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Donald Harrison
From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist
Donald Harrison Jr. is an American jazz saxophonist, born in 1960 in New Orleans. His father, Big Chief Donald Harrison Sr., was a leader of the Mardi Gras Indians, and Donald grew up in the culture of the second line and the masked parades. At sixteen he began playing alto saxophone and later studied at the Berklee College of Music. He played with Roy Haynes and Jack McDuff and then in the quintet of Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, together with the trumpeter Terence Blanchard, until 1989.
Music and breakthrough
His own albums from that period include New York Second Line, Black Pearl, The Power of Cool and Indian Blues. In 1991 For Art's Sake appeared, a tribute to Blakey. His work runs through different genres. In 3D Vols. I, II and III he plays smooth jazz and r&b, classic jazz and hip hop, and he also plays with his Electric Band and with The New Sounds of Mardi Gras. In 1999 he became Big Chief of the Congo Square Nation Afro-New Orleans Cultural Group. Later he made Quantum Leap and a first orchestral work, Congo Square Suite, with the Moscow Symphony Orchestra.
Influence
Harrison combines bebop, the tradition of New Orleans and hip hop and often records the same song in several styles. He mentored young musicians, including Christian McBride and his nephew, the trumpeter Christian Scott. He is an NEA Jazz Master and played himself in the television series Treme.
Listening
Discography
Studio albums
- 1984New York Second Line
- 1986Discernment
- 1986Nascence
- 1987Crystal Stair
- 1988Black Pearl
- 1991The Power of Cool
- 1992Indian Blues
- 1995Essence of Funk
- 1995New Orleans Jazz Preservation
- 1997Nouveau Swing
- 1999Free to Be
- 2000Spirits Of Congo Square
- 2002Kind Of New
- 2002Real Life Stories
- 2003Paradise Found
- 2004Heroes
- 2008The Chosen
- ?The Survivor
In School of Rock
The chapters, maps and magazine stories of School of Rock are currently available in Dutch only.
- After Hours: Session 4NL Reader
Mentioned in other articles
- Neotraditional jazz (Young Lions) Genre
Together with his brother, the saxophonist Branford Marsalis, and musicians such as Terence Blanchard, Donald Harrison, Roy Hargrove and Joshua Redman, he was counted among the Young Lions: well-dressed young players who took the tradition seriously.