Quick. Think of the most popular trumpeters out there. Probably Marsalis and Botti are the first ones to pop into your mind. This is the way the world of music has always operated; while some artists are getting accolades, others, like trumpeter/composer Tom Harrell, are quietly building up a catalogue of compositions and recordings that in, when people look back on this present era, will cause people to wonder why this creative genius wasn’t appreciated more in his own time. As the great saying goes, “a prophet is never recognized in his home town.”
Harrell, whose latest release Roman Nights completes a trio of rich and sophisticated releases with his regular touring team which includes saxist Wayne Escoffrey. As with all of his wondrous material, the disc includes rich harmonies, intricate yet accessible melodies, and a mixture of the majestic with formidable soloing.
A four year gap from his 2003 Sail Away to his latest renaissance is explained by Harrell as a simple retreat in order to revive his creative juices. “I spent those years writing and practicing. I always work on my chops. I toured quite a bit in the US and Europe also. I would record every time I perform in concert. We came together the first time for the record Light On. I worked with them very hard on that album. I work very hard on my trumpet and writing. I use the band as a vehicle for my writing, but they interpret my compositions, so they are like co-composers. It means a lot to me that they like my music. It’s great to play with musicians that bring it to life with their own interpretations. My songs are all statements about myself. I think that one of the essentials of jazz is the interaction between the musician and the composer. The element improvisations brings the composition into a different dimension.”
Harrell’s creativity did not come out of a vacuum, as he learned something from al of his previous employers. He is one of the few people on earth who can honestly say that in his early career, he worked for “peanuts.” As the trumpeter for pianist Vince Guaraldi, his horn is heard on the ubiquitous “Peanuts” TV shows which we have all heard during our childhoods.
Harrell, living in the Bay Area at the time, learned many lessons from Guaraldi, as he recalls, “Vince was a great musician. He helped me a lot. He helped me learn parts for some of his music, and I worked with him in live situations too. I was a great piano player. He was a great influence in me in that taught me about incorporating Latin rhythms in jazz.”
”I grew up in the Bay Area, and he was a role model for me, too. He was a great person. He had a great lifestyle, and very easy to get along with. He showed me how you could blend different idioms in music and make them viable. When I was in the Bay Area in the 60s and 70s, one of the nice things was that musicians of different genres were getting together and you could see how they could shape the fusion of jazz styles. There was a great tradition of funk in the Oakland area. When I was with Azteca, the bass player Paul Jackson there was very influential with me. Guaraldi and Cal Tjader are from the Bay Area.”
Harrell’s justifiably proud of his apprenticeship with the piano player, and the importance of accessible music was not lost on him. “It’s great, because it’s very beautiful music. It creates a really nice mood. I’m happy to be on those recordings.”
Previously, Harrell had been in the trumpet section of Woody Herman’s Herd, which presented a professionalism and musicianship that he carries with him when he writes material. “He too was a fantastic musician. His career was long. The most important thing that I learned from his was that Igor Stravinsky wrote a piece for his band. The Ebony Concerto. He told me that Igor was a very nice person, and Woody was one of the first to combine European classical music with jazz. At about the same time, Dizzy Gillespie had a big band, too, in the late 40s. He was the first to incorporate Afro Cuban rhythms with jazz. That was a big deal then. Latin music and jazz go well together.”
Harrell’s musical education took a quantum leap when he became a member of the legendary ensemble of Horace Silver. The time spent with the composer/pianist opened up Harrell’s inquisitive mind to the implications of all music. “Horace taught me to look at music from a global perspective. He helped me realize that there is a parallel between North and South America and Europe and Africa. They are like two sides of the same picture. There are two continents and see a totality. How the rhythms come from Africa and South America to influence the northern continents.”
Of course, his most famous partnership was his 6 years on the front lines with Phil Woods’ quintet, considered one of the all time great acoustic ensembles. Harrell looks back on those days in the 80s as an important and life changing period, as Woods was able to address both musical and non musical issues in his life. “His connection with bebop is very strong, which is also a fusion of different types of music. Phil is a great player. We toured a lot together, and he taught me a lot about life as well as music. We were touring a lot doing a lot of one nighters, and he taught me how to focus on playing the gig at night. That helped me with trying not to worry about things. I was trying to focus on the music.”
Harrell reflects on how this period was when he started to address some major personal issues in his life. “Monk wrote wrote a song called “San Francisco Holiday (Worry Later).” In an interview about that song, he said that worry detracts from your creative process, so I always try to remember that. A lot of my life I’ve been trying to deal with guilt. You can acknowledge it, but you’ve still got to live in a world with it. You’ve got to learn to forgive yourself. It’s a very complicated thing.”
The whole burden of guilt weighed heavily on Harrell, who, as we all are, to have the memory of our sins and mistakes cast away “as far as the east is from the west.” During this time, Harrell started on his road to recovery and the search for the hope to end his struggles. “No matter what stage you are on in the road of life, you are offered a solution to whatever problem what you may have. Gandhi pointed out that hope is very important in life. The ability of hope has allowed me to stop drinking. I was an alcoholic, and in 1983 I went for some weeks where I didn’t think I could make it, but through faith and hope, I got through it. I have learned to apply it to other situations as well.”
Harrell has used his struggles through conquering schizophrenia, alcoholism and guilt as a lever to tap into his music, making himself a better artist and man, as he states, “To me, the music is the most important thing. It’s almost like the invocation of a spirit, so I try to focus on that as much as I can. The musicians are trying to spontaneously create, so I try to just let the music happen.”
“One of the biggest problems in life is uncertainty. When there’s uncertainty, I can use faith as a guide and a principle.” Without hope, none of us could survive through our jobs, marriages, even each day. As the proverb says, “for surely there is a hereafter, and your hope will not be cut off.” It is this intangible thing called “hope” that has pulled Harrell through many trials and tribulations, making him a better artist as well as pilgrim. We are the beneficiaries, as we can partake in the fruits of the conquering of his struggles. Check out his latest release, and try to see this stimulating band when they come around-it’s a treat for the ears as well as the soul.