Brief Musical Biosketch of Nelson E. Harrison, Ph.D.

                Dr. Harrison began his professional musical career at the age of 13.  As trombonist/bandleader of the Beethoven Bebops 7-piece jazz/dance combo he concurrently held membership in the Pittsburgh Symphony, Jr. (1956) and the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony (1956-58) while taking private trombone lessons briefly under Carl G. McVicker, Sr. and with Matthew Shiner of Duquesne University (1955-58)..  He held the principal trombone chair in the PSJ and the Westinghouse H. S. 1956 State Championship Orchestra.

In the early 1960's, Nelson worked frequently in local jazz and R & B groups, accompanying numerous road acts such as Dionne Warwicke, James Brown, The (original) Supremes and the (original) Temptations, Mary Wells, Little Stevie Wonder and many others.  He played with the Joe Westray Orchestra (1963-68), Walt Harper Quintet (1967-70) and with the Nathan Davis Quintet (1970-75). Dr. David N. Baker was so impressed with his recording work with Davis that he recommended him to Count Basie in 1973.  Nelson deferred the repeated opportunity until he finished his degree, connecting with the Count Basie Orchestra (1978 -1981) with whom he toured Japan (1980) as well as coast-to-coast.

            Nelson has written numerous arrangements for local groups and recording sessions and has written over 400 original compositions spanning the full range of jazz, pop, fusion, rock, jingles, blues, ballads and children's songs.  In collaboration with choreographer, Bob Johnson, Nelson co-produced, composed and performed the musical score for the dance/theatre production of "Isis au Noir" which received rave reviews from its debut as the opening act of the Alice Coltrane Quartet concert at Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall (1971).  He produced an original taped score for the road-show version of the August Wilson's Pulitzer Prize winning "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom," for the Kuntu Repertory Theatre (1987).  Consequently he was hired to assist the Musical Designer, Dwight Andrews in the Pittsburgh Public Theatre production of "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom' directed by Claude Purdy (1992).  He also provided the music cues for a video documentary of that same PPT production entitled "Things That Fit" for producer Billy Jackson of Community Media (1996).  Four of his compositions are featured in the made-for-TV movie entitled "Stuck with Each Other" which co-stars Tyne Daly and Richard Crenna, was produced and directed Georg Stanford Brown's Nexus Productions and premiered nationally by NBC (1989).  He composed and performed sound track cues in Santa Claws a feature horror film by John Russo (1996) and the entire score of Saloonatics, a feature film by John Russo (2002).

The world premiere tour de force performance of "The Man Who Lived Underground," adapted for the stage by Don Marshall from the Richard Wright short story of the same name was presented by the City Theatre Lab as its debut performance supported by a musical score composed and performed entirely by Nelson (1993).  In his acting roles Don Marshall, was voted 1993 Performer of the Year by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for his portrayal of Fred Daniels in "Underground" and "Slow Drag" in the Pittsburgh Public Theatre's production "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom." As "Slow Drag" Marshall set a precedent as the only actor in that role that actually played the bass violin, a credit to his musical coach for the role, Nelson Harrison. 

            As media personality Nelson has appeared as musical director for WQED-TV's award winning "Black Horizons Show"(1968 - 73), the on-air host of "Jazz Pittsburgh," an hour-long National Public Radio series produced by Mark Yacavone of WDUQ 90.5 FM (1993-94), and project advisor for an archival series developed for PRI distribution by producer Mark Yacavone and host Evelyn Hawkins of WDUQ entitle "Steel City Legacy" which focused on the lives of Pittsburgh musical legends Madame Mary Cardwell Dawson, Mary Lou Williams, Billy Eckstine and Billy Strayhorn (1996).  He appeared as trombonist in the touring orchestra in the 4 hour made-for TV movie entitled "The Temptations" which stars Leon in the role of David Ruffin and aired nationally on NBC (1998).  Nelson's part recapitulates the part he played more than 6 times (1964-2006) live with various incarnations of the Temptations.

As producer/promoter Nelson formed NBL Productions that sponsored local recording artists on a tour of military bases throughout the South (1973).  Nelson introduced his new group, the S.H.E.B.A. Experience which featured jazz great, Joe Harris on drums (1975) and Atlantic recording star, Andy Bey as vocalist/pianist (1977). He formed On-Key Productions that produced the 25^th Anniversary Concert singer Nancy Wilson at Heinz Hall in for two shows (1978).  As a trombonist Nelson was a member of the Heinz Hall and Stanley Theatre Stage Orchestras accompanying acts such as Bobby Vinton, Liberace, Aretha Franklin, Sammy Davis, Jr., Earl “Fatha” Hines, Billy Eckstine, Ginger Rogers, Lena Horne, Tony Bennett, Johnny Mathis, Jack Jones, Michele LeGrande, Mel Torme, Red Skelton and George Gobel to name a few (1973 - 83) also playing shows during this period with Nelson Riddle and the Pittsburgh Symphony Pops and several Civic Light Opera productions.

            Nelson was selected to form the first All-City High School Jazz Orchestra at the Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild (1988-91). Former students from that group have matriculated to Julliard and have toured or performed with Stanley Turrentine, Ahmad Jamal, Freddie Hubbard, and others. He served as a member of the Arts Sub-committee of the Three Rivers Arts Festival (1991-93) and the Arts Education Committee of the Howard Heinz Endowment (1989 - 1993), board member of the Pittsburgh Jazz Society (1989) and of the Polish and American Youth Jazz Foundation, Inc. of Dallas, TX, sponsors of the Krakow Youth Jazz Ensemble in Poland (1992-93).  He organized and produced a four-day international cultural exchange tour in Pittsburgh for the Krakow Youth Jazz Ensemble (1993) and organized and led a 12-piece jazz orchestra known as the Gallery All-Stars of East Liberty Quarter to perform in the Mellon Jazz Festival (1993).

            After receiving his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Pittsburgh (1974), Dr. Harrison practiced psychotherapy privately and at Pitt where he also taught abnormal psychology and human sexuality for 6 years.  He teaches advanced improvisation and scat singing at the Afro-American Music Institute where he has served on the Advisory Board since its inception in 1982.  He has developed a whole -brain approach to jazz mastery in the form of a 7 step career-path which has been endorsed by Billy Eckstine, Max Roach, Dr. David N. Baker, Ahmad Jamal and others.  Dr. Harrison designed and taught a course entitled "The Cosmic Power of Music" for Rose-Croix University International the same institution in Quebec City, Canada and San Jose, California (1988-89).

            Nelson gained a wide reputation as a New Orleans style Dixieland pianist  between 1991 -98 that included international trad jazz festival tours (1995-98) that included appearances at the French Quarter Festival and the Jazz and Heritage Festival in New Orleans, The Strathmore in Bethesda, MD, Watchung Arts Center NJ, Cleveland Dixieland Fest, the Red Blazer Too in New York City, West Seattle Jazz Festival, Goose Creek Trad Festival in Welbourne, VA, Buffalo, the Seaside, OR and Sister, OR Festivals, the Sacramento Jubilee and Edinburgh Jazz Festival in Scotland the 100 Club in London, Fresno Jazz Festival, The Bix Memorial Jazz Festival in Iowa and the Olympia Jazz Festival in Washington.  He can be heard on four recordings with the Boilermaker Jazz Band as follows:"On A Coconut Island" on private label, "Don't Give Up the Ship," "Burgundy Street Blues" and "Honky Tonk Town" on the Biograph Label. 

In 1999 Nelson published "The World According to Bop," his first anthology of original lyrics to 88 bebop and hard bop standards with photo clips and discography with endorsements from jazz legends Ahmad Jamal, Jackie McLean, Marlena Shaw, Ray Brown, Dr. Billy Taylor, Andrew Hill, Freddie Redd, Charles Davis, LaRue Brown Watson, Dr. Karlton Hester, Jimmy Heath, Lewis Nash, Randy Weston, Lou Donaldson and others.  To date he has lyricized over 125 bop standards, and over 50 of his own compositions.  His lyrics supply the subject matter for a series of 5 plays he is writing which he calls Boperettas.  The first one entitled The World According to Bop: The Transformation has received the endorsement of Neal Tate (Broadway composer/conductor of the award-winning Bubbling Brown Sugar and pianist/assistant conductor of Eubie and Hair) and is ready for production.

He is authoring an anthology of historical anecdotes honoring the great Pittsburgh jazz legacy entitled A Treasury of Pittsburgh’s Jazz Connections: The Greatest Jazz Story Never Told, featuring information on over 800 of "Pittsburgh Own Regional Notables of Jazz." The book adds focus to the loosely woven history of the Pittsburgh region's jazz tradition and according to jazz anthologist Ira Gitler, may become one of the first jazz anthologies to focus on a region covering 100 years of history.

On the national and international scene, he was formerly on the Executive Board and presently on the Advisory Board of the African American Jazz Caucus (AAJC) affiliate of the International Association for Jazz Education (IAJE).  He was awarded a Regents’ Lectureship at University of California, Santa Cruz and was a featured artist on the First& Second  Global African Music Festival (April, 2002 and 2003) with Hesterian Musicism held on the UCSC campus.where he performed with Hesterian Musicism and participated on a Distinguished Symposium Panel on Global African Music with colleagues, Dr. Donald Byrd, Randy Weston, Kenny Burrell, Dr. Karlton Hester, Dr. Larry Ridley, Nontsizi Cayou, Jacqueline Dje Dje.

Along with Dr. Karlton Hester, Dr. Harrison presented a clinic at the 2003 International Association for Jazz Education (IAJE) Convention in Toronto entitled From Africa to Afrocentric Innovations Some Call "Jazz" that was well-attended and well-received.

In January 2007 he was a featured guest at the IAJE Convention in NYC with David Sanford and 20-piece jazz orchestra, The Pittsburgh Collective, where he debuted as vocalese/scat artist with his original lyric to Dizzy Atmosphere and conductor/soloist of his composition/arrangement The R.H. Factor. This performance also introduced the trombetto in performance to the international jazz community. Also at the convention he performed with the AAJC Big Band under the direction of David  Hardiman and Dr. David N. Baker, 2005 IAJE president and director of the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra.

Locally active as trombonist-composer-arranger on the local jazz scene, Nelson divides his performance time among gigs with the Roger Humphries Big Band, Spirit on the Hill, The Blues Orphans, Bill Dell & Wee Jams, Studio-E Band and his own jazz bands The World According to Bop, Jazz ‘N Jive, and Dr. Jazz & the Salty Dawgs.

Dr. Harrison is also the inventor of a one-of-a-kind 10 inch long, 5 pound brass instrument he calls the “trombetto” on which he can play 6+ octaves chromatically. 

Discography: Live at the Attic (1969) with the Walt Harper Quintet (Birmingham Label); Makatuka (1970) (Segue Label) and Suite for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1971) (Tomorrow International Label) with Nathan Davis; Kansas City Shout (1980) with the Count Basie Orchestra (Pablo Label); On A Coconut Island( 1993), Don't Give Up the Ship (1995), Burgundy Street Blues (1996) and Honky Tonk Town (1997) with the Boilermaker Jazz Band (Biograph Label);  Tuesday Night at James Street (2002) with the RH Factor, Don’t Give Up (2003) with the Roger Humphries Big Band; Moonlit River (2003) songs by Fred Moolten, (MGO Media Label);  21^st-Century Musicism (2005) compositions by Karlton E. Hester (Hesteria Records); If I Can’t Dance, It’s Not My Revolution (2006) Anne Feeney;  Schism ‘n Blues (2005) & Root Rot (2007) with the Blues Orphans (Staggerin’ Fitz Label) which are the first commercial recordings of the trombetto.

More information can be found at the following web sites:

http://www.allmusic.com

http:trombetto.peopleaggregator.net

http://hipbopper.peopleaggregator.net

http://metamusic.peopleaggregator.net

http://zenjazz.peopleaggregator.net

www.yuwie.com/cybraxis

http://nguzosaba.ning.com/profile/nelsonharrison

http://thehouse.peopleaggregator.net

http://crawford.peopleaggregator.net

All That Jazz - Tribune Review

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/search/s_521868.html

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By Jean Horne
FOR THE TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Monday, August 13, 2007

 

The rains came, as they are wont to do at the most inconvenient times this steamy, humid month. But the showers did not bring an end -- just the briefest of intervals -- to last Tuesday's Jazz in Katz Plaza, part of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust's JazzLive series. Jazzmeister Nelson Harrison and his combo abandoned the damp, sauna-like atmosphere of the plaza last Tuesday for the air-conditioned comfort of the Backstage Bar at Theater Square, where the talented musicians wove some smooth, cool jazz and evoked its Pittsburgh halcyon days.

Don't know jazz? As Louis Armstrong said, "Man, if you have to ask what it is, you'll never know." Harrison, a true master of this quintessential American musical form, knows the art form not only academically (he holds a doctorate), but also in his very bones. He's written more than 400 pieces, including movie scores and soundtracks, and has played with the likes of the eminent Count Basie Orchestra, Billy Eckstein and Earl "Fatha" Hines, as well as recorded with Walt Harper and Nathan Davis.

"Not bad for an unrehearsed group, eh?" Harrison asked during intermission. Unbelievable understatement. The musicians sounded in peak performance, as if they had played together all their lives. Not so. It was the first night Harrison (on his intricately convoluted, self-designed "trombetta" horn) played with the group, which also included drummer James Johnson III (who toured with Pittsburgh jazz great Ahmad Jamal for years); Jessie Willis, who came in with mellow, expressive vocals; Donna Davis, whose fleet fingers flew across her keyboard; Jeff Grubbs on sonorous bass; and Calvin Pearson, whose bongos provided apt punctuation.

"If I get the right people, I can do that," said Harrison, who played often at the renowned Crawford Grill. "Sheet music can't hold a candle to jazz."

The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust offers the two-part and free JazzLive, first in Katz Plaza, from 5-7 p.m. each Tuesday until the end of the month, followed each night by more jazz in the Backstage Bar from 7 until 10. Last Tuesday, the Tim Stevens Project took the second dazzling shift.

And what a trust it is. From nurturing jazz in Pittsburgh, which contributed much to the genre, including favorite sons Ahmad Jamal and Errol Garner, to enhancing Downtown as a bustling cultural destination, the Cultural Trust deserves some plaudits of its own. Janis Burley Wilson, vice president for education and programs for the Trust, takes her mission seriously, not only planning an entertaining schedule of summer events but also ensuring her darling young daughters, Margaux and Liza, hear and know the best of Pittsburgh jazz.

Also on hand were folks like Maria Scherin and Jeff Bretton, as well as Vernon Morgan; Teri Dawne; Teresa Hayward; and Mischelle McMillan. Fanfare also spotted Ron Protz; John Loverti; and Nellie Curran and *%*% Rhoton in the Backstage Bar. Lynne Figgins walked over after work to hear the group. Mary Davis proudly watched her daughter's keyboard talent. Bill Harrison reminisced about his and his brother Nelson's days at Westinghouse High School, which he noted fostered a flock of talented jazz and classical musicians.

Also spotted: Diane Zupi and Andrew Forrest; and Lorene and Denis Vinski as well as Carolyn Mozlack; Nancy Lee Cochran; Karen Miller; Bonnie Trucco; and David Douthett. Other jazz connoisseurs included Rita Wilson; Kathleen Morris; Donna Perkins; Bert McConomy; Ruth Mozzy; Heidi Mashiska; Tom Mozzy; Leslie Goodman; and the dapper Demetrius Hammett.

-- Sandra Donovan