DONALD HARRISON QUARTET
2022 NEA Jazz Master Big Chief Donald Harrison is a musician/composer dedicated to mastering every era of jazz, soul, and funk and composing orchestral classical music. He has been called a “One man music festival” because his performances cover the history of music and show his knowledge of many styles is the basis for his innovations.
According to geniuses Eddie Palmieri, Nicholas Payton, Carl Allen, and Mike Clark, he is a genius. Harrison is the recognized Big Chief of Congo Square in Afro-New Orleans culture, where he keeps alive one of the root contributors cultures to Traditional jazz. Harrison is also the innovator of three influential jazz styles, including a modern jazz twist to New Orleans’ second-line music that blends classic jazz with hip-hop, funk, and soul music, called “Nouveau Swing.”
Big Chief Donald Harrison | also saxophone & vocals
Dan Kaufman | piano
Brian Richburg | drums
Nori Naraoka | bass
Cover: $15.00 ~ $45.00 +fee
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Terrence Mitchell Riley was born in Colfax, California on June 24, 1935 and grew up in Redding, California. In the 1950s, he began performing as a solo pianist and studied composition at San Francisco State University, the San Francisco Conservatory, and the University of California Berkeley, studying with Seymour Shifrin and Robert Erickson.
Befriending minimalist omposer La Monte Young, together they performed Riley’s improvisatory composition Concert for Two Pianists and Tape Recorders in 1959–60. Riley later became involved in the experimental San Francisco Tape Music Center, working with Morton Subotnick, Steve Reich, Pauline Oliveros, and Ramon Sender. Throughout the 1960s, he also traveled frequently in Europe, taking in musical influences and supporting himself by playing in piano bars. He also performed briefly with the Theatre of Eternal Music in New York in 1965-1966.
His most influential teacher was Pandit Pran Nath, a master of Indian classical voice who also taught La Monte Young, Marian Zazeela, and Michael Harrison. Riley made numerous trips to India over the course of their association to study and accompany him on tabla, tambura, and voice. In 1971 he joined the Mills College faculty to teach Indian classical music. Riley also cites John Cage and “the really great chamber music groups of John Coltrane and Miles Davis, Charles Mingus, Bill Evans, and Gil Evans as influences on his work.
His long-lasting association with the Kronos Quartet began around 1980 and throughout his career Terry composed 13 string quartets for the ensemble. in addition
Organist, pianist, saxophonist and tamburist Terry Riley, who teaches both as an Indian raga vocalist and as a solo pianist, continues to perform live.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Sahib Shihab was born Edmund Gregory on June 23, 1925 in Savannah, Georgia. Schooled in New York from age 3, he first played alto saxophone professionally for Luther Henderson at 13. He studied at the Boston Conservatory, and played in and around New York with Art Blakey, Gigi Gryce, Benny Golson, Thelonious Monk, Oscar Pettiford, Dizzy Gillespie. He toured with the bands of Fletcher Henderson, Buddy Johnson, Roy Eldridge, Andy Kirk, Duke Ellington, Count Basie and the original 17 Messengers of Blakey.
During the late 1940s, Shihab played with Thelonious Monk, and on July 23, 1951 he recorded with Monk that was later issued on the album Genius of Modern Music: Volume 2. During the decade he recorded with Art Blakey, Kenny Dorham and Benny Golson. The invitation to play with Dizzy Gillespie’s big band saw his switch to baritone saxophone.
Between 1952 to 1955 he toured with Illinois Jacquet in Europe, as well as with Coleman Hawkins and Sarah Vaughn and toured with Dakota Stanton from 1956 to 1958. He was one of the musicians who showed up for the Art Kane photograph A Great Day In Harlem. Closing out the Fifteies he toured Europe with Quincy Jones, and subsequently settled in Scandinavia in 1960, married and raising a family. Shihab, disillusioned with racial politics in the United States, decided around this time to move to Europe.
As an educator he worked for Copenhagen Polytechnic and wrote scores for television, cinema and theatre. He composed and arranged for Swedish and Danish radio orchestras. He went on to perform with bassist Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen and together with pianist Kenny Drew, he ran a publishing firm and record company. Through the Sixties he joined the Kenny Clarke/Francy Boland Big Band and remained a member of the band during its 12 years existence.
Returning to the United States in 1973 he toured with Quincy Jones and The Brothers Johnson. He returned to Copenhagen, Denmark three years later, where he produced albums for Metronome Records, along with Kenny Drew. The album is titled Brief Encounter, and features the voices of Debby Cameron and Richard Boone. At decade’s end he started a record company with Kenny Drew called Matrix and spent his remaining years between New York and Copenhagen, performed in partnership with Art Farmer and led his own jazz combo called Dues.
Hard bop baritone, alto, and soprano saxophonist and flautist, composer, arranger, producer and educator Sahib Shihab, who beginning of 1986 was a visiting artist at Rutgers University, died from cancer on October 24, 1989, in Nashville, Tennessee at age 64.
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Requisites
Major Changes ~ Frank Morgan and The McCoy Tyner Trio | By Eddie Carter 6.15.25
During the five years I lived in Cincinnati, Ohio, Everybody’s Records was a favorite shop I regularly visited. It was there that I heard Major Changes (Contemporary Records C-14039) by Frank Morgan and the McCoy Tyner Trio spinning on the turntable. As I listened, memories of when I first became a jazz fan came rushing back, and I picked it up immediately. Frank was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and began playing the guitar at a young age. His father introduced him to Charlie Parker, who inspired him to play the clarinet at age seven. Morgan later graduated to the soprano sax, then the alto sax, which became his primary instrument. Rounding out the ensemble are McCoy Tyner on piano, Avery Sharpe on bass, and Louis Hayes on drums. My copy of the album is the 1988 U.S. stereo release.
The quartet kicks off the first side with Changes by McCoy Tyner. The pianist’s brisk introduction sets the tone for their feisty melody. McCoy takes the first bite of this jazzy apple with a high-spirited solo. Frank follows with a vigorous statement, then Avery’s vivacious interpretation guides the group back to the theme’s reprise and fadeout. Irving Berlin’s How Deep Is The Ocean starts on a deceptively slow note, with the alto sax and piano sharing a private conversation ahead of the foursome’s sprightly theme. Tyner leads the charge with a swinging opening statement. Morgan builds on this momentum with a feisty reading. Sharpe rounds out the solos with a brief presentation leading to the out-chorus and exit.
Emily is a lovely composition by Johnny Mandel and Johnny Mercer. Frank begins delicately expressing each note of the melody with heartfelt sensitivity. McCoy’s opening solo is delivered with tenderness and warmth. Frank concludes with a gentle presentation, leading to a serene and graceful finish. Search For Peace by McCoy Tyner begins with Hayes’s introduction, leading into the quartet’s theme, which moves at a bright and brisk clip. The pianist starts the opening solo with remarkable precision and vibrant enthusiasm. Sharpe and Hayes share a brief interlude, then Morgan effortlessly glides over the rhythm section, perfectly attuned to Hayes’s flawless timing, until the closing chorus fades into nothingness.
McCoy Tyner announces Frank’s Back with a smooth lead-in, segueing into the opening ensemble at medium-tempo to begin the second side. Frank sets a stellar example for the group in the first solo. McCoy follows with a charismatic interpretation, then Frank and Louis share an exchange of notes, leading back to the reprise and conclusion. Oscar Hammerstein II and Jerome Kern’s All The Things You Are opens with the saxophonist’s soothing introduction ahead of the group’s mellow theme. Morgan’s opening statement starts strong and doesn’t let go until Tyner takes his turn. The pianist launches into a taut second reading that holds the listener’s attention until Morgan returns briefly, leading to the theme’s reprise and a graceful exit.
Theme From Love Story by Francis Lai and Carl Sigman comes from the 1970 romantic drama. The rhythm section’s introduction is simultaneously delicate and inviting, leading Frank to explore the intricately beautiful melody. McCoy captures the song’s essence with lively exuberance in the opening statement. Frank then weaves a tapestryof grace and elegance before the theme resurfaces, and the quartet fades into a poignant stillness. Richard Bock produced Major Changes. Ed Rak was the engineer behind the direct-to-digital recording, and George Horn mastered this release. The album boasts a superb soundstage that envelops the listener’s sweet spot, as if they’re seated in the studio alongside the musicians.
Frank Morgan battled heroin addiction for much of his life, mirroring the path of Charlie Parker. This struggle led him to spend a significant portion of his adult years in and out of prison. However, by the mid-1980s, he managed to overcome his dependency, remaining clean for the final two decades of his life, though he continued taking methadone daily. Morgan recorded twenty-one albums as a leader and contributed to twelve more as a sideman. Despite suffering a stroke in 1998, he made a remarkable recovery and continued to perform and record music during the last nine years of his life. Toward the end of his career, Morgan successfully completed his first European tour. He passed away from complications of colorectal cancer on December 14, 2007, just nine days before his seventy-fourth birthday.
The album’s title reflects the significant shifts in Morgan’s life and music, while highlighting the extraordinary chemistry between the musicians. Whether you're a seasoned jazz aficionado or a newcomer to Morgan’s music, Major Changes by Frank Morgan and the McCoy Tyner Trio is a treasure trove of captivating tracks and stunning solos. It also serves as a delightful showcase of his talent, and I wholeheartedly recommend checking it outthe next time you’re out record-shopping!
~ All The Things You Are – Source: JazzStandards.com
~ Theme From “Love Story” – Source: Wikipedia.org
© 2025 by Edward Thomas Carter
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Vince Wallace was born on June 15, 1939 in Port Townsend, Washington. At just two months shy of his second birthday his mother moved him to San Joaquin Valley, California. After spending a little time there, they ended up settling and growing up in the Bay area of Oakland, California.
His earliest recordings were on the Black Jack Wayne label in 1953 with Screamin Mel Dorsey and Chuck Wayne and the Heartbeats. These sessions were along with his original instrumental, Funky. He performed regularly at this time at the Country and Western halls and go go bars of Niles, California alongside Rose Maddox, Johnny Cash, and the Black Brothers.
As he developed, he became more sought after at all hours jazz joints where he sat in with Eric Dolphy, Paul Chambers, Charles Mingus, Pony Poindexter, Art Blakey and Smiley Winters. Jimbo’s Bop City in San Francisco was the best place around, where every night after 2 a.m. another legend of the jazz would come through the door.
In 1958 Vince moved to Southern California where he picked up work with Paul Bley and Marvin Rainwater. His Sunday jam session at The Cascades Club in Belmont Shores, helped the emergence of Kent Glenn, Mark Proctor, Gene Stone, and Warren Gale. By 1966 was back in the Bay Area working with alto saxophonist Norman Williams at the JukeBox in San Francisco. Through 1970 Wallace recorded three albums with Little John, a fusion rock band on Epic records.
Drawn back to southern California he experienced some of his widest recognition as his featured performances were reviewed favorably by Gerald Wilson.. This led to an eventual run at the Studio Cafe, and the release of two of Vince’s solo albums on Amp Records. Returning to San Francisco he led a Sunday night jam session through the Nineties, receiving the San Francisco Bay Guardian Award for Best Jam Session in 1995.
With a surge of interest in his music in the new millenium, he started working at the Bulldog Coffee Shop in Oakland and reuniting with Bishop Norman Williams, Prince Lasha, Jim Grantham, Steve Heckman, Fred Randolph, Chuck Thomposon, Chris Amberger, Terry Rodriguez, and John Gilmore, just to name a few. He began working on his memoirs, created a website, took a Friday residency at Cafe Van Kleef, appeared on KCSM 91.1 FM, and recorded a new album with Larry Vuckovich.
Tenor saxophonist Vince Wallace has reestablished himself as one of the most sought after saxophonists around and his music will undoubtably be spread throughout the world via his website www.vincewallace.com.
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