A minor figure in the bop era who had potential but, unfortunately, retired from music in 1952,
Benny Harris played with
Tiny Bradshaw (1939) and twice with
Earl Hines' Orchestra (1941 and 1943). He was a fixture on 52nd Street in the early '40s, taking part in many early bop sessions and playing with
Benny Carter,
John Kirby,
Coleman Hawkins,
Don Byas, and
Thelonious Monk.
Harris also was part of
Boyd Raeburn's band for a period during 1944-1945; and recorded with
Clyde Hart in December 1944, and with
Byas in 1945. The composer of "Ornithology," "Crazelogy," "Reets and I" (often performed by
Bud Powell), and "Wahoo" (based on "Perdido"),
Benny Harris did not play all that much in the mid- to late '40s. He was with
Dizzy Gillespie's big band briefly in 1949, and recorded with
Charlie Parker in 1952, but then permanently dropped out of music. ~ Scott Yanow