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Harold Land

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Harold Land was an American tenor saxophonist in hard bop and post-bop. He was born on 18 December 1928 in Houston, Texas, grew up in San Diego and began playing at sixteen. He started out on the R&B circuit and in 1949 made his first recordings as a leader, the Harold Land All-Stars for Savoy Records.

Music and breakthrough

In 1954 he joined the quintet of Max Roach and Clifford Brown, a band at the forefront of the development of hard bop. Land also wrote his own compositions for it. In 1955 he moved to Los Angeles, where he played with Curtis Counce and led his own groups, sometimes together with Bobby Hutcherson, Blue Mitchell or Red Mitchell. Albums from this period include Harold in the Land of Jazz from 1958 and The Fox from 1960. From the 1970s on, the influence of John Coltrane became increasingly audible in his playing. In the 1980s he played regularly with the Timeless All Stars.

Influence

Land had a dark, strong tone that also revealed something fragile. His sound started somewhere between rhythm and blues and Coleman Hawkins, and later absorbed Coltrane's harmonies and modal thinking. From 1996 he taught in the Jazz Studies programme at UCLA. He died on 27 July 2001.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to The Fox. Notice the dark, almost sombre tone of the tenor saxophone and how Land uses it to build a solo of his own, full of restraint.

Discography

Studio albums

In School of Rock

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See also

Categories: Artists