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Barry Harris at the Jazz Standard
The bebop jazz pianist and educator has spent a lifetime preserving the classicist jazz persuasion
Barry Harris
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Listening to a Barry Harris concert is like being transported back in time. The jazz pianist, who played alongside Thelonious Monk and drew heavy stylistic influence from the likes of Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie and Bud Powell, has spent a lifetime teaching and preserving the classicist jazz persuasion. From September 24 to 27, he will take the stage at a four-day show at the Jazz Standard.
Harris grew up in Detroit but moved to New York after soaking in the works of the seminal jazz artists who visited his hometown. He was especially touched by Powell, whose melodic structure and style of playing became the blueprint for Harris’ own piano style. As jazz turned free-form in the sixties and Latin in the seventies, Harris continued to play the musical technique that he had fallen in love with. The preservation of this classic style became as much a career path for Harris as playing jazz gigs.
In the 1980s, between collaborative and back-up bookings, Harris created the Jazz Cultural Theater. Set in a former restaurant storefront, the theater served as a school and performance venue for the storied artist. Harris put on shows of his own compositions and those that influenced him most, and he encouraged groups and individuals to come together at the theater to continue the creation of music in the vein of those who came before him. The school was as much about teaching technique as it was about carrying on the living history of a truly American art form.
When Harris was stricken with a serious illness he was forced to close the Jazz Cultural Theater, but at nearly 80, has taken to the stage once again. The concert series at the Jazz Standard marks a milestone for Harris, a weekend in which his idol Powell would have turned 87. Harris continues the tradition of be-bop, influencing countless new jazz musicians and shedding light on the inception of jazz through living history.
For tickets and further information on the Barry Harris Trio, visit www.jazzstandard.net.