release of Their Second Recording, ACT II Available on September 18, 2015 CD RELEASE CELEBRATIONS September 16 - The Jazz Gallery, NYC - 8 & 10 PM September 17 - The Blue Whale, LA - 9 PM-12 AM “It only takes a few minutes of this debut to clarify just how rousing the group can be... the kind of propulsion that a sax trio needs to grab ...

Photos

Concerts

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Conceptions

Cellar Music Group
2025

buy

Old Knew

Criss Cross
2025

buy

Foundations

AMP Music and Recordings
2024

buy

Quintet Music

Self Produced
2024

buy

Plot Armor

GroundUP Music
2024

buy

Blue Minor

From: Foundations
By Harish Raghavan

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