“A genius.” – Maestro Eddie Palmieri
“Donald Harrison is my GOAT.”- Christian aTunde Ajuah
“One of the greatest teachers in the last fifty years.”- Jonathan Batiste
“Genius.”- Nicholas Payton
” A master.”- Jon Benitez
Big Chief Donald Harrison is a master alto saxophonist who carries the musical spirit of his birthplace, New Orleans, wherever he goes – he’s a one man jazz festival. Donald, who was made an NEA Jazz Master in 2022, is known for his hard-swinging improvisational style and the creation of “Nouveau Swing,” a blend of jazz with R&B, hip-hop, rock, and soul. His performances travel through every era of jazz and he is a true champion of culture, well-known for mentoring the next generation of players.
Harrison honed his experience playing with Roy Haynes, Art Blakey, Eddie Palmieri, Dr. John, Lena Horne, McCoy Tyner, Dr. Eddie Henderson, Miles Davis, Ron Carter, Billy Cobham, Chuck Loeb, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Digable Planets, Guru’s Jazzmatazz, The Headhunters, The Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and The Notorious BIG. He has performed with over 200 jazz masters and created three influential styles of jazz. At the age of nineteen, Harrison created a modern jazz take on the New Orleans second-line tradition and introduced his composition New York Second-Line to the jazz world in 1979. By the mid-’80s, he created Nouveau Swing, a distinctive sound that blended the swing beat of modern jazz with hip-hop, funk, and soul music. In the ’90s, Harrison recorded hits in the smooth jazz genre. He began exploring music through the lens of quantum physics in 2000. With quantum jazz, Harrison heard how to move music from a two-dimensional state into a four-dimensional state. Harrison has been a mentor to artist as diverse as The Notorious Big, Jonathon Batiste, Christian Scott, Trombone Shorty, and Esperanza Spaulding.
Donald Harrison featured in He Exist Magazine — A Visionary at Work in 2025
Featured in He Exist Magazine – Fall 2025
NEA Jazz Master Donald Harrison — saxophonist, composer, and cultural icon from New Orleans — continues to redefine modern music while honoring his Afro-New Orleans roots as the Big Chief of Congo Square.
Blending tradition with innovation, Harrison’s performances and compositions span jazz, funk, classical, soul, hip-hop, and Afro-Caribbean sounds. His visionary new project, The Magic Touch, reimagines one composition in nine different styles — from swing to trap — showcasing his concept of multi-genre singles that connect people through music’s universal language.
Beyond the stage, Harrison is a devoted mentor whose influence has shaped artists like Jon Batiste, Trombone Shorty, and Christian Scott. His creative reach even extends to hip-hop, having guided The Notorious B.I.G. in developing his lyrical phrasing.
Harrison’s curiosity also bridges music and science — through collaborations with quantum physicist Stephon Alexander, exploring how sound mirrors the structure of the universe.
From Congo Square to the global stage, Donald Harrison stands as a modern-day griot — a storyteller, teacher, and innovator whose music celebrates connection, creativity, and culture.
Healdsburg Jazz Fest Presents a Cross-Generational, Gender-Diverse Cohort
A few hours later at Bacchus Landing, Healdsburg #27 ended with a New Orleans-centric double bill by Donald Harrison and Nicholas Payton, sponsored by Jason Patterson, proprietor of the Crescent City’s Snug Harbor Jazz Bistro. A day before his 65th birthday, Harrison led his tight quartet with pianist Dan Kaufman, bassist Nori Narakoa and drummer Brian Richburg through an autobiographical concert of the multiple genres that constitute his neoclassical conception. He uncorked a string of concise, full-toned alto saxophone improvs, first demonstrating his “nouveau swing” concept on “Jeannine,” then his assimilations, respectively, of Sidney Bechet (“Maple Leaf Rag”), Charlie Parker (“One For Bird”), Miles Davis (“Bye, Bye Blackbird”), John Coltrane (“Impressions”) and Eddie Palmieri (“Temporal”). There followed a soul medley, and then the soaring, self-descriptive “Big Chief Of Congo Square,” signifying the position with the Guardians of the Flame Mardi Gras Indian Tribe that Harrison inherited from his father almost 20 years ago. It was a master class from one of the finest of his generation.