Artist: Tom Harrell
Tom Harrell is an American jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist, composer, and arranger.
Voted Trumpeter of the Year of 2018 by Jazz Journalists Association, Harrell has won awards and grants throughout his career, including multiple Trumpeter of the Year awards from DownBeat magazine, SESAC Jazz Award, BMI (Broadcast Music Incorporated) Composers Award, and Prix Oscar du Jazz. He received a Grammy Award nomination for his big band album, Time's Mirror.
In 1969 he graduated from Stanford University with a music composition degree and joined Stan Kenton's orchestra, touring and recording with them throughout 1969. After leaving Kenton, Harrell played with Woody Herman's big band (1970–1971), Azteca (1972), the Horace Silver Quintet (1973–1977), with whom he made five albums, the Sam Jones-Tom Harrell Big Band, the Lee Konitz Nonet (1979–1981), George Russell, and the Mel Lewis Orchestra (1981). From 1983 to 1989, he was a pivotal member of the Phil Woods Quintet and made seven albums with the group.
In addition, he performed with Vince Guaraldi on the Peanuts television specials You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown (1972), There's No Time for Love, Charlie Brown, A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (both 1973) and It's a Mystery, Charlie Brown (1974).
Harrell also performed with Bill Evans, Dizzy Gillespie, Jim Hall, Ronnie Cuber, Bob Brookmeyer, Lionel Hampton, Bob Berg, Cecil Payne, Bobby Shew, Philip Catherine, Ivan Paduart [fr], Joe Lovano, Charlie Haden's Liberation Orchestra, Charles McPherson, David Sánchez, Sheila Jordan, Jane Monheit, the King's Singers and Kathleen Battle among others.
Harrell is a prolific arranger and composer. He has arranged for Vince Guaraldi's work on Peanuts, Carlos Santana, the Metropole Orchestra, the Danish Radio Big Band, the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, and Elisabeth Kontomanou with the Orchestre National de Lorraine, among others. His compositions have been recorded by other jazz artists including Ron Carter, Kenny Barron, Art Farmer, Chris Potter, Tom Scott, Steve Kuhn, Kenny Werner and Hank Jones.
In contrast to his signature recordings during the RCA/BMG years (1996–2003), where much of his focus was on projects involving large ensembles, big bands and chamber orchestras,
In June 2012, Harrell debuted his nine-piece chamber ensemble at the Highline Ballroom as part of the Blue Note Jazz Festival. Harrell arranged the music of Debussy, Ravel, and his own compositions for this ensemble, which consists of trumpet, soprano and tenor saxophones, c-flute and bass flute, violin, cello, acoustic guitar, piano, bass, and drums.
Further information about Tom Harrell is found at TomHarrell.com.
Photography credit: Tom Beetz, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
This content was excerpted from the Wikipedia article, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Harrell, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/).
Tom Harrell Quartet: Jazz Icons at Trinity Church Wall Street | Oct 8, 2023
Tom Harrell: Videos
Tom Harrell Quintet Live at Dizzy's 2016 2nd Set w Wayne Escoffery, Danny Grissett
Tom Harrell & George Robert Quintet 1990