We are so lucky to have Zacc Harris in the Twin Cities. Harris is a top-flight guitarist, composer and educator. He also manages to run a premier record label that releases world-class music which represents our local scene and the larger international jazz scene. Through some scheduling miracle, Zacc Harris was able to connect with a dream team of usual suspects to work on his latest release, Chasing Shadows.
The first song we got our hands on is “Catalyst” and it does not disappoint. I associate Harris’s writing with clean, scalar melodies that float on top of beautiful chord charts. “Catalyst” certainly fits that bill and with familiar players like Brandon Wozniak on tenor, Bryan Nichols on piano, Chris Bates on upright bass and Pete James Johnson on drums. The band eases into a comfort that is rare to hear on brand new compositions. Harris handles the first solo and takes the shape of the melody as his point of departure and travels on from there. Bryan Nichols steps in next and after the rhythm section goes to a bare bones skeletal groove they work it up to the point where the solo is climaxing as Harris and Wozniak return to the melody. Pete James Johnson gets the last word over the rhythmic pattern that opens the song with a spirited and brief drum solo. When you write it down in a paragraph it sounds like some dense jazz roadmap but if you let the tune play you’ll hear five great players navigate some new terrain patiently and passionately. We are looking forward to getting our hands on more of this new Zacc Harris music!
Hot New Local Singles highlights new, local songs. Minnesota has a lot of great jazz, funk, soul, and jazz- adjacent music, and Jazz88 is highlighting what is fresh.
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