Joel Harrison

As guitarist, composer and vocalist, Washington D.C. native Joel Harrison resists categorization: jazz, African and Indian, contemporary classical, blues and rock all have a place in his unique approach. Remarking on his eclectic approach All About Jazz concluded that “Harrison’s ability to integrate renders irrelevant the identification of his sources in compositions that range from edgy angularity to sheer beauty…he dispenses with boundaries and creates his own mélange that’s as timeless as it is thoroughly modern."

Harrison graduated from Bard College with a BA in composition and performance in 1980 studying with Joan Tower; in the ensuing years he worked privately with Allaudin Mathieu, Charlie Banacos, Ali Akbar Khan and others. While living in the San Francisco area in the 1990’s Harrison released two cd’s of original works for jazz octet and sextet, Range of Motion and Transience, as well as 3+3=7, works for three guitars and three percussionists featuring Nels Cline. After moving to New York City in 1999, he continued his headlong rush into ever-inventive bands and projects including: Free Country (radical renditions of old country and Appalachian music); Passing Train (pop/world/Americana songs); Harrison on Harrison (re-composed improvisations of the music of George Harrision featuring Dave Liebman), String Choir (string quartet and two guitars play music of Paul Motian), and The Wheel, an extended work for String quartet and jazz quartet plus guitar. He released a cd for Highnote Records entitled Harbor with renowned guitarist Nguyen Le, David Binney, and Jamey Haddad in 2007 and just released two new cds; The Wheel (jazz /classical) and Passing Train (songs)

Harrison is best known for his composing and arranging skills. He has twice been selected as the winner of the Jazz Composer’s Alliance Julius Hemphill Composition Competition, and has been the recipient of grants from Chamber Music America, Meet the Composer, the Cary Trust, NYSCA, and others. His recent chamber works include solos for marimba, violin, and cello as well as a two movement work for four percussion and piano. Harrison has been a guest of the MacDowell and VCCA artist colonies. His allies in his various projects have included Dave Liebman, Mark Feldman, Marty Ehrlich, David Binney, Dan Weiss, Dewey Redman, Norah Jones, Uri Caine, Todd Reynolds, Wendy Sutter, Christian Howes, and Caleb Burhans.

Joel Harrison &. Anthony Pirog: The Great Mirage

Read "The Great Mirage" reviewed by Mike Jurkovic

by Mike Jurkovic
March 5, 2023

The gritty, jammy sonics of the leadoff title track quickly convince the listener that avant guitarists Joel Harrison and Anthony Pirog are hellbent on getting it all out of their systems on The Great Mirage. Bassist Stephan Crump, who lays down his acoustic bass and goes electric, and daredevil drummer Allison Miller, who has absolutely no problem going from zero-to-eternity and cymbal splash to pure bash, sign on and hell breaks loose: witness the obstinate, speed-rock take on ...

Album Review

Alternative Guitar Summit: Honoring Pat Martino, Volume 1

Read "Honoring Pat Martino, Volume 1" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
May 20, 2022

Each year the Alternative Guitar Summit, led by Joel Harrison, presents a concert to honor a living jazz composer/guitarist. That wasn't possible in 2021, however, as venues in and around New York City were shuttered tight by the Covid-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, it was clear that the chosen honoree, the great Pat Martino, was gravely ill and might not have another year to live. With that in mind, members of the Summit took their guitars straight to a studio to record ...

Book Review

Guitar Talk: Conversations with Visionary Players

by Mark Sullivan
October 3, 2021

Guitar Talk: Conversations with Visionary Players Joel Harrison 256 Pages ISBN-13 : 978-1949597134 Terra Nova Press 2021 As founder of the Alternative Guitar Summit, guitarist/composer Joel Harrison has gotten to know a lot of adventurous contemporary guitarists: this book collects far-ranging conversations with twenty-seven of them. In fact, several of these conversations actually took place onstage during the Summit when the guitarists were either performers or honorees (every year a living guitarist/composer ...

Album Review

Joel Harrison: America at War

Read "America at War" reviewed by Angelo Leonardi

by Angelo Leonardi
July 12, 2021

"È tutta la vita che il mio paese conduce tragiche e futili invasioni straniere. Ho sentito che dovevo scrivere su questo fatto, infondere nella mia nuova musica la sua dolorosa eredità." Queste riflessioni aprono il nuovo disco di Joel Harrison, ritornato a sette anni di distanza da Infinite Possibility a guidare un ensemble orchestrale. La storia bellica degli Stati Uniti è piuttosto lunga: in 245 anni ha combattuto 123 conflitti militari vivendo solo 18 anni in completa pace. ...

Multiple Reviews

Joel Harrison and Anthony Pirog on AGS Recordings

by Mark Sullivan
June 8, 2021

After more than a decade of advocating new and creative approaches to the guitar, the New York-based Alternative Guitar Summit is branching out with a guitar-centric record label called AGS Recordings. Its pair of inaugural albums come from the label co-founders Joel Harrison (also the founder and director of the Summit) and Anthony Pirog (a frequent performer on the Summit). Joel Harrison Guitar Talk AGS Recordings 2021 Joel Harrison's Guitar Talk focuses ...

Live Review

Alternative Guitar Summit 2021

by Mark Sullivan
April 9, 2021

Alternative Guitar Summit New York, NY March 20-21, 2021 The Alternative Guitar Summit was founded in 2010 by guitarist/composer Joel Harrison. Every year it has included a Music Camp with Master Classes by notable guitarists, and a Music Festival featuring a wide array of guitar styles. In this pandemic year the decision was made to go virtual rather than skip a year. Recognizing that economic hardship could be a barrier, the festival was presented as “Pay ...

Album Review

Joel Harrison: Angel Band: Free Country Vol. 3

Read "Angel Band: Free Country Vol. 3" reviewed by Peter J. Hoetjes

by Peter J. Hoetjes
December 9, 2018

Possessed of restless creativity and a desire not to repeat himself, guitarist/vocalist Joel Harrison took a 14-year hiatus between albums in his Free Country series to release over a dozen other efforts before returning with Angel Band: Free Country Volume 3. Building on the foundation set by the first two albums, he recruits a few returning musicians as well as a menagerie of new talent, including a handful of vocalists. Harrison takes an amalgamation of folk, country, bluegrass ...

Festival

Alternative Guitar Summit 2021 Music Festival March 20 & 21—Online & Viewable Worldwide!

Source: The Music Outpost Publicity
March 15, 2021

On March 20th and 21st, the Alternative Guitar Summit presents its annual two-day music festival, part of the NYC-based Summit's month-long celebration of innovative guitar music. Unlike years past, the 2021 Alt Guitar Summit Festival will be held online and thus accessible to global audiences despite the Covid 19 pandemic. And to accommodate all music lovers during a time of financial hardship for many, tickets for the 2021 Festival are “Pay What You Wish;" doors are open, and donations encouraged ...
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Festival

The 5th Annual Alternative Guitar Summit: February 4, 2015 @ Shapeshifter Lab And February 6-8, 2015 @ Rockwood Music Hall

Source: Jason Byrne, Red Cat Publicity
February 5, 2015

Presenting 22 Guitarists, New Podcast Featuring Nels Cline, Plus Masterclasses @ Spectrum The 2015 AGS will feature 22 Guitarists!: Ben Monder, Steve Mackey, Scott Johnson, Lee Ranaldo, Liberty Ellman, David Gilmore, Joel Harrison, Miles Okazaki, Kenny Wessel, Doug Wamble, Adam Levy, Sheryl Bailey, Michael Gregory Jackson, Anders Nilsson, Aaron Dugan, Marco Cappelli, Gyan Riley, David Fiuczynski, Prasanna, Ava Mendoza, Tomas Doncker UPCOMING Alternative Guitar Summit 2015 Concerts Feb 4: Shapeshifter Lab @ 7:30 PM Three 40 minute sets Three Ground-breaking ...
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Festival

Joel Harrison Announces The 5th Annual Alternative Guitar Summit

Source: Jason Byrne, Red Cat Publicity
December 9, 2014

February 4, 2015 @ Shapeshifter Lab And February 6-8, 2015 @ Rockwood Music Hall Joel Harrison, guitarist/composer/bandleader and founder of the annual Alternative Guitar Summit, is happy to announce the 2015 Alternative Guitar Summit, taking place at Shapeshifter Lab (February 4), and Rockwood Music Hall (February 6-8)! This festival of daring, inventive guitarists, who emphasize new and unusual approaches to the instrument, will once again celebrate the guitar’s enormous range, beyond style or genre. The 2015 AGS will feature Lee ...
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Recording

Guitarist Joel Harrison Revisits His Roots Growing Up In Washington, D.C. On Latest Cuneiform Records Release, Mother Stump

Source: Matt Merewitz
May 30, 2014

Mother Stump Highlights Harrison’s Guitar Playing Over His Composing On Covers of Buddy Miller, Leonard Cohen, Al Kooper, Luther Vandross, Paul Motian, George Russell And More Featuring Top NY-Based Sidemen Michael Bates (bass), Jeremy ‘Bean’ Clemons (drums), Glenn Patscha (keyboards) For many years, guitarist Joel Harrison claimed he had no roots. Growing up in Washington D.C., a place whose identity and values are always in drift, Harrison was convinced he had to “go out into the world with a shovel ...
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Recording

Multiplicity of Musical Idioms: Guitarist Joel Harrison & Sarode Master Anupam Shobhakar Release "Leave The Door Open"

Source: Chris M. Slawecki
April 5, 2014

With Leave The Door Open (Whirlwind Recordings), guitarist Joel Harrison teams up with sarode player Anupam Shobhakar and the product is a wholly idiosyncratic synthesis of Indian and American musics and more particularly, the lives and interests of these two musicians. Harrison and Shobhakar met as a result of a 2010 Guggenheim Fellowship when Harrison set out to compose a piece for classical percussion, jazz quintet, and sarode. Harrison says that he and Shobhakar “spent a lot of time together ...
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Performance / Tour

Joel Harrison Five On Tour!

Source: All About Jazz
February 17, 2014

Guitarist and 2010 Guggenheim Fellowship recipient Joel Harrison will be hitting the road for a short tour, beginning February 26, 2014 at the Edinboro University in jny: Erie, PA and ending in Kingston, Canada on March 2, with stops in jny: Toronto, Canada and jny: Ottawa Canada in-between. The Joel Harrison Five will also include saxophonist Chris Cheek, pianist Jacob Sacks, bassist Drew Gress and drummer Jordan Perlson. Dates are listed under Harrison's All About Jazz Musician Profile and at ...
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Event

Alternative Guitar Summit brings together Nels Cline, Mary Halvorson, Ben Monder, Thurston Moore: Jan. 13-15, plus many more

Source: Fully Altered Media
January 3, 2012

Joel Harrison presents the Alternative Guitar Summit Co-sponsored by the New York Guitar Festival Featuring Nels Cline, Mary Halvorson, Vic Juris, Ben Monder, Thurston Moore and many more! January 13, 14 and 15, 2012 Rockwood Music Hall 196 Allen Street New York, NY 10002 (212) 477-4155 The guitar these days is a kind of magic wand, a poly-theistic blow torch, lovely, raging, gentle, noisy, intimate, voluminous, hallucinogenic, funky, juvenile, ageless. More than ...
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Performance / Tour

On May 11 Brooklyn Jazz Wide Open Presents The Joel Harrison Large Ensemble @ The Brooklyn Conservatory of Music!

Source: Jason Byrne, Red Cat Publicity
April 28, 2011

Connection Works Presents The 4th Season Of Brooklyn Jazz Wide Open @ The Brooklyn Conservatory Of Music Concert Hall

The Brooklyn Conservatory of Music is located at 58 Seventh Ave (at Lincoln Place), Park Slope, Brooklyn, NY, 718 622 3300, Tickets are $15, and $10 for students and seniors

Final Concert of the 2010-2011 season Wednesday, May 11, 2011, 8:00 PM

Joel Harrison Large Ensemble Presenting a new work commissioned by Connection Works with assistance from Meet ...
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272

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Joel Harrison

Source: Michael Ricci
July 27, 2009

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Recording

Guitarist/Composer Joel Harrison Releases "Urban Myths" on Highnote Records

Source: Two for the Show Media
April 28, 2009

Joel Harrison, guitar David Binney - alto saxophone Christian Howes - violin Daniel Kelly - keyboards Stephan Crump - acoustic bass Jordan Perlson – drums With Fima Ephron - electric bass Ambrose Akinmusire - trumpet Corey King - trombone Jerome Sabbagh - tenor saxophone “One of the finer composer/guitarists in modern jazz” --Minneapolis Star Tribune “A master composer/guitarist” --San Francisco ...
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To underscore the sense of loss moving into something affirming, the suite closes with a memorial to an old friend of Harrison’s. In loss, he has learned to celebrate life, no matter how briefly it shines. Harrison wails a euology and the piece explodes in a frenzy of invention. His friend is alive in the music and all the players take part in the joyous wake. Never for a minute is the loss forgotten but the music offers promise and hope. What more can we expect? — Donald Elfman, All About Jazz

“Guitarist, composer and occasional vocalist, Joel Harrison, never ceases to surprise me with the amount and diversity of projects that he is involved in. Over ten or so discs, Joel has continually evolved. The Wheel might just be his best effort yet, it is one this year’s best discs.” — Bruce Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery

"The Wheel’s greatest success is its absolute avoidance of division. This isn’t "jazz with strings," or "classical music with improvising musicians;” this is fully integrated music that has elements of both but feels like neither. That Harrison has written a suite of music that denies all borders and views music as one large continuum alone deserves attention. The remarkable group of players who can effortlessly navigate this challenging and ground-breaking music only makes it an even more essential listen." — John Kelman, All About Jazz

“Definitions blur, and suddenly it no longer matters whether Harrison improvises or composes. Whether his playground is jazz, pop, folk, country, or classical it all comes down to this: imagination without limits.” — Jazzthetik

We list Joel Harrison in the jazz section primarily because that’s where he started out, but few artists seem less content to stay put. With Wishing Well, just out on Intuition, Harrison reveals yet another facet of his artistic totality: the sandy-voiced, soulful singer of Americana-drenched songs. Rest assured, however, that the instrumental component remains at a high level, and we can’t decide whether it’s the sly arrangements or Ben Wittman’s production that makes the whole thing so seductive. —Steve Smith: Time Out New York

“This is no rattling of cultural loose change…a striking balance between improvisation, composition, texture, and color. The feel is contemporary, the moods varied, the results impressive.” —Irish Times: 5 star review

“A potent brew…easily Harrison’s most satisfying release.” —Jazzwise

“The new album imagines a fascinating modern fusion of Western and Eastern tonalities.” —NY Times

“Plays out like a suite, or at least a series of tunes related by daring and depth. Call it a signpost that our respected jazz guitarist is also an impressive composer.” —Village Voice

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Primary Instrument

Guitar, electric

Location

New York City

Willing to teach

Advanced only

Credentials/Background

I have taught for many years all over composition, guitar, arranging, songwriting $75 to $100 an hour

Clinic/Workshop Information

I enjoy doing clinics in jazz pedagogy, composition, overall musicianship, guitar, incorporating many different streams of music into a singular voice, etc.