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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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8
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 ...

7
Album Review

Marquis Hill: New Gospel Revisited

Read "New Gospel Revisited" reviewed by Chris May


Chicago-born trumpeter Marquis Hill released his first album while still in college and in 2022, just over a decade later, he has retooled it on New Gospel Revisited, recorded live in his hometown with a fresh lineup and tweaked instrumentation. It is a terrific disc. Like his near contemporary and fellow trumpeter Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah, Hill holds his music to be part of a broad musical continuum that includes genres other than jazz, notably hip hop. ...

10
Album Review

Ambrose Akinmusire: On The Tender Spot Of Every Calloused Moment

Read "On The Tender Spot Of Every Calloused Moment" reviewed by Chris May


Trumpeter and composer Ambrose Akinmusire rings the changes admirably from album to album. On The Tender Spot Of Every Calloused Moment is the most stripped down of his Blue Note outings (it is his fifth album for the label). It is made with a quartet. There is no second horn. The sound is ECM-like in its monastic simplicity. At fifty minutes it is also Akinmusire's most concise work to date. And while substantial portions of The Imagined Savior Is Far ...

4
Album Review

Harish Raghavan: Calls For Action

Read "Calls For Action" reviewed by Friedrich Kunzmann


Several factors make bassist Harish Raghavan's debut album remarkable. The first and most striking is the sense of extreme urgency in the tone of the compositions as well as the disjointed manner with which the instruments search for common ground in and around each other. Another factor can be found in the understated melodic motifs whose arcs sometimes stretch over the entire duration of a tune. Melody in general is critical to the album's appeal. Most of the interplay and ...

15
Album Review

Ambrose Akinmusire: A Rift in Decorum: Live at the Village Vanguard

Read "A Rift in Decorum: Live at the Village Vanguard" reviewed by Mark E. Gallo


Live albums can be an iffy proposition. Not so with this double CD set recorded live at New York's legendary Village Vanguard. California born Akinmusire has worked with the same band for a number of years and their communication is apparent. Pianist Sam Harris, bassist Harish Raghavan and drummer Justin Brown supply the support and the embellishment appropriate and compliment the trumpet master throughout. In a program that rides an emotional rollercoaster, Akinmusire offers 16 original compositions over ...

15
Album Review

Ambrose Akinmusire: A Rift in Decorum: Live at the Village Vanguard

Read "A Rift in Decorum: Live at the Village Vanguard" reviewed by Mark Sullivan


Live recordings at the venerable Village Vanguard are immediately part of a storied tradition. Fully aware of the spirit of the place, trumpeter/composer Ambrose Akinmusire brought his longtime quartet with pianist Sam Harris, bassist Harish Raghavan and drummer Justin Brown--but he took the unusual step of performing all new, original compositions. This is his third Blue Note album as a leader, following When the Heart Emerges Glistening (2011) and the imagined savior is far easier to paint (2014). He also ...

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2

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

Foundations

AMP Music and Recordings
2024

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Return To Casual

Blue Note Records
2023

buy

New Gospel Revisited

Edition Records
2022

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On The Tender Spot Of...

Blue Note Records
2020

buy

Calls For Action

Whirlwind Recordings
2019

buy

A Rift in Decorum:...

Blue Note Records
2017

buy

Blue Minor

From: Foundations
By Harish Raghavan

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