Joel Harrison
Vox Americana

Show Description

As guitarist, composer and vocalist, Washington DC native 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, country, blues and R&B all have a place in his unique approach and voice.  He honed his all-inclusive musical language 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 Cream experimented with new forms and sounds

Harrison began writing songs as a teenager, and some 30 years later is still doing so.  He says in the liner notes to Passing Train:  “What I come back to over and over again is the feeling I get when the marriage of words and music is magic. It’s unlike any other feeling I know. It makes the world seem graspable for a moment.  I love a great song more than any other form of music, and so while the process has been at turns dark, complex, and confusing, the end result feels as rewarding as anything I have ever done."

Harrison is known for his composing and arranging skills, and has twice been selected as the winner of the Jazz Composer’s Alliance Julius Hemphill Composition Competition. Also the recipient of several Meet the Composer NEA grants, Harrison has been a guest of the prestigious MacDowell artists colony in New England and has also received individual creative artist grants from New York State Council on the Arts and Chamber Music America. He has made a point of learning as much as possible about many different musical cultures such India, West Africa, and the Middle East in an effort to  broaden his sound.

Harrison has written numerous film scores for the History Channel, HBO, A&E Television and has performed around the world in clubs and festivals in one of his many creative ensembles.