Barry Harris
| Barry Harris | |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Barry Doyle Harris |
| Born | December 15, 1929 |
| Origin | Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
| Genres | Bebop, hard bop, mainstream jazz |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, bandleader, composer, teacher |
| Instruments | Piano |
| Labels | Prestige, Riverside, Xanadu |
| Associated acts | Cannonball Adderley, Dexter Gordon, Coleman Hawkins, Illinois Jacquet, Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, Bud Powell, Max Roach, Yusef Lateef |
| Website | barryharris.com |
Barry Doyle Harris (born Detroit, Michigan, December 15, 1929) is an American jazz pianist, bandleader, composer, arranger and educator. He is an exponent of the bebop style.
Harris began learning the piano at the age of four. His mother was a church pianist and had asked if Harris was interested in playing church or jazz music. Having picked jazz, he was influenced by Thelonious Monk and Bud Powell's music. He went to public areas to play dances for clubs and ballrooms. Harris learned the bebop styles largely by ear, imitating the solos played by Bud Powell in his teenage years.
Harris was based in Detroit through the 1950s and worked with musicians such as Miles Davis, Sonny Stitt and Thad Jones. He also performed in place of Junior Mance, who was Gene Ammons's regular pianist for his group frequently. In addition, Harris toured with Max Roach briefly in 1956 as a pianist after the group's resident pianist Richie Powell (younger brother of Bud Powell) died in a car crash.
Harris performed with Cannonball Adderley's quintet and even had a chance to do a television stint with them.
Harris relocated to New York City in 1960, where he became a performer as well as a jazz educator. During his time in New York, Harris collaborated with Dexter Gordon, Illinois Jacquet, Yusef Lateef and Hank Mobley through performances and recordings.
Between 1965 and 1969, Harris performed extensively with Coleman Hawkins at the Village Vanguard.
During the 1970s, Harris lived with Monk at the Weehawken, New Jersey home of the jazz patroness Baroness Pannonica de Koenigswarter, and so was in an excellent position to comment on the last years of his fellow pianist.
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