Hurricane Katrina divides New Orleans history into pre- and post-Katrina eras.
Jazz Innovators with New Orleans Roots
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Legendary sax man Donald Harrison, Sr. and trumpeter Christian Scott are the award winning and Grammy nominated son and grandson of Big Chief Donald Harrison, Sr. and member of New Orleans first family of art and culture. Both born in New Orleans, they are high caliber musicians known for their innovations in the genre of Jazz.
Donald Harrison, Jr. (1960- ), composer and saxophonist created the “Nouveau Swing”, a style of jazz that merges the genres of R&B, Hip-Hop, Soul, and Rock. Harrison, heavily influenced by Afro-New Orleans traditional music, his critically acclaimed albums, Indian Blues (1991) and Spirits of Congo Square (2000) combine his historic cultural music form with jazz. Harrison performs and produces in this genre with his group, The New Sounds of Mardi Gras, which was established in 2001. His group, The Donald Harrison Electric Band has recorded a number of radio hits that have been in the top ten of Billboard magazine’s music charts. Harrison has performed and recorded with a number of key figures in Jazz, R & B, Funk, Classical and other music genres: Art Blakey, Roy Haynes, The Cookers, McCoy Tyner, Miles Davis, Lena Horne, Ron Carter, Billy Cobham, Eddie Palmieri, Jennifer Holiday, Dr. John, Guru’s Jazzmatazz, McCoy Tyner, and Dr. L.
A survivor of Hurricane Katrina, Harrison was featured in acclaimed Director, Spike Lee’s HBO documentary, When the Levees Broke and was a character consultant an appeared as himself on HBO’s series, Treme. As a composer, Harrison co-wrote the soundtrack for the feature film, Rachel Getting Married, directed by Academy Award winning Director, Jonathan Demme. In 2015, Harrison started his exploration in classical orchestral composition in his work, Congo Square Part I, which was performed by The Moscow Symphony Orchestra in 2016.
A long-term music educator, Harrison co-founded and was Artistic Director of the Tipitina’s Intern Program. He also founded The New Jazz School educating students ages thirteen to eighteen in the genres of jazz, soul, funk, as well as scholarship in the areas of history, music theory, harmony, and composition. He has nurtured numerous young musicians over the years, including his nephew, trumpeter Christian Scott.
Christian Scott (1983- ), also known as Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah, is a two-time Edison Award winning and Grammy Award nominated trumpeter, composer, and producer. His musical education began under the direction of his uncle, Donald Harrison, Jr. when he was thirteen years old. He graduated from the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA) in 2001 and received a scholarship to attend his uncle’s alma mater the Berklee College of Music in Boston.
As a jazz innovator, Scott developed the harmonic convention “forecasting cell” and the un-voiced tone of playing, the “whisper technique.” Additionally, Scott is the originator of the genre blind musical form, “Stretch Music” that allows jazz to encompass many other musical forms, languages, and cultural influences. He created interactive music player, The Stretch Music App and won the Jazz FM Innovator of the Year award in 2016.
Since graduating from NOCCA in 2001, Scot has released eleven critically acclaimed studio recordings and two live albums. He launched the commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the first known jazz recording in 1917 with a trilogy of studio albums titled, The Centennial Trilogy. Like his uncle, Scott composes scores for films, including award nominated and winning films, Samaria and The Roe Effect, created and directed by his twin brother, Kiel Adrian Scott.
More information on New Orleans first family of art and culture can be found in the papers of Harrison Family.
Images from the Donald Harrison, Sr. Family Papers. Images from Amistad’s website, newsletters, and blogs cannot be reproduced without permission.
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Kathe Hambrick is the Founder and former Executive Director of the River Road African American Museum (RRAAM), established in 1994 as Louisiana’s first African American Museum. She is a past President of the national Association of African American Museums (AAAM). She served as the Chief Curator and Director of Interpretation for the West Baton Rouge Museum for four years. Hambrick was born in New Orleans and spent half her life in California where she received an undergraduate degree in English and a minor in African American Studies from California State University Long Beach.
Hambrick is a Public Historian with a passion for collecting, preserving and interpreting history for diverse audiences. Her thirty-one-year career as a museum professional includes expertise in program development, interpretative planning, curation, grant writing, fundraising, and board governance. She led the effort to preserve three slave cemeteries and six historic buildings in Ascension Parish.
She is considered an expert on the history and culture of African Americans in communities along the Mississippi River. Kathe Hambrick’s interviews include local, national, and international media, the BBC Learning Channel, CBS Morning News, National Public Radio, and the New York Times. The consulting firm, 2PRESERVE was established by Hambrick in 2021 to provide cultural resources and guidance to corporations, museums, cultural centers, government agencies, and faith-based organizations.
Throughout her 31-year career, Kathe has curated over one hundred exhibits, including The Rural Roots of Jazz, African Influences on Louisiana Cuisine, Creole Du Monde, and The Square Collection which featured original art by Elizabeth Catlett, Jacob Lawrence, Richmond Barthé, and Tina Allen. Her most recent exhibit is the GU272 of Ascension: The Jesuit and Episcopal Connection to Slavery.
Kathe is the author and co-author of several books:
Kathe Hambrick is the Founder and former Executive Director of the River Road African American Museum (RRAAM), established in 1994 as Louisiana’s first African American Museum. She is a past President of the national Association of African American Museums (AAAM). She served as the Chief Curator and Director of Interpretation for the West Baton Rouge Museum for four years. Hambrick was born in New Orleans and spent half her life in California where she received an undergraduate degree in English and a minor in African American Studies from California State University Long Beach.
Hambrick is a Public Historian with a passion for collecting, preserving and interpreting history for diverse audiences. Her thirty-one-year career as a museum professional includes expertise in program development, interpretative planning, curation, grant writing, fundraising, and board governance. She led the effort to preserve three slave cemeteries and six historic buildings in Ascension Parish.
She is considered an expert on the history and culture of African Americans in communities along the Mississippi River. Kathe Hambrick’s interviews include local, national, and international media, the BBC Learning Channel, CBS Morning News, National Public Radio, and the New York Times. The consulting firm, 2PRESERVE was established by Hambrick in 2021 to provide cultural resources and guidance to corporations, museums, cultural centers, government agencies, and faith-based organizations.
Throughout her 31-year career, Kathe has curated over one hundred exhibits, including The Rural Roots of Jazz, African Influences on Louisiana Cuisine, Creole Du Monde, and The Square Collection which featured original art by Elizabeth Catlett, Jacob Lawrence, Richmond Barthé, and Tina Allen. Her most recent exhibit is the GU272 of Ascension: The Jesuit and Episcopal Connection to Slavery.
Kathe is the author and co-author of several books:
Kathe Hambrick is the Founder and former Executive Director of the River Road African American Museum (RRAAM), established in 1994 as Louisiana’s first African American Museum. She is a past President of the national Association of African American Museums (AAAM). She served as the Chief Curator and Director of Interpretation for the West Baton Rouge Museum for four years. Hambrick was born in New Orleans and spent half her life in California where she received an undergraduate degree in English and a minor in African American Studies from California State University Long Beach.
Hambrick is a Public Historian with a passion for collecting, preserving and interpreting history for diverse audiences. Her thirty-one-year career as a museum professional includes expertise in program development, interpretative planning, curation, grant writing, fundraising, and board governance. She led the effort to preserve three slave cemeteries and six historic buildings in Ascension Parish.
She is considered an expert on the history and culture of African Americans in communities along the Mississippi River. Kathe Hambrick’s interviews include local, national, and international media, the BBC Learning Channel, CBS Morning News, National Public Radio, and the New York Times. The consulting firm, 2PRESERVE was established by Hambrick in 2021 to provide cultural resources and guidance to corporations, museums, cultural centers, government agencies, and faith-based organizations.
Throughout her 31-year career, Kathe has curated over one hundred exhibits, including The Rural Roots of Jazz, African Influences on Louisiana Cuisine, Creole Du Monde, and The Square Collection which featured original art by Elizabeth Catlett, Jacob Lawrence, Richmond Barthé, and Tina Allen. Her most recent exhibit is the GU272 of Ascension: The Jesuit and Episcopal Connection to Slavery.
Kathe is the author and co-author of several books: