BIX TOP ACT: DONALD HARRISON

Born in New Orleans, saxophonist Donald Harrison is a musician/composer who master musicians consider a master of all eras of jazz, soul, funk and as a composer of classical orchestral music.

According to geniuses like Eddie Palmieri and Mike Clark, he is also a genius. In the HBO drama Treme, Emmy winner David Simon created two characters to portray how Harrison invented new styles of music. Harrison has appeared as an actor/musician in 9 episodes of Treme, Academy Award winner Johnathon Demme's film Rachel Getting Married, Spike Lee's documentary When The Levee's Broke and Marvel's Luke Cage. This talented artist is the recognized Big Chief of Congo Square in Afro-New Orleans culture and was appointed Chief in 2019 by Queen Diambi Kabatusuila in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Africa.

Harrison honed his experience with Roy Haynes, Art Blakey, Eddie Palmieri, Dr. John, Lena Horne, McCoy Tyner, Dr. Eddie Henderson, Miles Davis, Ron Carter, Billy Cobham, Chuck Loeb, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Digable Planets, Gurus Jazzmatazz, The Headhunters, The Chicago Symphony Orchestra and The Notorious BIG. He has performed with over 200 jazz masters and has created three influential jazz styles. At the age of 19, Harrison created a modern jazz version of the New Orleans second-line tradition and introduced his composition New York Second-Line to the jazz world in 1979.

In the mid-80s he created Nouveau Swing, an unmistakable sound that mixed the swing beat of modern jazz with hip-hop, funk and soul music. In the 90s, Harrison recorded hits in the smooth jazz genre. He began exploring music through the lens of quantum physics in 2000. With quantum jazz, Harrison heard how to move music from a two-dimensional state to a four-dimensional state. Harrison has been a mentor to artists as diverse as The Notorious BIG, Jonathon Batiste, Christian Scott, Trombone Shorty and Esperanza Spaulding.

Big Chief Donald Harrison is a master alto saxophonist who takes the musical spirit of his native New Orleans with him wherever he goes - he's a one-man jazz festival. Harrison, who was named an NEA Jazz Master in 2022, is known for his hard-swinging improvisational style and the creation of "Nouveau Swing", a blend of jazz with R&B, hip-hop, rock and soul. His performances cater to all eras of jazz, and he is a true champion of the culture who is known for mentoring the next generation of musicians.

Lineup: Donald Harrison (sax); Dan Kaufman (p); Noriatsu Naraoka (b); Brian Richburg (dr)