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Benny Harris was born on April 23, 1919 in New York City. His first major gig as a trumpeter was in 1939 with Tiny Bradshaw. He would go on to play with Earl Hines in 1941 and 1943, and worked New York’s 52nd Street bebop circuit in the 1940s.

Harris collaborated with Benny Carter, John Kirby, Coleman Hawkins, Don Byas and Thelonious Monk. He was with Boyd Raeburn from 1944-45 and Clyde Hart in 1944; he and Byas worked together again in 1945. He played less in the late 1940s, though he appeared with Dizzy Gillespie in 1949 and Charlie Parker in 1952. After this Harris quit music entirely.

Never a well-known soloist, Benny is better known for such compositions as  “Crazeology” and “Ornithology”, the latter being a signature Charlie Parker tune; “Reets and I”, a Bud Powell favorite; and “Wahoo”, a tune associated with Duke Pearson.

Benny Harris, bebop trumpeter and composer died on May 11, 1975 in San Francisco, California.

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