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Known as “The King of Nouveau Swing,” a unique style that merges jazz and R&B, hip-hop and soul with Afro-New Orleans traditional music, acclaimed saxophonist Donald Harrison is one of the headliners at the fourth annual Maui Jazz & Blues Festival taking place at the Royal Lahaina Resort on Saturday.
A legend of jazz, Harrison has performed with numerous musicians including Art Blakey, Roy Haynes, Miles Davis, Lena Horne, Eddie Palmieri, Dr. John and McCoy Tyner.
Last year, he teamed with the virtuoso rhythm section of bassist Ron Carter and drummer Billy Cobham at New York’s Blue Note jazz club. The trio has released three albums including “New York Cool: Live at the Blue Note” and the most recent “This is Jazz.”
“I’m fortunate to hang out with those kinds of musicians; they’ve taken jazz to the highest levels it can be played,” says Harrison about his trio mates. “Playing with those guys, I really know what Charlie Parker meant when he said, ‘If you didn’t live it, it won’t come out of your horn.’ They add such a depth to what you’re doing.”
Since the debut in 2010 of the hit HBO show “Treme,” set in New Orleans, Harrison has become more well known. A consultant for the show, he helped develop two characters based on his life and is often featured playing live.
“A lot more people know me now and are aware of the music of New Orleans and its significance,” says Harrison. “The son of the chief was based on my life, and I’ve acted on 11 episodes.”
Besides his distinguished jazz career, Harrison has the honor of being the Big Chief of the Congo Square Nation, a group that preserves the legacy of black New Orleans residents known for parading in extraordinary, intricate costumes. The city’s Congo Square area is the only known place in North America where African slaves openly participated in their culture in the 1700s and 1800s.
“New Orleans is the only place where Africans were allowed to play drums,” he explains. “Many traditions and musical styles came from what I call the root culture. I’m one of the people who keep the culture from Congo Square alive. It informs my jazz and the music that I do.”
Harrison’s love for jazz began when his father bought him a saxophone.
“He let me understand the music of Charlie Parker and how difficult it was. He showed me how instrumental he was. And I got on a quest to truly understand bebop and the history of jazz.”
After graduating from the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, Harrison headed to Massachusetts to attend the prestigious Berklee College of Music.
His career got a lift one night in New York when he went to hear Freddie Hubbard’s band play. At the urging of Davis, who was also in attendance and had spotted Harrison’s sax case, the 19-year-old alto player sat in with Hubbard.
“I was a student at Berklee, and Miles Davis was actually standing behind me to get in the club,” he recalls. “When Freddie started playing, he (Davis) started pushing me. He kept saying, ‘Go play, go play.’ Miles Davis is telling me to play, so I played. Everybody was looking at me like who is this kid.”
His talent soon landed him a job with former Parker drummer Haynes, and he later joined Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers. Then he teamed with fellow New Orleanian trumpeter Terence Blanchard to co-lead a group that produced an array of well-received albums.
In 1992, he fused his twin passions for jazz and his Mardi Gras roots on the historic album “Indian Blues,” which featured chants from the Guardians of the Flame and the New Orleans piano of Dr. John. A Chicago Tribune review praised, “On ‘Indian Blues,’ he connects with his New Orleans musical roots, and the brilliant marriage of jazz innovation with Mardi Gras Indian song and New Orleans R&B rhythms is as bright and festive as one of the finest of Mardi Gras floats.”
“One day, we were doing one of the tribal chants and I could feel the connection to jazz,” he says. “It was like a revelation. So we started putting different types of music together on the record. It was a dream come true to have all those great musicians on it. I didn’t realize its significance and how influential the record would be.”
Another seminal moment in his career came with the release in 1997 of his album “Nouveau Swing,” which married his straight-ahead jazz approach with swing and dance styles. “I was mixing modern dance music with jazz,” he explains. “I found a correlation between the styles. We’ve been doing it ever since, and people really love it. It’s serious music, but it’s a lot of fun. We found a way to make jazz fun again for people.”
The album included the composition “Bob Marley,” which was inspired by his affection for Jamaican music. “I lived in New York for 20 years and you’d hear reggae blasting out all over Caribbean neighborhoods. It got into my heart.”
As did our own island style take on reggae, which Harrison admires. “I really like the reggae music of Hawaii,” he notes. “It’s really soulful, I love it. Whenever I hear something I like, it becomes a dream for me to play with those kinds of groups. I’d like to explore it more.”
The fourth annual Maui Jazz & Blues Festival will also feature performances by an array of talent including keyboardist/vocalist Les McCann, trombonist Steve Turre, saxophonist Javon Jackson, zydeco accordionist Corey Ledet, Paula Fuga, Benny Uyetake and the Kalama Intermediate School Ukulele Jazz Cats, and the Zenshin Daiko drummers.
A revered, innovative jazz musician, McCann became a major crossover artist into R&B and soul in the late 1960s. The live album “Swiss Movement,” featuring McCann, saxophonist Eddie Harris and trumpeter Benny Bailey at the Montreux Jazz Festival, catapulted the keyboardist to stardom. Both the album and the “Compared To What” single were major pop chart successes.
In 2002, he released “Pump It Up,” a star-heavy celebration of funk and jazz with Dianne Reeves, Billy Preston, Maceo Parker and Bonnie Raitt.
A member of the Saturday Night Live Band for 30 years, Turre is one of the world’s leading trombonists and virtuoso conch shell players. A former member of Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, he has performed with everyone from Dizzy Gillespie and Herbie Hancock to Ray Charles and Santana.
A former member of Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, saxophonist Jackson began working professionally in local jazz clubs at age 16, playing with former Max Roach Quintet pianist Billy Wallace. After Blakey’s death, he performed with a number of leading jazz musicians including Hubbard and Elvin Jones.
Born and raised in Houston, Texas, Ledet spent his summers with family in Louisiana, where he absorbed Creole culture. He formed his first band in 2003, influenced by the traditional zydeco sound of legendary accordionist Clifton Chenier. Louisiana’s Offbeat magazine proclaimed that his latest album, “Nothin’ But The Best,” “features some of the most torrid zydeco ever recorded.”
Besides the concert Saturday, the festival features a number of free events in Kaanapali. From 5 to 7 p.m. today, Duke’s Beach House will host a festival kick off featuring the visiting artists and the Jazz Alley TV Trio. Call 662-2900 for reservations.
From 4 to 7 p.m. today at Whalers Village, musicians performing include John Zangrando, Fulton Tashombe, Gene Argel, Phil Smith and Danny M.
The Hula Grill will offer a festival sneak peek from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday with many of the star performers. Call 667-6636 for reservations. A sunset “Jazzfest sail” will also be offered on the Kai Kanani off Makena from 4 to 6 p.m. Friday, with tickets available by calling 879-7218.
Other venues featuring jazz include Whole Foods in Kahului from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., and BMW Maui from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m., both Friday. And from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday, a Jazz Festival Brunch will be hosted by Royal Lahaina Resort with guest artists and the Jazz Alley TV Trio. Call 661-3611 for reservations.
* The fourth annual Maui Jazz & Blues Festival is presented at the Royal Lahaina Resort, Dukes Beach House and Hula Grill in Kaanapali through Sunday. Tickets for the Saturday concert are $40 for general admission and $80 for VIP tickets, with a VIP premier table for 10 available for $1000. Festival tickets are available at the Royal Lahaina Resort, Whole Foods or online at www.MauiJazzandBluesFestival.com. The resort is offering a special accommodation package for Hawaii residents, with rates starting at $149 per night. For more information or to make room reservations, call 661-3611 and ask for the festival package. No outside food, coolers or chairs are allowed at the concert.