Donald Harrison

New Orleans born and bred, Donald Harrison grew up in a home environment saturated with the city’s traditional music of brass bands, parades, modern jazz, R&B, funk, classical, world ethnic and dance music. He melded these components together to develop a new style of music called Nouveau Swing. In 2012, he recorded Quantum Leap, which many musicians and critics have said is a next step for jazz. Through quantum jazz, Harrison has opened up new areas for time, harmony, and melody. 

In October 2015, Harrison explored a new chapter on his musical path when he recorded his first classical orchestral composition, “Congo Square Part 1,” with the Moscow Symphony Orchestra. The work is composed and orchestrated by the jazz saxophonist as a purely classical composition. Harrison plans to do other parts with his orchestral piece that will open up other ways to think of what music could be as a whole. 

Harrison is co-founder and Artistic Director of the Tipitana’s Intern Program and also the founder of The New Jazz School where he along with his handpicked staff of seasoned veterans teach jazz, soul, funk, theory, harmony, composition, and history to students ranging from ages thirteen to eighteen. The Tip’s program is a college preparatory and music-training program for junior and senior high school students.

To learn more about Donald Harrison, visit donaldharrison.com