DONALD HAIRSTON SPECIAL GUEST ON SOUNDS OF THE DIASPORA WITH HOST DION PARSON

This week's special guest is Donald Hairston. A celebrated New Orleans-born jazz saxophonist, Donald Harrison is an adept performer known for a hard-swinging improvisational style that touches upon acoustic post-bop, traditional New Orleans jazz, and R&B. Harrison initially emerged as a young lion in the '80s, playing in Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers alongside trumpeter Terence Blanchard. Harrison and Blanchard then signed with Columbia Records and issued several highly regarded albums, including 1987's Crystal Staircase and 1988's Black Pearl. On his own, the saxophonist has displayed an innovative knack for mixing New Orleans second rhythms, jazz, hip-hop, and R&B on albums like 1992's Indian Blues and 1997's Nouveau Swing.

The Congo Square Nation Afro-New Orleans cultural group in 1999) remains a vital proponent of his birth city's music and cultural heritage.

Born in New Orleans on June 23, 1960, Harrison is the son of the late Donald Harrison, Sr., a legendary New Orleans folklorist and, during his lifetime, the Big Chief of four different NOLA tribes. The younger Harrison began his education at the prestigious New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts and studied with Ellis Marsalis. After graduation, he attended the Berklee College of Music. Though he began playing as a professional while in high school, Harrison gained recognition for his tone and acumen on both alto and tenor horns, playing in the bands of Roy Haynes, Jack McDuff, and most famously, Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers along with trumpeter and future musical partner Terence Blanchard -- they succeeded Wynton and Branford Marsalis.

The pair left Blakey's band and began recording as the Terence Blanchard/Donald Harrison Quintet. Between 1983 and 1988, they issued five albums, including New York Second Line (1984) and Discernment (1986), both for Concord, and Nascence (1986), Crystal Stair (1987), and Black Pearl (1988) for Columbia. While with the unit, Harrison also took part in recording sessions in the jazz vanguard: in 1985, he played on the avant The Sixth Sense (Black Saint) with Bobby Battle, Olu Dara, and Fred Hopkins, and in 1986, he recorded with Don Pullen. The Quintet split in 1989.

As a bandleader in his own right, Harrison issued the hard bop Blakey tribute album For Art's Sake on Candid in 1991, and followed it with the historic Indian Blues. It was the first time that Harrison actively engaged his New Orleans musical heritage on a large scale. It wedded Mardis Gras Indian tunes and chanting (courtesy of the Guardians of the Flame Mardi Gras Indians, with his father on vocals), to funky Crescent City rhythm & blues and modern jazz. The session featured Dr. John, Cyrus Chestnut, Carl Allen, Phil Bowler, Bruce Cox, and Howard Smiley Ricks. Harrison also recorded the smooth jazz date The Power of Cool, which was released in Germany in 1991, and in the States in 1994.

In 2000, Harrison issued the landmark Spirits of Congo Square album, recorded with his New Orleans Legacy Ensemble. The album featured parade rhythms -- and hard bop solos -- whether the tune was a traditional NOLA number or a jazz standard by a modern composer. In 2002, he issued his first collaboration with nephew Christian Scott in a quintet setting of newly arranged jazz standards called Kind of New. In 2004, Harrison also issued Paradise Found, his second quintet offering with his nephew.

In 2006 he issued Survivor, a straight-ahead jazz date with Mulgrew Miller and others. He also released the first volume of a projected three-album series entitled 3D (one volume to showcase each of his playing styles). This first entry focused on the commercially viable side of Harrison's musical identity in smooth jazz, urban rhythm & blues, and funk. (Vols. 2 & 3 will be dedicated to straight-ahead jazz and hip-hop, respectively.) In 2008, he released The Chosen in Europe only. In 2009, he released three titles on Nagel Heyer: The Ballads, The Burners, and Two of a Kind with Christian Scott. The saxophonist then reunited with Carter and Cobham for a live date entitled This Is Jazz: Live at the Blue Note, playing a program of originals and standards. It included a new Harrison composition entitled "Treme Swagger." He then issued the concert album Live at Jazzfest 2018.

Your host, Dion Parson, is an educator, composer, Grammy Award-winning performer, and bandleader. He currently resides on the island of St. Thomas and serves as the Chair of the Communication and Performing Arts Department at the University of the Virgin Islands. He is also the President of the United Jazz Foundation, which is a music education organization that mentors underprivileged kids to become musicians. His musical career has allowed him to tour internationally for over 30 years, and he has been recorded on over 110 recordings.