Harrison, Donald (“Duck”)
Harrison, Donald (“Duck”)
Harrison, Donald (“Duck”), jazz-revivalist alto and soprano saxophonist; b. New Orleans, La., June 23, 1960. He is the son of a “long time Mardi Gras Indian’” and his nephew Christian Scott plays trumpet. He studied under Alvin Batiste and Ellis Marsalis. He attended Berklee in 1979. He played with Roy Haynes from 1980-81 and Jack McDuff in 1981, and then spent four years with Art Blakey from 1982-86. Harrison co-led a quintet with fellow New Orleans musician trumpeter Terence Blanchard from 1987-88, then returned to Haynes. From 1989-90, he taught at N.Y.’s New School, and also played on the Soundtrack of Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing. In 1991, he formed the group Guardians of the Flame Mardi Gras Band, combining modern jazz elements with traditional Mardi Gras music, which continues to perform. In the mid-1990s he began touring with a quartet and calling his music “Nouveau Bop.”
Discography
Eric Dolphy & Booker Little Remembered (1986); Crystal Stair (1987); Black Pearl (1988); For Art’s Sake (1990); Power of Cool (1991); Indian Blues (1991).
—Lewis Porter