- Barry Harris
: "For the
dance music performer and DJ, seeBarry Harris (DJ) ."Infobox musical artist
Name = Barry Harris
Img_size =
Img_capt = Photo by Mirko Caserta
Landscape = yes
Background = non_vocal_instrumentalist
Birth_name = Barry Harris
Alias =
Born = Birth date and age|1929|12|15|mf=y
Died =
Origin =Detroit, Michigan , U.S.
Instrument =Piano
Voice_type =
Genre =Bop Hard bop Mainstream jazz
Occupation =Pianist ,Educator
Years_active =
Label =Prestige Records Riverside Records Xanadu Records
Associated_acts =Cannonball Adderley ,Illinois Jacquet ,Coleman Hawkins ,Dexter Gordon ,Max Roach
URL =
Current_members =
Past_members =
Notable_instruments =Barry Doyle Harris (born
December 15 ,1929 ) is an Americanbebop jazz pianist and educator.Born in
Detroit , Michigan, on December 15, 1929, Barry Harris was influenced byArt Tatum ,Coleman Hawkins ,Bud Powell ,Charlie Parker , andThelonious Monk . Harris left Detroit forNew York City in 1960. Even on a superficial hearing, Harris's playing is noted for its uncanny similarity to Bud Powell, much in the way thatSonny Stitt had a similarity to Charlie Parker.Harris has played with
Cannonball Adderley ,Illinois Jacquet ,Coleman Hawkins ,Dexter Gordon , andMax Roach . As a lead artist, he has recorded over 14 albums.Harris appears in the 1989 documentary film "Thelonious Monk: Straight, No Chaser" (produced by
Clint Eastwood ), performing duets withTommy Flanagan . During the 1970s Harris lived with Monk and his family at theWeehawken, New Jersey home of the jazz patroness Baroness Pannonica de Koenigswarter, and so was in an excellent position to comment on the last years of his fellow pianist. [Watrous, Peter. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9507E2DF153BF93BA15756C0A962958260 " Be-Bop's Generous Romantic"] , "The New York Times ",May 28 ,1994 . AccessedJune 2 ,2008 . "Mr. Harris moved to New York in the early 1960's and became friends with Thelonious Monk and Baroness Pannonica de Koenigswarter, Mr. Monk's patron. Eventually, Mr. Harris moved to her estate in Weehawken, N.J., where he still lives."]In the Eighties, Harris maintained a unique institution, the Jazz Cultural Theater, in a former restaurant storefront on Eighth Avenue near 23rd Street in Manhattan. There he taught group music and piano lessons, as well as hosted his own performances and those of other like-minded artists. His album "For the Moment" was recorded there.
His approach to the teaching of jazz uses methods and techniques that pre-date the Berklee school and the Lydian Chromatic approach of
George Russell . He relies upon the 6th chord and the 8-note, rather than the 7-note jazz scale, as a basis for melody and harmony. This is the material used byBud Powell ,Joseph Schillinger ,George Gershwin ,Glenn Miller , and evenFrédéric Chopin . He emphasizes the concept of building a repertoire of one's own musical movements over common harmonic formulae.The Jazz Cultural Theater was designed to last as long as the students and audiences kept the doors open. Unfortunately, Mr. Harris had an illness which required all his attention, and the theater closed at that time.
Since 1996 Barry Harris has collaborated with Toronto-based pianist and teacher Howard Rees in creating a series of videos and workbooks documenting his unique harmonic system and teaching process.
In 2000, he was profiled in the film "Barry Harris - Spirit of Bebop".
Barry Harris continues to perform and teach worldwide. When he is not travelling, he holds weekly music workshop sessions in New York City for vocalists, students of piano and other instruments.
Gallery
elected discography
*"Breakin' It Up" (Argo 1958)
*"Barry Harris at the Jazz Workshop" (Riverside 1960)
*"Listen to Barris Harris . . . Solo Piano" (Riverside 1960)
*"Preminado" (Riverside 1961)
*"Newer Than New" (Riverside 1961)
*"Chasin' The Bird" (Riverside 1962)
*"Luminescence" (Prestige 1967)
*"Bull's Eye" (Prestige 1968)
*"Barry Harris Trio: Magnificent" (Prestige 1969)
*"Barry Harris plays Tadd Dameron" (Xanadu 1975)
*"Tokyo" (1976)
*"Barry Harris Plays Barry Harris" (Xanadu 1978)
*"Stay Right With It" (Xanadu 1978)
*"For the Moment" (Uptown 1984)
*"The Bird of Red and Gold " (Xanadu 1989)
*"Live at Maybeck Recital Hall - Volume Twelve" (Concord 1991)
*"First Time Ever" (Ecidence 1997)
*"Live in New York" (Reservoir 2002)As a sideman:
* "
The Sidewinder " byLee Morgan (1963;Blue Note Records )
* "Bopstacle Course " byTerry Gibbs (1974;Xanadu Records )
* "Saturday Morning" bySonny Criss (1975;Xanadu Records )
* "Al Cohn's America " byAl Cohn (1976;Xanadu Records )
* "Eastern Sounds " byYusef Lateef (1961;Prestige Records )
* "True Blue" byAl Cohn ,Dexter Gordon (1976;Xanadu Records )
* "Silver Blue" byAl Cohn ,Dexter Gordon (1976;Xanadu Records )
* "The Colossus Of Detroit " by Billy Mitchell (1978;Xanadu Records )
* "Earl May Quartet: Swinging The Blues with Barry Harris" (Arbors Records )References
External links
* [http://www.barryharris.com/ Barry Harris Official Website]
* [http://www.jazzworkshops.com/order.html Jazzworkshops Website -- publisher of Barry Harris workbooks and instructional videos]
* [http://www.wbgo.org/ontheair/artists/BarryHarris.php WBGO Artist Profile: Barry Harris]
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