Dr. Nelson Harrison

Dr. Nelson Harrison on the Relevance of Pittsburgh in the History of Jazz

Bio-sketch:

Nelson E. Harrison, Ph. D., ASCAP, clinical psychologist, educator, composer, arranger, trombonist, clinician, veteran of the Count Basie Orchestra (1978-81); played with Kenny Clarke, Billy Eckstine and Earl "Fatha" Hines, Jay McShann, Slide Hampton; recorded with Walt Harper, Nathan Davis and Count Basie; co-leader of jazz groups featuring Joe Harris and Andy Bey. Composer credits consist of over 400 original compositions including movie scores and soundtracks. He is featured on "Science and the Outer Streams," a live web cast on the subject "The Metaphysics of Music." He has invented a unique 10 inch long, five pound brass instrument he calls the "Trombetto" on which he can play 6 octaves chromatically. Details can be found at: http://www.windworld.com/emi/index.htm.

He is a member of the African American Jazz Caucus (AAJC) affiliate of the International Association for Jazz Education (IAJE) and a contributing partner with the Afro-Centric curriculum for jazz and the Living Encyclopedia of Global African Music projects that include the Pittsburgh Jazz Legacy as a component. He is a member of the Westinghouse High School Hall of Fame and the East Liberty Gallery of Stars.

Dr. Harrison with his invention, the Trombetto

Statement from Dr. Harrison

In an era of world music, it is imperative that America's most important cultural contribution to the world… Jazz music… be preserved, taught, expounded, developed and commemorated. A group of my colleagues and I have dedicated ourselves toward to recreating a physical and virtual context within which the above purpose can be fulfilled in Pittsburgh, one of the most fertile breeding grounds for icons of the culture. A state-of-the-art space of historical or geographic significance can provide the perfect atmosphere for the education, presentation, documentation, archiving, production and research of the performing art of jazz and its related musical forms. This could significantly raise the consciousness of the world to the significant contributions of Pittsburghers and stand as a living monument to the cultural excellence spawned in Pittsburgh's communities and celebrated around the world by countless millions. An venue of this nature would attract tourists and visitors from around the globe.

In the '20s, '30s, '40s and '50s no town could boast a finer night life than Pittsburgh. This is one reason so many jazz legends were produced during those years. It began to disappear in the late '60s largely due to the integration of the musician's union locals, each of which had maintained an all-night entertainment, eating and social venue in the local clubhouse prior to the merger. Upon the merger the black locals in most cases gave up their buildings to join the white local, and the white local summarily closed their clubhouse rather than share a social atmosphere with the blacks. The construction of the now Mellon Arena effectuated the simultaneous bulldozing of the richest repository of Pittsburgh's jazz legacy, the lower Hill District. If the legacy is to be perpetuated, an area must be selected to revive some of the atmosphere long since lost and scarcely remembered. In addition, young people like yourselves need a place to experience the music in vivo in an interactional atmosphere as it is meant to be enjoyed.

The creators and master craftsmen of this music who have truly touched our hearts and helped to shape our lives with their artistry are truly an endangered species. It is a modern day tragedy that their stories remain untold and become lost forever upon their passing from life. The master craftsmen of the 1920s and 1930s are almost all gone today. Among the survivors there are few well enough to tell their stories.

Use the internet to explore the treasured artistry of the many legends associated with the Pittsburgh tradition and discover the evidence of the opening statement of my book-in-progress, A Treasury of Pittsburgh's Jazz Connections: The Greatest Story Never Told. "If New Orleans is accepted to be the birthplace of jazz, then Pittsburgh is its Fort Knox."

Following are some names to research:

Earl "Fatha" Hines, Billy Eckstine, Mary Lou Williams, Billy Strayhorn, Billy May, Roy Eldridge, Kenny Clarke, Art Blakey, Ray Brown, Erroll Garner, Ahmad Jamal, Sammy Nestico, Stanley Turrentine, George Benson, Dakota Staton, Joe Harris, Maxine Sullivan, Barry Galbraith, Dodo Marmarosa, Grover Mitchell, Eddie Jefferson, Phyllis Hyman, Bob Babbitt, Slide Hampton, Lena Horne, Paul Chambers, Roger Humphries, John Heard, Mickey Bass, Ron Anthony, Joe Pass, Musa Kaleem, Joe Kennedy, Jr., Steve Nelson, Peter Matz, Cecil Brooks, III, Jim Pugh, Eddie Safranski, Cutty Cutshall, Syreeta Wright, Bob Cooper, Jimmy Ponder, Horace Parlan, Joe Negri, Adam Wade, Johnny Costa, Chuck Jackson, Tommy Turk, The Variety Club, Ralph Lalama, Ray Crawford, Marpessa Dawn, Steve Grossman, Bill Tole, Darrell Grant, Perry Como, Gene Kelly, Jester Hairston, Sonny Clark, Jeff "Tain" Watts, Beaver Harris, J.C. Moses and Henry Mancini