Big Chief Donald Harrison returns to New York

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Big Chief Donald Harrison returns to New York to Play NYC's Symphony Space. An Evening with the Big Chief Donald Harrison Friday, April 27th, will include a special guest performance by Grammy Nominated trumpeter Christian Scott. Saxophonist/bandleader/composer Donald Harrison is a musical category unto himself. A master of every dimension of the jazz trajectory - from New Orleans roots to bebop and beyond - Harrison is uniquely qualified to represent the links between the traditional and the contemporary in jazz.

Donald Harrison is not only one of NOLA's most versatile and respected jazz artists and a recurring, real-life fixture on the HBO hit series, Treme, but he's an honest-to-goodness "Big Chief" of the Congo Square Nation Afro-New Orleans Cultural Group - a direct link to the same tradition that brought us everything from the Wild Magnolias to the Dixie Cups. So you know it's gonna be a funky good time - and that the roots will run deep! - Tom Pryor, National Geographic Music

Born in New Orleans in 1960, Donald Harrison grew up in an environment saturated with the city's traditional music of brass bands, parades and dances. His connection to New Orleans roots was deepened by his father, a Big Chief in the African-influenced culture of the Mardi Gras Indians. Harrison studied at the Berklee School of Music in Boston, and from there joined the band of drummer Roy Haynes. A year later he became one of the select few to work with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. Thoughout his career, Harrison has been at the vanguard of modern jazz while continuing his participation in New Orleans' culture: now the Big Chief of the Congo Square Nation, he keeps the offshoot rituals, call and response chants, and drumming alive for the next generation.Donald Harrison's current project melds cutting edge jazz with New Orleans funk - connecting the past with the present in a music that transcends boundaries.

Always an innovator, Harrison combined jazz with Mardi Gras Indian traditional music with his critically-acclaimed "Indian Blues" (1993). He is the founder and "King of Nouveau Swing" - his style of jazz that merges the soulful sounds he grew up with in New Orleans with a swinging New York feeling. Harrison has performed with an illustrious list of distinguished musicians in Jazz, R & B, Funk, Classical and more: Art Blakey, Roy Haynes, Miles Davis, Lena Horne, Ron Carter, Billy Cobham, Eddie Palmieri, Jennifer Holiday, Dr. John, Guru's Jazzmatazz, Digable Planets, Notorious BIG, The Chicago Symphony Orchestra and The Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra.

Aspects of Harrison's life and music have been chronicled in David Simon's ground breaking HBO series, Treme. Harrison appears as himself in seven episodes based on his own life.

Harrison the jazz master has taught an impressive list of gifted musicians, including trumpeter Christian Scott, trombonist/singer Trombone Shorty, guitarist Josh Connelly and saxophonists Louis Fouche, Chris Royal and Aaron Fletcher. His working groups have proven to be an incubator for jazz band leaders such as guitarist Mark Whitfield, pianist Cyrus Chestnut and bassists Christian McBride, Dwayne Burno, and Esperanza Spaulding - all of whom spent time playing with Harrison.

As an actual evacuee/survivor of Hurricane Katrina, Harrison appears in Spike Lee's HBO special "When the Levees Broke". Harrison appeared in and co-wrote the sound track for Academy Award winning director Jonathan Demme's feature film, "Rachel's Getting Married" starring Anne Hathaway.

His many awards include France's "Grand Prix du Disque", Switzerland's "The Ascona Award", Japan's Swing Journal "Alto Saxophonist of the Year", The Jazz Journalist Association's "A List Award", Jazziz Magazine's "Person of the Year", and the Big Easy Music Awards "Ambassador of Music".

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