Donald Harrison

Donald Harrison is a New Orleans alto saxophonist, an NEA Jazz Master, and the Big Chief of the Congo Square Nation Afro-New Orleans cultural group. Born in 1960 into a family steeped in the city's traditions, he studied with Ellis Marsalis and at Berklee before joining Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers in the 1980s alongside Terence Blanchard. He is celebrated for coining Nouveau Swing, a fusion of jazz with R&B, hip-hop, and soul, and for carrying the New Orleans masking-Indian heritage into his music. He continues to tour as a leader and as a member of the all-star band The Cookers.