Biography
Lafayette Harris, Jr. ranks among jazz’s most sought-after pianists, arrangers, and composers for both studio dates and road work. His playing combines uncommon rhythmic drive with deep harmonic understanding. Although he rarely favors showy runs or breakneck speeds, his touch remains refined and poised, his expression ardent, and his command of the jazz lineage, standards, soul, and funk thoroughly grounded. These attributes have kept him in steady demand among artists that include Max Roach, for whom he served as pianist and arranger across seven years, as well as Ernestine Anderson, Roswell Rudd, and Houston Person.
His first album under his own name, Lafayette Is Here, was issued by Muse in 1995 and received strong critical notice. The following year he joined the Broadway production of the award-winning Bring in Da Noise, Bring in Da Funk as pianist and conductor. In 1997 he founded the Airmen imprint; Lafayette Is Here: Solo followed on that label in 1998 and was named one of the year’s outstanding releases by Cadence Magazine.
Harris first encountered Roach in 1997 during a project with the Abyssinian Baptist Church Choir; their partnership continued until 2005, the same year Harris began working with trombonist Roswell Rudd. The 2006 recording In the Middle of the Night explored funk and contemporary jazz to widespread praise. Despite a crowded schedule, Trio Talk appeared in 2008; eight years passed before another leader date, 2015’s Bend to the Light, which featured Lonnie Plaxico and Willie Jones III. Hangin’ with the Big Boys, released in 2016, included Houston Person, whose quartet Harris had recently joined, and Jazzmeia Horn. His Savant debut, You Can’t Lose with the Blues, came out in early 2020.
Born in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1963, Harris began with private instruction and church performances. While still in high school he played in local groups that specialized in classic R&B and funk material, habits that later shaped his rigorous professional discipline. After hearing fellow Baltimore native Eubie Blake perform Scott Joplin’s “Maple Leaf Rag,” Harris turned his private attention to jazz and set out to master the piece. He earned a Bachelor of Music from Oberlin Conservatory, then studied with Kenny Barron at Rutgers University, completing a master’s degree in Jazz Performance.
Relocating to New York in the mid-1980s, he met and studied with Barry Harris. Club engagements at the Blue Note, Sweet Basil, and Fat Tuesdays soon followed; his precise rhythmic and melodic support earned him recognition as a player worth watching. Muse offered his first recording contract, resulting in the 1993 release Lafayette Is Here, which featured trumpeter Terrell Stafford, saxophonist Don Braden, bassist Lonnie Plaxico, and drummer Cindy Blackman (née Santana). The 1996 trio album Happy Together added vocalist Melba Moore. Bring in ’da Noise, Bring in ’da Funk opened at the Public Theater’s Newman Theatre in 1995, reached Broadway the next year, and gave Harris the posts of associate conductor and keyboardist; his subsequent Broadway credits include The Color Purple.
European festivals became a regular circuit. He worked in bands led by Slide Hampton and vocalist Barbara Morrison. In 1997 Barron introduced Harris to Roach for the Abyssinian Baptist Church Choir collaboration; the production later traveled to London and Paris, and the association lasted until 2005. That same year Harris launched Airmen and released Lafayette Is Here: Solo, again cited by Cadence Magazine among the year’s best. Eight years elapsed before his next leader session. He maintained a steady presence at the Blue Note and hosted a weekly open-mike vocal session at Harlem’s Lenox Lounge for a decade, an event frequently cited by local listings as the city’s finest.
In 2000 Harris joined guitarist Mark Whitfield’s Soul Conversation and recorded The Jazz Channel Presents Mark Whitfield & JK for Herbie Hancock’s Transparent Music label. A recording and touring partnership with Grammy-nominated vocalist Ernestine Anderson began in 2003 with Love Makes the Changes; European road work continued for several seasons. The following year he traveled to Morocco with Reggie Woods’s Soul Street band for a New Year’s Eve performance hosted by King Al-Hassan. At the 2005 Burghausen Jazz Festival, Harris introduced a new trio with bassist Dwane Dolphin and drummer Winard Harper that became both his touring and recording unit. He also renewed work with Sandra Reaves-Phillips, an association that had begun sporadically between 1989 and 1994. In November 2005 he met Roswell Rudd and played his first engagement with the trombonist. During 2006 Harris participated in Anita O’Day’s final recording session, Indestructible.
In the Middle of the Night, his first leader date since 1998, embraced contemporary jazz, funk, and soulful pop with guests that included Donald Harrison, Jr., Alyson Williams, Terrell Stafford, and Ben Butler. The ensuing year brought further touring with Rudd and Reaves-Phillips, a Newport Jazz Festival appearance alongside vocalist Sunny Kim and bassist Brad Jones, and additional work with Anderson and Frank Wess. Trio Talk, again with Harper and Dolphin, surfaced in 2008, as did Harris’s initial recorded appearance on Rudd’s Keep Your Heart Right for Sunnyside. Another seven-year gap preceded the next album under his name.
Further road work with Anderson and Reaves-Phillips yielded Anderson’s A Song for You in 2009 and Nightlife in 2011. That same year Harris toured and recorded with Rudd’s quartet on The Incredible Honk. For the next three seasons he maintained headline engagements at New York venues such as Small’s. A 2014 Kickstarter campaign financed Bend to the Light, released in 2015 with Plaxico, Jones III, percussionist Thomas Dyani, and a guest vocal by Jazzmeia Horn on the title track; the collection remains, to date, the only jazz album to juxtapose compositions by Herbie Nichols and Luther Vandross. Hangin’ with the Big Boys followed in 2016 with Person, Horn, Will Terrill, George Delancey, Antoine Drye, and Caleb Curtis, closing Harris’s tenure on Airmen for the time being.
His first documented appearance with Person’s group arrived on 2017’s Rain or Shine alongside Warren Vaché and Rodney Jones. Rudd’s Embrace, also from 2017 and issued by RareNoise, featured Harris, bassist Ken Filiano, and vocalist Fay Victor, earning some of the trombonist’s strongest notices; Rudd died that December. Afterward Harris concentrated on teaching and club performances while continuing European festival appearances and work with Person. In 2019 he recorded his Savant debut, You Can’t Lose with the Blues, leading a trio completed by bassist Peter Washington and drummer Lewis Nash; the album appeared in January 2020.
His first album under his own name, Lafayette Is Here, was issued by Muse in 1995 and received strong critical notice. The following year he joined the Broadway production of the award-winning Bring in Da Noise, Bring in Da Funk as pianist and conductor. In 1997 he founded the Airmen imprint; Lafayette Is Here: Solo followed on that label in 1998 and was named one of the year’s outstanding releases by Cadence Magazine.
Harris first encountered Roach in 1997 during a project with the Abyssinian Baptist Church Choir; their partnership continued until 2005, the same year Harris began working with trombonist Roswell Rudd. The 2006 recording In the Middle of the Night explored funk and contemporary jazz to widespread praise. Despite a crowded schedule, Trio Talk appeared in 2008; eight years passed before another leader date, 2015’s Bend to the Light, which featured Lonnie Plaxico and Willie Jones III. Hangin’ with the Big Boys, released in 2016, included Houston Person, whose quartet Harris had recently joined, and Jazzmeia Horn. His Savant debut, You Can’t Lose with the Blues, came out in early 2020.
Born in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1963, Harris began with private instruction and church performances. While still in high school he played in local groups that specialized in classic R&B and funk material, habits that later shaped his rigorous professional discipline. After hearing fellow Baltimore native Eubie Blake perform Scott Joplin’s “Maple Leaf Rag,” Harris turned his private attention to jazz and set out to master the piece. He earned a Bachelor of Music from Oberlin Conservatory, then studied with Kenny Barron at Rutgers University, completing a master’s degree in Jazz Performance.
Relocating to New York in the mid-1980s, he met and studied with Barry Harris. Club engagements at the Blue Note, Sweet Basil, and Fat Tuesdays soon followed; his precise rhythmic and melodic support earned him recognition as a player worth watching. Muse offered his first recording contract, resulting in the 1993 release Lafayette Is Here, which featured trumpeter Terrell Stafford, saxophonist Don Braden, bassist Lonnie Plaxico, and drummer Cindy Blackman (née Santana). The 1996 trio album Happy Together added vocalist Melba Moore. Bring in ’da Noise, Bring in ’da Funk opened at the Public Theater’s Newman Theatre in 1995, reached Broadway the next year, and gave Harris the posts of associate conductor and keyboardist; his subsequent Broadway credits include The Color Purple.
European festivals became a regular circuit. He worked in bands led by Slide Hampton and vocalist Barbara Morrison. In 1997 Barron introduced Harris to Roach for the Abyssinian Baptist Church Choir collaboration; the production later traveled to London and Paris, and the association lasted until 2005. That same year Harris launched Airmen and released Lafayette Is Here: Solo, again cited by Cadence Magazine among the year’s best. Eight years elapsed before his next leader session. He maintained a steady presence at the Blue Note and hosted a weekly open-mike vocal session at Harlem’s Lenox Lounge for a decade, an event frequently cited by local listings as the city’s finest.
In 2000 Harris joined guitarist Mark Whitfield’s Soul Conversation and recorded The Jazz Channel Presents Mark Whitfield & JK for Herbie Hancock’s Transparent Music label. A recording and touring partnership with Grammy-nominated vocalist Ernestine Anderson began in 2003 with Love Makes the Changes; European road work continued for several seasons. The following year he traveled to Morocco with Reggie Woods’s Soul Street band for a New Year’s Eve performance hosted by King Al-Hassan. At the 2005 Burghausen Jazz Festival, Harris introduced a new trio with bassist Dwane Dolphin and drummer Winard Harper that became both his touring and recording unit. He also renewed work with Sandra Reaves-Phillips, an association that had begun sporadically between 1989 and 1994. In November 2005 he met Roswell Rudd and played his first engagement with the trombonist. During 2006 Harris participated in Anita O’Day’s final recording session, Indestructible.
In the Middle of the Night, his first leader date since 1998, embraced contemporary jazz, funk, and soulful pop with guests that included Donald Harrison, Jr., Alyson Williams, Terrell Stafford, and Ben Butler. The ensuing year brought further touring with Rudd and Reaves-Phillips, a Newport Jazz Festival appearance alongside vocalist Sunny Kim and bassist Brad Jones, and additional work with Anderson and Frank Wess. Trio Talk, again with Harper and Dolphin, surfaced in 2008, as did Harris’s initial recorded appearance on Rudd’s Keep Your Heart Right for Sunnyside. Another seven-year gap preceded the next album under his name.
Further road work with Anderson and Reaves-Phillips yielded Anderson’s A Song for You in 2009 and Nightlife in 2011. That same year Harris toured and recorded with Rudd’s quartet on The Incredible Honk. For the next three seasons he maintained headline engagements at New York venues such as Small’s. A 2014 Kickstarter campaign financed Bend to the Light, released in 2015 with Plaxico, Jones III, percussionist Thomas Dyani, and a guest vocal by Jazzmeia Horn on the title track; the collection remains, to date, the only jazz album to juxtapose compositions by Herbie Nichols and Luther Vandross. Hangin’ with the Big Boys followed in 2016 with Person, Horn, Will Terrill, George Delancey, Antoine Drye, and Caleb Curtis, closing Harris’s tenure on Airmen for the time being.
His first documented appearance with Person’s group arrived on 2017’s Rain or Shine alongside Warren Vaché and Rodney Jones. Rudd’s Embrace, also from 2017 and issued by RareNoise, featured Harris, bassist Ken Filiano, and vocalist Fay Victor, earning some of the trombonist’s strongest notices; Rudd died that December. Afterward Harris concentrated on teaching and club performances while continuing European festival appearances and work with Person. In 2019 he recorded his Savant debut, You Can’t Lose with the Blues, leading a trio completed by bassist Peter Washington and drummer Lewis Nash; the album appeared in January 2020.
Albums
