Updated: February 11, 2021
Born: June 23, 1960
New Orleans born saxophonist Donald Harrison is a musician/composer who master musicians consider a master of every era of jazz, soul, funk, and a composer of orchestral classical music. He is also a genius, according to geniuses like Eddie Palmieri and Mike Clark. In the HBO drama Treme, Emmy winning director David Simon created two characters to portray how Harrison innovated new styles of music. Harrison has appeared as an actor/musician in 9 episodes of Treme, Oscar-winning director Johnathon Demme’s film Rachel Getting Married, Spike Lee’s When The Levee’s Broke documentary, and Marvel’s Luke Cage. This talented artist is the recognized Big Chief of Congo Square in Afro-New Orleans culture and was made a Chief in 2019 by Queen Diambi Kabatusuila in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Africa.
Harrison honed his experience playing with Roy Haynes, Art Blakey, Eddie Palmieri, Dr. John, Lena Horne, McCoy Tyner, Dr. Eddie Henderson, Miles Davis, Ron Carter, Billy Cobham, Chuck Loeb, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Digable Planets, Guru’s Jazzmatazz, The Headhunters, The Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and The Notorious BIG. He has performed with over 200 jazz masters and created three influential styles of jazz. At the age of nineteen, Harrison created a modern jazz take on the New Orleans second-line tradition and introduced his composition New York Second-Line to the jazz world in 1979. By the mid-’80s, he created Nouveau Swing, a distinctive sound that blended the swing beat of modern jazz with hip-hop, funk, and soul music. In the ’90s, Harrison recorded hits in the smooth jazz genre. He began exploring music through the lens of quantum physics in 2000. With quantum jazz, Harrison heard how to move music from a two-dimensional state into a four-dimensional state. Harrison has been a mentor to artist as diverse as The Notorious Big, Jonathon Batiste, Christian Scott, Trombone Shorty, and Esperanza Spaulding.
Read moreTags
All About Jazz Articles
Radio
Live Review
- Donald Harrison, Ron Carter & Billy Cobham Trio: New York, NY, January 8, 2013
- Donald Harrison & Quantum Leap: New York City, NY, September 20, 2012
Album Review
- This Is Jazz by Greg Simmons
- The Chosen by Francis Lo Kee
Live Review
Album Review
- The Survivor by John Barron
Multiple Reviews
Album Review
- Free Style by Keiran Smalley
- Free Style by John Kelman
June 23, 2020
Jazz Musician of the Day: Donald Harrison
June 23, 2019
Jazz Musician of the Day: Donald Harrison
June 23, 2018
Jazz Musician of the Day: Donald Harrison
June 23, 2017
Jazz Musician of the Day: Donald Harrison
January 29, 2017
Donald Harrison Headlines Thailand International Jazz Conference 2017
June 23, 2016
Jazz Musician of the Day: Donald Harrison
June 23, 2015
Jazz Musician of the Day: Donald Harrison
June 23, 2014
Jazz Musician of the Day: Donald Harrison
December 19, 2013
Modern Jazz Wizard Donald Harrison Returns On 10th Anniversary Of His...
June 23, 2013
Donald Harrison is one of the most confident and convincing improvisers in jazz today. —All About Jazz
The satisfied audience’s screaming ovation says it all. —All About Jazz
...one of the best jazz sax men playing today. —Smoothjazz.com
...alto saxophonist Harrison has become a seasoned veteran and respected bandleader-talent scout... —JazzTimes
...altoist’s creativity is commanding. —All About Jazz

bass

saxophone, alto

guitar

trumpet

drums

saxophone, soprano

piano

trumpet

saxophone

saxophone, alto

saxophone

drums

saxophone, alto

piano

piano

trumpet
Artists who share similar musical characteristics to Donald Harrison.