Jazz Musician of the Day: Tom Harrell

Born: June 16, 1946
Hailed by Newsweek for his pure melodic genius,Tom Harrell is widely recognized as one of the most creative and uncompromising jazz instrumentalists and composers of our time. He is a frequent winner in Down Beat and Jazz Times magazines' Critics and Readers Polls and a Grammy nominee. Each of his 24 albums has found its way onto various critics “Top Ten” lists worldwide. His warm, burnished sound on trumpet and flugelhorn, and the unparalleled harmonic and rhythmic sophistication in his playing and writing, have earned Harrell his place as a jazz icon to aspiring musicians and devoted fans alike.

ROMAN NIGHTS (2010) is the third album and the latest Harrell offering that features the current members of his quintet. The remarkably cohesive unit includes tenor saxophonist Wayne Escoffery, pianist Danny Grissett, drummer Johnathan Blake, and his bassist of 12 years, Ugonna Okegwo. The quintet's previous albums, LIGHT ON (2007) and PRANA DANCE (2009), were released to wide critical acclaim and won SESAC awards for topping the radio charts in the U.S.

In contrast to his signature recordings during the RCA/BMG years (1996 - 2003) where much of his focus was on projects involving large ensembles, the latest albums on Highnote demonstrate Harrell's skills as a leader of a tight, smaller unit that calls to mind the energy and rapport of Art Blakey’s and Horace Silver’s bands. The sheer joy of playing Harrell's music with one another is evident from each member of the quintet. The writing on these recordings is no less of an achievement than his work for the orchestra or the big band. The trumpeter-composer deftly weaves complex harmonies together with daring rhythmic concepts and unforgettable melodies while utilizing the available colors to full effect. Harrell's music is at once intelligent, soulful, fresh and accessible.

Harrell divides his time between writing projects, live performance, and recordings, and actively tours with his quintet around the world. Recent television broadcasts of concerts include: San Javier Jazz Festival in Spain; Viersen Jazz Festival in Germany; Red Sea Jazz Festival in Israel; Jazz a Liege in Belgium; and Chivas Jazz Festival in Brazil. Harrell will be featured as the Artist in Residence at the Barga Jazz Festival (August 2009) and Vicenza Jazz Festival (May 2009). At the latter festival he will perform duo, quintet and big band concerts over several days.

A graduate of Stanford University with a degree in music composition, Harrell is a prolific composer and arranger. Carlos Santana, Cold Blood, Azteca, Vince Guaraldi, Hank Jones, Kenny Barron, the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, Danish Radio Big Band, WDR Big Band, Brussels Jazz Orchestra, Metropole Orchestra and Arturo O'Farrill & the Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra are among the many who have recorded or performed his work.

Harrell's composition and arrangement, “Humility,” was recorded for the latter's 2008 release, which just won a Grammy for the Best Latin Jazz Album. Some of Harrell's notable RCA/BMG recordings include WISE CHILDREN, a project in which he combines woodwinds, brass, horns, strings, guitars, percussion and the vocals of Cassandra Wilson, Dianne Reeves, Jane Monheit and Claudia Acuna with his quintet; PARADISE and THE ART OF RHYTHM, both of which feature chamber groups with strings; and his big band project, TIME'S MIRROR.



In addition to the 24 albums and hundreds of concerts worldwide as a leader, Harrell has worked with important figures in jazz history including Stan Kenton, Woody Herman, Dizzie Gillespie, Horace Silver, Bill Evans, Gerry Mulligan, Art Farmer, Phil Woods, Lee Konitz, Sam Jones (with whom he briefly co-led a big band in the 70s), Jim Hall, Charlie Haden, Joe Lovano and Charles McPherson.

In 2006, Harrell was awarded a Chamber Music America grant with which he composed and performed new pieces for trumpet and piano. He also wrote symphony orchestra arrangements for the French Orchestre National de Lorraine and the vocalist Elisabeth Kontomanou for a live recording album released in 2009, SIREN SONG.

Press Quotes

”What Harrell [does] is spin out improvisational lines filled with instant melodies. Like a lyricist who illuminates phrases with subtle internal rhymes, Harrell's soloing captivates both the hearts and the minds of his listeners.” - The Los Angeles Times

A brilliant trumpeter, flugelhornist and composer. - Whitney Balliett, The New Yorker

There is no one in jazz today writing with more intelligent, depth and heart than Tom Harrell. - Bill Milkowski, JazzTimes

The premier trumpeter of his generation. - David Hajdu, Entertainment Weekly

A master of melody. - Tom Masland, Newsweek

One of the top trumpeters in jazz for the past two decades and one of the musics most prolific and gifted composers. - Joe Cooper, New York Observer

He is that rare improviser who never resorts to cliche, a talent who seems to have an underground reserve of melody. - Tom Moon, Musician

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