Beaver Harris

William Godvin "Beaver" Harris (b. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, April 20, 1936; d. New York, New York, December 22, 1991) was an American jazz drummer.

Harris was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. As a teenager he played clarinet and alto saxophone. Rather than pursuing music, however, he became a professional baseball player for the Kansas City Monarchs (then part of the Negro American League) [unsigned obituary, New York "Daily News"] and was scouted by major league teams (Brooklyn Dodgers, New York Giants). [Pareles, Jon. "Beaver Harris, 55, A Leading Drummer in Jazz Ensembles". "The New York Times", Jan. 7, 1992]

It was only after he was in the army that he began playing drums. After his national service ended in 1963 he moved to New York and was encouraged to pursue a musical career by Max Roach. While in New York he worked with Dexter Gordon, Joe Henderson, Freddie Hubbard, Clifford Jordan, Thelonious Monk, Sonny Rollins, Sonny Stitt, Clark Terry, and many others.

As early as 1966 Harris had already become involved with the avant garde movement. He played with both Archie Shepp and then Albert Ayler in Europe.

Harris died of prostate cancer at the age of 55.

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External links

* [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CEFDD1131F934A35752C0A964958260 Pareles, Jon. "Beaver Harris, 55, A Leading Drummer in Jazz Ensembles". "The New York Times", Jan. 7, 1992]