Born on December 15, 1929, in Detroit, Michigan, Barry Harris was a jazz
pianist, bandleader and composer who performed and recorded with many great
bebop artists such as Miles Davis, Dexter Gordon, and Coleman Hawkins. Known for
his interpretations of the works of the pianist Thelonious Monk, he was labeled
‘keeper of the bebop flame’ and was active as a jazz educator for most of his
career. He was born in a poor neighborhood in Detroit where every school had
musical instruments that students could borrow to play gigs on weekends.
Influenced early on by Monk and Bud Powell, he r...