First Name

Dr. Nelson

College/University:

University of Pittsburgh

I am here for:

Gigs, Job Inquiries, Educational Purposes, Meet Players, Networking

Whom I want to meet:

Musicians who are interested in the power of music to heal the human spirit and the world.

Employment Status

Self-Employed

Occupation:

composer, lyricist, arranger, trombonist, clinical, author, playwright, clinician, speaker

Employer:

Cybraxis, Inc

About Me:

Ph.D. in clinical psychology, personal tutelege in ethnomusicology with Prof. Fela Sowande, student of metaphysics for 48 years, composer, lyricist (120+ bop standards lyricized), trombonist, inventor of the "trombetto" (a one-of-a-kind brass instrument).

I am developing a music for wellness paradigm based on the latest quantum science and the whole-brain jazz experience.

Musical Background & Experience:

Began professional musical career at the age of 13 as trombonist/bandleader of the Beethoven Bebops 7-piece jazz/dance that included bassist John Heard, guitarist Jerry Byrd, pianist Richard Gaither, tenor saxophonist George Green and drummers Roscoe Vire and Allen Blairman. Concurrent memberships held in the Pittsburgh Symphony, Jr. and the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony. Private trombone lessons with Carl G. McVicker, Sr. followed by Matthew Shiner of Duquesne University in the late 1950's. Worked frequently in local jazz and R & B groups through the 1960s accompanying numerous road acts such as Dionne Warwicke, James Brown, The (original) Supremes and the (original) Temptations, Mary Wells, Little Stevie Wonder and many others. Played 10 years with Harold Betters (1961-71), 5 years with the Joe Westray Orchestra (1963-68), 3 years with the Walt Harper Quintet (1967-70), 5 years with the Nathan Davis Quintet (1970–75), 7 years with Joe Harris (1975-82), Andy Bey (1977), toured 2 years with Count Basie Orchestra (1978 -1980 including 1980 Japan tour, 6 months with Kenny Clarke (1979), 10 years as a member of the Heinz Hall and Stanley Theatre Stage Orchestras accompanying Bobby Vinton, Liberace, Aretha Franklin, Sammy Davis, Jr., Ginger Rogers, Lena Horne, Tony Bennett, Johnny Mathis, Jack Jones, Michele LeGrande, Mel Torme, Red Skelton and George Gobel, Earl “Fatha” Hnes and Billy Eckstine (1973 - 83) also playing shows during this period with Nelson Riddle and the Pittsburgh Symphony Pops. He toured the trad jazz circuit as a pianist with the Boilermaker Jazz Band (1992-98), played with Loretta Devine (1997), Karlton Hester (2002-03), Donald Byrd (2003), David Sanford and the Pittsburgh Collective (2007 IAJE Convention). With his own groups he has opened for Alice Coltrane (1971), Kool & the Gang (1973), Eddie Jefferson (1977), Nancy Wilson (1978), the Ink Spots (2002), Mickey Rooney (2003), Florence Henderson (2004) and Al Martino (2005).

Composed and performed the musical score for the road-show version of the August Wilson's "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom," for the Kuntu Repertory Theatre (1987), for the world premiere tour de force performance of "The Man Who Lived Underground," Stage adaptation of the Richard Wright short story of the same name (City Theatre Lab – 1993). Four compositions featured in the made-for-TV movie "Stuck with Each Other," by producer-director Georg Stanford Brown co-starring Tyne Daly and Richard Crenna premiered nationally by NBC (1989); sound track cues in Santa Claws a feature horror film by John Russo (1996) and the score of Saloonatics feature film by John Russo (2002). Appeared as trombonist in the touring orchestra in the "The Temptations" made-for TV movie (1998).

Locally active in Pittsburgh with The Blues Orphans and the Roger Humphries Big Band (since 2000), Bill Dell & Wee Jams (since 1999), Gary Racan & the Studio-E Band (since 2001), Spirit on the Hill (Jazz Heritage), and his own jazz bands The World According to Bop (club jazz), Jazz ‘N Jive (lounge), and Dr. Jazz & the Salty Dawgs (New Orleans trad), Blue to the Bone (blues), Nelson Harrison & Associates (cocktail jazz).

Website:

http://www.esotericgateway.com

Website:

http://www.pittsburghartistregistry.org/drjazz

Website:

http://jazzburgher.ning.com/profile/nelsonharrison

Why I love jazz:

Jazz is my religion

Music:

Ahmad Jamal, Art Blakey, Billy Strayhorn, Freddie Redd, Count Basie, Kenny Dorham, Hank Mobley, Duke Ellington, Eddie Jefferson, Billy Eckstine, Dakota Staton, Stanley Turrentine, Horace Silver, Thelonius Monk, Mary Lou Williams, Miles Davis, Clifford Brown, Charlie Parker, Kenny Clarke, Dizzy Gillespie, Art Tatum, Erroll Garner, Louis Armstrong, Sonny Rollins, John Coltrane, Frank Rosolino, J. J. Johnson, Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, Betty Carter, Clark Terry, J.C. Moses, Ray Brown

Top 5 Desert Island Discs:

Ahmad Jamal - But Not for Me - Live at the Pershing
Freddie Redd - Redd's Blues - Blue Note
Count Basie - Live at the Sands
Horace Silver & the Jazz Messengers
Porgy & Bess - Miles Davis