Joel Harrison is an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

guitarist, singer, composer, and arranger.

Career

Harrison was born in Washington, D.C. and graduated from

Bard College Bard College is a private liberal arts college in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. The campus overlooks the Hudson River and Catskill Mountains, and is within the Hudson River Historic District—a National Historic Landmark. Founded in 1860, ...

, New York, in 1980 with a Bachelor of Arts in composition and performance. His father was Gilbert Harrison, the editor and owner of the magazine ''

The New Republic ''The New Republic'' is an American magazine of commentary on politics, contemporary culture, and the arts. Founded in 1914 by several leaders of the progressive movement, it attempted to find a balance between "a liberalism centered in hu ...

'', and his mother was Anne Harrison (née Blaine), granddaughter of

International Harvester The International Harvester Company (often abbreviated by IHC, IH, or simply International ( colloq.)) was an American manufacturer of agricultural and construction equipment, automobiles, commercial trucks, lawn and garden products, household e ...

heiress

Anita McCormick Blaine Anita Eugenie McCormick Blaine (1866-1954) was an American philanthropist and political activist. An heir to the McCormick Reaping Machine Works fortune built by her father, Cyrus McCormick (1809–1884), Blaine funded the launch of Chicago's Franci ...

, making him a member of the

McCormick family The McCormick family of Chicago and Virginia is an American family of Scottish and Scotch-Irish descent that attained prominence and fortune starting with the invention of the McCormick Reaper, a machine that revolutionized agriculture, helped b ...

. The couple had four children: James, David, Joel and Eleanor. Harrison has identified

the Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developmen ...

, Jimi Hendrix,

the Allman Brothers Band The Allman Brothers Band was an American rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida in 1969 by brothers Duane Allman (founder, slide guitar and lead guitar) and Gregg Allman (vocals, keyboards, songwriting), as well as Dickey Betts (lead guita ...

and Washington guitarist

Danny Gatton Daniel Wood Gatton Jr. (September 4, 1945 – October 4, 1994) was an American virtuoso guitarist who combined blues, rockabilly, jazz, and country to create a musical style he called "redneck jazz". Career Daniel Wood Gatton Jr. was born in ...

as early influences. Having begun his career as a musician in Boston during the early 1980s, Harrison moved to the Bay Area of San Francisco, where he led several musical ensembles and became a session musician. Since 1999, he has been based in New York City. His mentors and teachers have included

Joan Tower Joan Tower (born September 6, 1938)http://www.schirmer.com/default.aspx?TabId=2419&State_2872=2&ComposerId_2872=1605 Biography on Schirmer is a Grammy-winning contemporary American composer, concert pianist and conductor. Lauded by ''The New York ...

Ali Akbar Khan Ali Akbar Khan (14 April 192218 June 2009) was a Indian Hindustani classical musician of the Maihar gharana, known for his virtuosity in playing the sarod. Trained as a classical musician and instrumentalist by his father, Allauddin Khan, he a ...

, W. A. Mathieu, and

Charlie Banacos Charlie Banacos (August 11, 1946 – December 8, 2009) was an American pianist, composer, author and educator, concentrating on jazz. Banacos created over 100 courses of study for improvisation and composition. His concepts of teaching and his c ...

. In 2010, Harrison was appointed a

Guggenheim Fellow Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the a ...

. That same year, he founded the Alternative Guitar Summit (AGS), an annual festival in New York that aims to present and explore the guitar's potential in all musical genres. The AGS advisory board is headed by

Pat Metheny Patrick Bruce Metheny ( ; born August 12, 1954) is an American jazz guitarist and composer. He is the leader of the Pat Metheny Group and is also involved in duets, solo works, and other side projects. His style incorporates elements of progre ...

, while the 2017 Summit included initiatives hosted by guitarists

Marc Ribot Marc Ribot (; born May 21, 1954) is an American guitarist and composer. His work has touched on many styles, including no wave, free jazz, rock, and Cuban music. Ribot is also known for collaborating with other musicians, most notably Tom Wai ...

Larry Campbell Larry W. Campbell (born 28 February 1948) is a Canadian politician that served as the 37th mayor of Vancouver, Canada from 2002 until 2005 and since 2005 has been a member of the Senate of Canada. Before he was mayor, Campbell worked for th ...

Chris Eldridge Chris Eldridge is an American guitarist and singer. He is a member of Punch Brothers and frequently performs in a duo with fellow guitarist Julian Lage. He is also the guitarist in the house band on Live From Here. He was a founding member of the ...

Steve Cardenas Stephen Antonio Cardenas (born May 29, 1974) is an American martial artist, musician, and actor. Cardenas is best known for playing the character Rocky DeSantos, which was the second Red Power Ranger in ''Mighty Morphin Power Rangers'' and eventu ...

Cindy Cashdollar Cindy Cashdollar is an American musician specializing in steel guitar and Dobro. She grew up in Woodstock, New York, where she perfected her skills by playing with bluegrass musician John Herald, blues musicians Paul Butterfield, and Levon He ...

and

Miles Okazaki Miles Okazaki (born 1974) is an American jazz guitarist and composer. Okazaki is a lecturer of jazz guitar at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Early life Okazaki grew up in Port Townsend, Washington. When he was six, he began lessons on ...

. Several of Harrison's albums have received critical acclaim, including '' Free Country'' (2003), '' Harrison on Harrison'' (2005) and ''Urban Myths'' (2009). His work has included film scores, big-band projects, and a collaboration with Indian

sarod The sarod is a stringed instrument, used in Hindustani music on the Indian subcontinent. Along with the sitar, it is among the most popular and prominent instruments. It is known for a deep, weighty, introspective sound, in contrast with the sweet ...

player Anupam Shobhakar titled ''

Leave the Door Open "Leave the Door Open" is the debut single by the American super-duo Silk Sonic, consisting of Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak, from their studio album '' An Evening with Silk Sonic'' (2021). The song was written by Mars, Brandon Anderson, De ...

'' (2013). The

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

website describes Harrison's style as an "electrifying blend of creative jazz, modern classical, and ethnic fusion", while ''

Down Beat ' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chi ...

'' magazine has rated him "a guitarist, composer and arranger of amazing skill and breadth". His collaborators have included

Dave Liebman David Liebman (born September 4, 1946) is an American saxophonist, flautist and jazz educator. He is known for his innovative lines and use of atonality. He was a frequent collaborator with pianist Richie Beirach. In June 2010, he received ...

, Mark Feldman,

Marty Ehrlich Marty Ehrlich (born May 31, 1955) is a multi-instrumentalist (saxophones, clarinets, flutes) and is considered one of the leading figures in avant-garde jazz. Biography Though born in St. Paul, Minnesota, the portion of Ehrlich's youth spent in ...

David Binney David Binney (born August 2, 1961) is an American alto saxophonist and composer. Early life Binney was born in Miami, Florida, and was raised in Carpinteria, California. From his parents, who loved music, he was exposed to albums by John C ...

Dewey Redman Walter Dewey Redman (May 17, 1931 – September 2, 2006) was an American saxophonist who performed free jazz as a bandleader and with Ornette Coleman and Keith Jarrett. Redman mainly played tenor saxophone, though he occasionally also played al ...

Norah Jones Norah Jones (born Geethali Norah Jones Shankar; March 30, 1979) is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. She has won several awards for her music and as of 2012, has sold more than 50 million records worldwide. ''Billboard'' named her the ...

Uri Caine Uri Caine (born June 8, 1956, Philadelphia, United States) is an American classical and jazz pianist and composer. Biography Early years The son of Burton Caine, a professor at Temple Law School, and poet Shulamith Wechter Caine, Caine began ...

and Christian Howes.

Discography

As leader

* ''3 + 3 = 7'' (Nine Winds, 1996) * ''Range of Motion'' (Koch, 1997) * ''Transience Spirit'' (Nectar, 2001) * ''Free Country'' (ACT, 2003) * ''So Long 2nd Street'' (ACT, 2004) * ''Harrison On Harrison'' (HighNote, 2005) * ''Harbor'' (HighNote, 2007) * ''Passing Train'' (Intuition, 2008) * ''The Wheel'' (Intuition, 2008) * ''Urban Myths'' (HighNote, 2009) * ''The Music of Paul Motian'' (Sunnyside, 2010) * ''Search'' (Sunnyside, 2011) * ''Holy Abyss'' with Lorenzo Feliciati (Cuneiform, 2012) * ''Infinite Possibility'' (Sunnyside, 2013) * ''Mother Stump'' (Cuneiform, 2014) * ''Multiplicity: Leave the Door Open'' with Anupam Shobhakar (Whirlwind, 2014) * ''Spirit House'' (Whirlwind, 2015) * ''The Other River'' (Whirlwind, 2017) * ''Angel Band Vol. 3: Free Country'' (HighNote, 2018) * ''Still Point: Turning World'' (Whirlwind, 2019) * ''America at War'' (Sunnyside, 2020)

As sideman

Laura Andel Laura Andel (born 1968) is an Argentine, Argentinian musician, conductor and composer. Biography Laura Andel was born in Argentina and has Moldovans, Moldovan descent, and began music lessons in Buenos Aires at the age of five. She played woodwind ...

, ''In::tension:.'' (Rossbin, 2005) *

Adam Rudolph Adam Rudolph (born September 12, 1955) is a jazz composer and percussionist performing in the post-bop and world fusion media. In 1988, Rudolph met jazz musician Yusef Lateef, and the two would go on to collaborate and perform together for t ...

, ''Turning Towards the Light'' (Cuneiform, 2015)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harrison, Joel Living people Guitarists from New York City American jazz guitarists American jazz composers American male jazz composers American jazz singers HighNote Records artists 1957 births Jazz musicians from New York (state) American male guitarists Sunnyside Records artists Cuneiform Records artists ACT Music artists McCormick family