Pat Harbison

On Saturday, February 28th, Pat Harbison presented a jazz improvisation master class at Wright State University as part of the 2009 WSU Jazz Guest Artist Series. He began by discussing his own experiences and delving into the mental aspects of improvising and performing jazz. Harbison continued by fielding questions from the participants. When asked how he got started, Harbison relayed the story of how he met and became one the first students of famed jazz pedagogue Jamey Aebersold. Harbison also shared some inspirational stories of his own struggles as a young jazz trumpeter in NYC in the 1970’s, when he almost gave up playing because he was told that he would never make it. When asked by a student about selecting the best school for a jazz studies degree, Harbison spent time discussing the need for each of us to find the best “fit” for what one wants and needs in a school. After fielding several more questions, Harbison demonstrated some different concepts for practicing scales and gave examples of different scale studies and groupings that can be applies to commonly used jazz scales.

Saturday evening, Harbison performed as part of WSU’s Guest Artist series. The first half of the concert featured him performing with a rhythm section made up of renowned drummer Jim Rupp from Columbus, Ohio, guitarist Cameron Voorhees of the Air Force Band of Flight, and Vinnie Marshall, formerly of the Air Force Band. During this portion of the concert, the group performed standards such as It Could Happen to You, Recorde-Me, the Nearness of You, and Bags Grove. To end the first half, Harbison invited WSU Jazz Ensemble Director Ryan Tarjanyi to the stage to sit in on Have You Met Miss Jones. Tarjanyi, a former student of Harbison’s at CCM and his teaching assistant while at Indiana University, traded solos with his mentor.

The second half of the concert featured Harbison with the WSU Jazz Ensemble. The tunes included Anthropology, What's Next, and Bus to Belmopan written by Harbison's friend and musical director to the Bob and Tom Show, pianist Steve Allee, which chronicles a bizarre trip he and Harbison took while on a tour. To create different timbres, Harbison switched between trumpet, flugel and cornet throughout the concert. The evening ended with the Coltrane standard Naima and Charles Mingus' work Haitian Fight Song. In the latter, Harbison employed a plunger to capture the gritty sound for which the piece calls. The highlight came when Harbison had a free form musical conversation with the band’s drummer, Theresa Snider.

Source: Ryan Tarjanyi, Director, Wright State University Jazz Ensemble

Photos below: 1. (L-R) Ryan Tarjanyi-WSU Jazz Ensemble Director, Guitarist Camoeron Voorhees, Pat Harbison, Drummer Jim Rupp, and Bassist Vinnie Marshall 2. Tarjanyi and Harbison trading on Have You Met Miss Jones 3. Harbison with the Wright State University Jazz Ensemble