Stefon Harris at 2007 IAJE © Andrea Canter

Dubbed as “one of the most important young artists in jazz” by the Los Angeles Times, 33-year-old vibist/marimbist Stefon Harris celebrates his most recent ensemble effort, African Tarantella… Dances With Duke (Blue Note) with a weekend at Jazz Standard in Manhattan.

A native of Albany, New York, Harris began playing piano at six and ultimately gained proficiency on more than a dozen instruments, attaining the principal percussionist chair with the Empire State Youth Orchestra as a high school student and going on to graduate from the Manhattan School of Music with a BA in classical music and an MA in jazz performance. Harris has received wide recognition through 3 Grammy nominations (including 2003 for his recording, Grand Unification Theory); has been named “Best Mallet Player” for the past 5 years by the Jazz Journalists Association, Best Vibraphonis in the 2004 Downbeat Critics Poll, and has received various awards from Jazz Times, Downbeat, Jazziz, Newsweek, and more. His diverse resumé includes performances with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and Dutch Metropole Orchestra, and at the North Sea and Umbria Jazz Festivals, as well as tours of South Africa, Brazil, and Europe. Among his recording credits include partnerships with Max Roach, Wynton Marsalis, Cassandra Wilson, Buster Williams, Charlie Hunter, and many other top jazz artists. Additionally he is committed to jazz education and conducts numerous clinics and workshops at schools and universities throughout the country.

Harris rose to the top of the young lion heap with recordings and tours with his core quartet, Blackout. The acclaimed 2004 release, Evolution, featured Blackout regulars Marc Cary on keys, Derrick Hodge on bass, and Terreon Gully on drums.

An earlier suite project, Harris’ Grand Unification Theory (Blue Note) was an eleven-movement composition tinged with Latin, African, classical, and jazz involving 12 musicians. For African Tarantella, released this past summer, Harris sought inspiration from Duke Ellington, re-orchestrating three movements from the Duke’s “New Orleans Suite” and two from the “Queen's Suite,” including a stunning vibes/bass duet on “Single Petal of a Rose.” Harris also added pieces from his own commissioned work, “The Gardner Meditations.” Noted John Kelman (All About Jazz), “The trick to successful homage is reverence that remains personal. Between new arrangements of existing work and his own compositional contributions, Harris has created an album that pays tribute to a clear source of inspiration but also goes to places that Ellington might never have imagined.”

As on the recording, Harris will bring to the Jazz Standard a nine-piece chamber ensemble of strings (Junah Chung on viola, Louise Dubin on cello), woodwinds (Anne Drummond on flute, Mark Vinci on clarinet) and trombone (Steve Turre) and rhythm section (Xavier Davis on piano, Derrick Hodge on bass, Terreon Gully on drums). Together, the ensemble will thrill this weekend’s audiences with their highly creative, exhilarating versions of the works from a legend of modern music, and from one of jazz’s most original new voices.

Stefon Harris and his African Tarantella ensemble perform Saturday and Sunday, January 20-21, at Jazz Standard in Manhattan, 116 E. 27^th Street. Sets at at 7:30 and 9:30 pm, 11:30 set on Saturday night. Tickets at www.jazzstandard.com

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