Harrison Napoleon Bankhead III (March 1, 1955 – April 5, 2023) was an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

double-bassist.

Life and career

Bankhead became associated with the Chicago jazz scene in the early-1980s. Early in his career, he performed with Fred Anderson on tour and at Anderson's Chicago club, the

Velvet Lounge The Velvet Lounge was a nightclub in the South Loop of Chicago. It started as a jazz club and was called the "dusty epicenter of the Midwest's free form jazz scene." It was located at 2128 1/2 S. Indiana Avenue before moving to 67 E. Cermak when t ...

. Bankhead has worked with

Oliver Lake Oliver Lake (born September 14, 1942) is an American List of jazz saxophonists, jazz saxophonist, flutist, composer, poet, and visual artist. He is known mainly for alto saxophone, but he also performs on soprano saxophone, soprano and flute. D ...

Roscoe Mitchell Roscoe Mitchell (born August 3, 1940) is an American composer, jazz instrumentalist, and educator, known for being "a technically superb – if idiosyncratic – saxophonist". ''The Penguin Guide to Jazz'' described him as "one of the key figure ...

Von Freeman Earle Lavon "Von" Freeman Sr. (October 3, 1923 – August 11, 2012) was an American hard bop jazz tenor saxophonist. Biography Born in Chicago, Illinois, Freeman was exposed as a young child to jazz. His father, George, a city policeman, was a ...

Malachi Thompson Malachi Richard Thompson (August 21, 1949, in Princeton, Kentucky — July 16, 2006), was an American avant-garde jazz trumpet player. In addition to his own work as a bandleader, Thompson was known for his work in the brass ensemble led by fellow ...

, 8 Bold Souls, and

Hamid Drake Hamid Drake (born August 3, 1955) is an American jazz drummer and percussionist. By the close of the 1990s, Hamid Drake was widely regarded as one of the best percussionists in jazz and improvised music. Incorporating Afro-Cuban, Indian, and Af ...

, and was a member of the

Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians The Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) is an American nonprofit organization, founded in 1965 in Chicago by pianist Muhal Richard Abrams, pianist Jodie Christian, drummer Steve McCall, and composer Phil Cohran. The AA ...

. His first album as a leader, '' Morning Sun/Harvest Moon'', was released on Engine, a sub-label of

ESP-Disk ESP-Disk is a New York–based record company and label founded in 1963 by lawyer Bernard Stollman. History Though it originally existed to release Esperanto-based music, beginning with its second release (Albert Ayler's ''Spiritual Unity''), E ...

, in 2011, and featured sidemen Edward Wilkerson, Jr.,

Mars Williams Marc Charles "Mars" Williams (May 29, 1955 – November 20, 2023) was an American jazz and rock saxophonist. He was a member of the American new wave band The Waitresses from 1980 to 1983, and a member of the British post-punk band The Psyched ...

, James Sanders, Avreeayl Ra, and Ernie Adams. He followed this with '' Velvet Blue'', with Wilkerson, Williams, and Ra, whose name and title track pay tribute to Fred Anderson and the Velvet Lounge. Bankhead died on April 5, 2023, at the age of 68.

Discography

As leader *'' Morning Sun/Harvest Moon'' (Engine Studios, 2011) *'' Velvet Blue'' (Engine Studios, 2013) *''The Fire of Compassion'' (Engine Studios, 2014) With

*'' The Jaz Life'' (Delmark, 1992) *'' Lift Every Voice'' (Delmark, 1993) *''

Buddy Bolden's Rag ''Buddy Bolden's Rag'' (subtitled '' 00 Years of Jazz') is an album by the American jazz trumpeter Malachi Thompson, recorded and released by the Delmark label in 1995.

'' (Delmark, 1995) *'' 47th Street'' (Delmark, 1997) *'' Freebop Now!'' (Delmark, 1998) *'' Rising Daystar'' (Delmark, 1999) *'' Talking Horns'' (Delmark, 2001) with

Hamiet Bluiett Hamiet Bluiett (; September 16, 1940 – October 4, 2018) was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer. His primary instrument was the baritone saxophone, and he was considered one of the finest players of this instrument. A membe ...

and

*'' Blue Jazz'' (Delmark, 2003) with

Gary Bartz Gary Bartz (born September 26, 1940) is an American jazz saxophonist. He has won two Grammy Awards. Biography Bartz was first exposed to jazz as the son of the owners of a jazz nightclub in Baltimore. In 1958 he left Baltimore to study at the J ...

and

Billy Harper Billy Harper (born January 17, 1943) is an American jazz saxophonist, "one of a generation of Coltrane-influenced tenor saxophonists" with a distinctively stern, hard-as-nails sound on his instrument.Chris KelseyBilly Harper Biography ''AllMusi ...

With 8 Bold Souls *''

Sideshow In North America, a sideshow is an extra, secondary production associated with a circus, traveling carnival, carnival, fair, or other such attraction. They historically featured human oddity exhibits (so-called “Freak show, freak shows”), pr ...

'' (Arabesque Jazz, 1992) *''

Ant Farm A formicarium (: formicaria or formicariums) or ant farm is a vivarium which is designed primarily for the study of ant colonies and how ants behave and for the enjoyment of ants as pets. Those who study ant behavior are known as myrmecologists ...

'' (Arabesque Jazz, 1994) * '' Last Option'' (Thrill Jockey, 2000) With Dee Alexander * ''Wild is the Wind'' (BluJazz, 2009) * '' Songs My Mother Loves'' (BluJazz, 2014) With others *Frequency ( Edward Wilkerson, Nicole Mitchell, Harrison Bankhead, and Avreeayl Ra) - ''

Frequency Frequency is the number of occurrences of a repeating event per unit of time. Frequency is an important parameter used in science and engineering to specify the rate of oscillatory and vibratory phenomena, such as mechanical vibrations, audio ...

'' (Thrill Jockey, 2006) * Fred Anderson/Harrison Bankhead - '' The Great Vision Concert'' ( Ayler Records, 2007) *Nicole Mitchell, Harrison Bankhead, Hamid Drake - ''Indigo Trio: Live in Montreal'' (2007) *The Turbine! (Harrison Bankhead, Benjamin Duboc, Hamid Drake, Ramon Lopez) - '' Entropy/Enthalpy'' (

RogueArt RogueArt (also written Rogueart and Rogue Art) is a French independent record label based in Paris. It was founded by record producer Michel Dorbon in 2005 and specialises in jazz and improvised music. History RogueArt was founded by record pr ...

, 2015) * Shanta Nurullah's Sitarsys, ''Sitar Black'' (Storywiz, 2016)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bankhead, Harrison 1955 births 2023 deaths American jazz double-bassists American male double-bassists Jazz musicians from Illinois American male jazz musicians RogueArt artists People from Waukegan, Illinois 8 Bold Souls members