Tom Harrell was born on June 16, 1946. He is an American jazz musician who plays the trumpet, flugelhorn, composes music, and arranges music. In 2018, the Jazz Journalists Association named him Trumpeter of the Year. Throughout his career, he has received many awards and grants, including multiple Trumpeter of the Year awards from DownBeat magazine, the SESAC Jazz Award, the BMI Composers Award, and the Prix Oscar du Jazz. He was nominated for a Grammy Award for his big band album, Time's Mirror.

Biography

Tom Harrell was born in Urbana, Illinois, United States, but moved to the San Francisco Bay Area when he was five years old. He began playing the trumpet at age eight, and within five years, he was performing with local music groups. In 1969, he graduated from Stanford University with a degree in music composition and joined Stan Kenton’s orchestra. He toured and recorded with them throughout that year. Harrell continued his music career even though he experienced symptoms of schizophrenia since his teenage years.

After leaving Stan Kenton’s orchestra, Harrell played with Woody Herman’s big band from 1970 to 1971, with Azteca in 1972, and with the Horace Silver Quintet from 1973 to 1977. He recorded five albums with that group. He also performed with the Sam Jones–Tom Harrell Big Band, the Lee Konitz Nonet from 1979 to 1981, George Russell, and the Mel Lewis Orchestra in 1981. From 1983 to 1989, he was an important member of the Phil Woods Quintet and recorded seven albums with the group.

In addition, Harrell performed with Vince Guaraldi on the Peanuts television specials You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown (1972), There's No Time for Love, Charlie Brown, A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (both 1973), and It's a Mystery, Charlie Brown (1974).

Harrell also performed with Bill Evans, Dizzy Gillespie, Jim Hall, Ronnie Cuber, Bob Brookmeyer, Lionel Hampton, Bob Berg, Cecil Payne, Bobby Shew, Philip Catherine, Ivan Paduart, Joe Lovano, Charlie Haden’s Liberation Orchestra, Charles McPherson, David Sánchez, Sheila Jordan, Jane Monheit, the King’s Singers, and Kathleen Battle, among others. Harrell is featured on Bill Evans’ final studio recording, We Will Meet Again, which won a Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Jazz Performance, Group.

While Harrell recorded several albums as a leader during his time with the Phil Woods Quintet, he began producing albums as a leader after leaving the group. He released albums for Contemporary Records (now owned by Concord), Chesky, and RCA/BMG. During his years as a BMG artist from 1996 to 2003, first with RCA, then Bluebird, and finally Arista, Harrell made six albums, many of which include his arrangements for larger musical groups. Since the early 1990s, Harrell has toured and performed with his own groups of different sizes and instruments.

Harrell is a skilled arranger and composer. He has arranged music for Vince Guaraldi’s work on Peanuts, Carlos Santana, the Metropole Orchestra, the Danish Radio Big Band, the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, and Elisabeth Kontomanou with the Orchestre National de Lorraine, among others. His compositions have been recorded by other jazz musicians, including Ron Carter, Kenny Barron, Art Farmer, Chris Potter, Tom Scott, Steve Kuhn, Kenny Werner, and Hank Jones. Harrell’s composition and big band arrangement titled Humility was recorded on the Grammy-winning album Song for Chico by Arturo O’Farrill’s Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra. As a composer and arranger, Harrell works in different musical styles, including classical music.

Tom Harrell Quintet

Since 1989, Harrell has led his own musical groups, often small ensembles of five musicians called quintets, but sometimes larger groups such as chamber orchestras with string instruments or big bands. He has performed at many important jazz clubs and festivals and has recorded music under his own name for record labels including RCA, Contemporary, Pinnacle, Blackhawk, Criss Cross, SteepleChase, Chesky, and HighNote.

From 1994 to 1996, his quintet included Don Braden, Kenny Werner, Larry Grenadier, and Billy Hart. From 2000 to 2005, the group included Jimmy Greene, Xavier Davis, Ugonna Okegwo, and Quincy Davis.

Compared to his notable recordings during the RCA/BMG years (1996–2003), which focused on large ensembles, big bands, and chamber orchestras, Harrell’s more recent work shows his ability to lead a small, closely working group. His later quintet, which included tenor saxophonist Wayne Escoffery, pianist Danny Grissett, bassist Ugonna Okegwo (who has performed with Harrell since 1997), and drummer Johnathan Blake, was known for the strong teamwork among the musicians and the unique sound created through Harrell’s compositions. This group recorded five albums for HighNote: Light On, Prana Dance, Roman Nights, The Time of the Sun, and Number Five. For the final album, Harrell received his seventh SESAC Jazz Award.

Tom Harrell Chamber Ensemble

In June 2012, Harrell made his first public performance with his nine-piece chamber ensemble at the Highline Ballroom as part of the Blue Note Jazz Festival. Harrell adapted the music of Debussy, Ravel, and his own compositions for this group, which includes trumpet, soprano and tenor saxophones, C-flute and bass flute, violin, cello, acoustic guitar, piano, bass, and drums. The Tom Harrell Chamber Ensemble has performed at the Village Vanguard, Autumn Jazz Festival in Bielsko Biala, the Jazz Standard, the Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival, the Scripps Auditorium in San Diego, and Soka University Performing Arts Center in Aliso Viejo, CA. Harrell considers these arrangements and compositions some of the most difficult works he has created so far.

Colors of a Dream

In 2013, Harrell created a group without a piano called Colors of a Dream, which includes Harrell on trumpet and flugelhorn, Wayne Escoffery on tenor saxophone, Jaleel Shaw on alto saxophone, Johnathan Blake on drums, Ugonna Okegwo on bass, and Esperanza Spalding who plays bass and sings. The group first performed at the Village Vanguard for six nights starting March 26, 2013. The second night’s performance was broadcast online by NPR. A recorded album with the same name was released on October 22, 2013. Harrell received his eighth SESAC Jazz Award the next year.

TRIP

In 2013, Harrell recorded with TRIP, a group without a piano that included saxophonist Mark Turner, bassist Ugonna Okegwo, and drummer Adam Cruz. The group first performed in Rochester, New York, and at the Jazz Standard during Dave Douglas's Festival of New Trumpet Music (FONT) in October 2012. Harrell first performed a suite with six sections he wrote specifically for this group. TRIP met again a year later at the Village Vanguard and made a studio recording the following week. The quartet released the album named TRIP on August 12, 2014.

Publications

Harrell's work as a composer and a jazz soloist has been published in books by Hal Leonard, Jamey Aebersold, Sher Music, and Gerard and Sarzin.

Discography

• Aurora (1976, re-released as Total in 1987)
• Mind's Ear (1978)
• Play of Light (Palo Alto, 1982)
• Moon Alley (Criss Cross, 1985)
• Sundance (1986) with George Robert
• Open Air (SteepleChase, 1987)
• Stories (Contemporary, 1988)
• Sail Away (Contemporary, 1989)
• Lonely Eyes (GPR Records, 1989) with George Robert
• Form (Contemporary, 1990)
• Visions (Contemporary, 1991)
• Sail Away (Musidisc, 1991)
• Passages (Chesky, 1991)
• Moon and Sand (Jazz Aux Remparts, 1991) with Jacky Terrasson
• Upswing (Chesky, 1993)
• Cape Verde (Mons, 1995) with George Robert
• Labyrinth (RCA Victor, 1996)
• The Art of Rhythm (RCA Victor, 1998)
• Time's Mirror (RCA Victor, 1999)
• Paradise (RCA Victor, 2001)
• Live at the Village Vanguard (Bluebird, 2002)
• Wise Children (Bluebird, 2003; recorded in 1993)
• The Auditorium Session (Parco Della Musica Records, 2008; recorded in 2005)
• Light On (HighNote, 2007)
• Prana Dance (HighNote, 2009)
• Roman Nights (HighNote, 2010)
• The Time of the Sun (HighNote, 2011)
• Number Five (HighNote, 2012)
• Colors of a Dream (HighNote, 2013)
• Trip (HighNote, 2014)
• First Impressions (HighNote, 2015; recorded in 2013)
• Something Gold, Something Blue (HighNote, 2016)
• Moving Picture (HighNote, 2017)
• Infinity (HighNote, 2019)
• Oak Tree (HighNote, 2022; recorded in 2020)
• Alternate Summer (HighNote, 2024)

• The Company I Keep (Arabesque, 1994)

• Look to the Sky (SteepleChase, 1979)

• Humanity (Abeat Records, 2007)

• Dream Keeper (Verve, 1990)
• The Montreal Tapes: Liberation Music Orchestra (Verve, 1999)

• 'Bout Time (Criss Cross, 1988)
• The Feeling of Jazz (Criss Cross, 1990)

• Village Rhythm (Soul Note, 1988)
• Quartets: Live at the Village Vanguard (Blue Note, 1994)

• Satisfaction Guaranteed (Muse, 1980)
• The Artistry of Mark Murphy (Muse, 1982)
• The Latin Porter – Featuring Tom Harrell (Go Jazz, 2000)

• Silver 'n Brass (Blue Note, 1975)
• Silver 'n Wood (Blue Note, 1976)
• Silver 'n Voices (Blue Note, 1976)
• Silver 'n Percussion (Blue Note, 1977)
• Silver 'n Strings Play the Music of the Spheres (Blue Note, 1979)

• Integrity (Red, 1984)
• Gratitude (Denon, 1986)
• Dizzy Gillespie Meets Phil Woods Quintet (Timeless, 1986)
• Bop Stew (Concord, 1987)
• Evolution (Concord, 1988)
• Flash (Concord, 1989)
• Bouquet (Concord, 1989)

• Ben Aronov, Shadow Box (Choice, 1979)
• Don Braden, The Time Is Now (Criss Cross, 1991)
• Gordon Brisker, Cornerstone (Sea Breeze, 1984)
• Donald Brown, People Music (Muse, 1990)
• Thomas Chapin, You Don't Know Me (Arabesque, 1995)
• Harold Danko, Coincidence (Dreamstreet, 1979)
• Bill Evans, We Will Meet Again (Verve, 1979)
• George Gruntz, Theatre (ECM, 1983)
• Jim Hall, These Rooms (Denon, 1988)
• Shinobu Itoh, Sailing Rolling (1991)
• Ethan Iverson, Common Practice (ECM, 2019)
• Steve Kuhn, Seasons of Romance (Postcards, 1995)
• Lee Konitz, Yes, Yes, Nonet (SteepleChase, 1979)
• Charles McPherson, First Flight Out (Arabesque, 1994)
• Idris Muhammad, House of the Rising Sun (Kudu, 1976)
• Bob Mover, On the Move (Choice, 1978)
• Gerry Mulligan, Walk on the Water (DRG, 1980)
• Bobby Paunetto, Paunetto's Point (Pathfinder, 1975)
• Cecil Payne, Bird Gets the Worm (Muse, 1976)
• Steve Swallow, Real Book (Xtra Watt, 1993)
• Joris Teepe, Bottom Line with Don Braden, Darrell Grant, Carl Allen (Mons, 19