JOEL HARRISON QUARTET
Iowa debut | As guitarist, composer and vocalist, Joel Harrison occupies a musical space between many worlds. His medium is primarily jazz, but his music emanates from many sources: African and Indian, contemporary classical, blues and R&B all have a place in his unique voice. His all inclusive musical language has deep roots. He grew up in a time when artists as diverse as Miles Davis, The Band and the Country Gentleman might appear on the same bill. There were free format radio stations where stylistic collisions were common and performers like Jimi Hendrix and The Allman Brothers experimented with combining short songs with long, intricate instrumental escapades.
Harrison graduated from Bard College, where he studied with Joan Tower. While living in the San Francisco area in the 1990s he recorded three CDs (on the 9 Winds, Koch, and Spirit Nectar labels), and organized tribute concerts to a number of great jazz artists including Jim Pepper and Jimmy Guiffre.
After moving to New York City in 1999, he continued his headlong rush into ever-inventive bands and projects, including Free Country, which featured radical renditions of old country and Appalachian music; Harrison on Harrison, re-composed improvisations of the music of George Harrison; and Harbor, a collaboration with renowned guitarist Nguyên Lê.
Harrison is recognized for his composing and arranging skills, and has twice received the Jazz Composer’s Alliance Julius Hemphill Composition Award. He is the recipient of grants from Chamber Music America, Meet the Composer, the Cary Trust and NYSCA, and has been a guest of the MacDowell and VCCA artist colonies. He has written film scores for HBO, A&E and the History Channel, and has performed with Dewey Redman, Nels Cline, Jamey Haddad, Ben Wittman and Darol Anger. His 2003 release Free Country, featuring Norah Jones, Uri Caine and David Binney, won critics’ awards in both the U.S. and Europe and was named by many publications one of the best CDs of the year.
Joel Harrison appears at CSPS with Pete McCann on guitar, Stephan Crump on bass, and Jordan Perlson on drums.
Tues Oct 9 | 8 pm
CSPS | 1103 Third St SE | Cedar Rapids
$12 advance | $15 day of show

Ticket info
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