A highly adept guitarist and composer,
Joel Harrison plays a galvanizing blend of modern creative jazz, classical, Americana, and ethnic fusion. Initially emerging in the Bay Area in the '80s,
Harrison gained wider attention in New York, issuing a number of critically lauded albums like 1997's Range of Motion, 2003's
Free Country with
Norah Jones, and 2009's funky
Urban Myths with longtime collaborator saxophonist
David Binney. Continuously exploring new sounds, he has recorded with an ever-evolving mix of small and larger ensembles, as evidenced by his 2013 big-band date
Infinite Possibility and collaborations with Indian sarod player
Anupam Shobhakar, including 2014's Leave the Door Open and 2019's
Still Point: Turning World.
Born in 1957 in Washington, D.C.,
Harrison grew up in an educated household the son of Gilbert Harrison, the editor of the New Republic magazine, and Anne Harrison, a philanthropist and education advocate. Around age nine, he started taking guitar lessons, initially focusing on classical music. He eventually switched to an electric guitar and by age 14 had discovered the music of
the Beatles,
Jimi Hendrix,
Eric Clapton,
Danny Gatton, and others. Following his high school years playing in various rock bands, he enrolled for study at New York's Bard College. There he began delving into jazz and studying composition with
Joan Tower. He also spent time at
Karl Berger's Creative Music Studio in Woodstock.
After college, he spent time freelancing in Boston and then the San Francisco Bay Area before landing in New York City. There, he made his debut with 1996's 3+3=7, a textured recording featuring collaborations with guitarists
Nels Cline and
Steve Cardenas. He followed a year later with the octet album Range of Motion and the equally inventive 2001 album Transience. With 2003's
Free Country,
Harrison brought out his Americana influences, working with vocalist
Norah Jones and playing a mix of traditional pieces as well as songs by
George Jones,
Merle Haggard, and
Woody Guthrie. Country was also the focus of 2004's
So Long 2nd Street, which featured saxophonist
David Binney, and found
Harrison re-interpreting songs by
Jimmy Webb and
Carter Stanley.
In 2005, he explored the music of
George Harrison with
Harrison on Harrison, playing with saxophonist
David Liebman, pianist
Uri Caine, and drummer
Dan Weiss. He then paired with saxophonist
Binney for several dates including 2007's
Harbor and 2008's The Wheel with trumpeter
Ralph Alessi. The poetic
Passing Train arrived in 2008 and again found
Harrison putting a spotlight on his more folk-oriented, singer/songwriter skills. He then shifted focus, diving into funky avant-garde jazz on 2009's
Urban Myths. 2010 proved a fruitful year as
Harrison was named a Guggenheim Fellow and founded the Alternative Guitar Summit Festival. More far-reaching albums followed, including 2011's string quartet album
The Music of Paul Motian, 2012's exploratory quintet album
Holy Abyss, and 2012's classical-influenced
Search, the latter of which featured a reworking on
the Allman Brothers' "Whipping Post" as well as a rendition of composer
Olivier Messiaen's "O Sacrum Convivium."
In the late spring of 2013,
Harrison released
Infinite Possibility featuring his 19-piece big band. The following year, he collaborated with Indian sarod player
Anupam Shobhakar for the world fusion-inflected Leave the Door Open. Also in 2014, he released the covers album
Mother Stump, which found him reworking songs by
Buddy Miller,
Leonard Cohen,
Luther Vandross, and others. He then formed the expansive ensemble Joel Harrison 5 with trumpeter
Cuong Vu, bassoonist
Paul Hanson, bassist
Kermit Driscoll, and drummer
Brian Blade for 2015's
Spirit House. In 2017, he returned to his solo work with the deeply intimate folk and singer/songwriter-leaning album
Other River.
Still Point: Turning World arrived in 2019 and featured contributions from
Shobhakar and
Kneebody saxophonist
Ben Wendel, contemporary percussion quartet
Talujon, bassist
Hans Glawischnig, drummer
Dan Weiss, and Indian sarod player
Anupam Shobhakar.
In the spring of 2020,
Harrison released the conceptual
America at War with an 18-piece big band. Conducted by trumpeter
Matt Holman, it comprised eight originals penned between 2014-2017, and a cover of
Tom Waits' anti-war song "Day After Tomorrow" (sung by the guitarist to close the recording), the set focused its attention on the devastating consequences of various armed conflicts conducted by the United States throughout its history. Some of
Harrison's collaborators included
Jon Irabagon,
Seneca Black,
Ned Rothenberg, and
Curtis Hasselbring. ~ Matt Collar