Loston Harris is an American jazz pianist and vocalist. Harris plays primarily from the

Great American Songbook The Great American Songbook is the loosely defined canon of significant 20th-century American jazz standards, popular songs, and show tunes. Definition According to the Great American Songbook Foundation: The "Great American Songbook" is th ...

in a traditional style. He is a regular performer at various venues in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

including

Jazz at Lincoln Center Jazz at Lincoln Center is an organization based in New York City. Part of Lincoln Center, the organization was founded in 1987 and opened at Time Warner Center (now Deutsche Bank Center) in October 2004. The organization seeks to “represent th ...

, has recorded five albums, and appeared in a feature film.

Biography

Loston Harris began his studies at

Virginia Commonwealth University Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) is a Public university, public research university in Richmond, Virginia, United States. VCU was founded in 1838 as the medical department of Hampden–Sydney College, becoming the Medical College of Virgin ...

as a percussion major. After hearing Harris playing the piano, visiting professor Ellis Marsalis urged the percussionist to switch instruments. Harris later transferred to

Howard University Howard University is a private, historically black, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity" and accredited by the Mid ...

where he studied piano with

Geri Allen Geri Antoinette Allen (June 12, 1957 – June 27, 2017) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and educator. She taught at the University of Michigan and the University of Pittsburgh. Early life and education Allen was born in Pontiac, Michigan ...

and

Billy Taylor Billy Taylor (July 24, 1921 – December 28, 2010) was an American jazz pianist, composer, broadcaster and educator. He was the Robert L. Jones Distinguished Professor of Music at East Carolina University in Greenville, and from 1994 was the a ...

. In 1995 Harris toured with

Wynton Marsalis Wynton Learson Marsalis (born October 18, 1961) is an American trumpeter, composer, and music instructor, who is currently the artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. He has been active in promoting classical and jazz music, often to young ...

, and in 1996 with

Marcus Roberts Marthaniel "Marcus" Roberts (born August 7, 1963) is an American jazz pianist, composer, arranger, bandleader, and teacher. Early life Roberts was born in Jacksonville, Florida, United States. His mother was a gospel singer who had gone blind a ...

. He has released five albums, the most recent in 2013. Additionally, he appeared as himself in the 2005 film ''

Little Manhattan ''Little Manhattan'' is a 2005 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Mark Levin and written by Jennifer Flackett. Josh Hutcherson and Charlotte Ray Rosenberg star. It is set in Manhattan and is about a ten-year-old boy as he experie ...

''. Harris currently leads the house band at the

Carlyle Hotel The Carlyle Hotel is a luxury apartment hotel on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1930, the Art Deco hotel was designed by Sylvan Bien and Harry M. Prince, with interiors by Dorothy Draper. It was named after the S ...

’s Bemelmans Bar.

Discography

*''Stepping Stones'' (1996) *''Comes Love'' (1998) *''Timeless'' (2003) *''Why Try to Change Me Now?'' (2010) *''Swingfully Yours'' (2013)

External links

Official website

Yanow, Scott. “Loston Harris Biography.” Allmusic
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Loston Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Virginia Commonwealth University alumni