Trumpeter and flugelhornist, composer, arranger and band leader Tom Harrell has an impressively wide-open approach to music-making. He’s played with Horace Silver, Charlie Haden, Bob Brookmeyer, Lee Konitz and loads of other forward-thinking giants.
Harrell turned 70 this summer, he’s a prolific legend himself. Harrell’s records can bring to mind the haunting and beautiful atmospherics of early-’70s Miles Davis, or the global-minded eclecticism of Jon Hassell, or the lush harmonies of Billy Strayhorn.
Tom Harrell’s Trip is his piano-less group. Harrell’s music is deep, and he’s made connections between playing a wind instrument and yoga breathing, with self-healing potential. In whatever format he’s working, Harrell is focused on the elegant flow of creativity. If you hear happiness, hope and transcendence in the music, you’re not imagining things. The only justifiable reason to miss this free show might be medical emergency.
Tom Harrell’s Trip performs at Bushnell Park in downtown Hartford, Monday, Aug. 1, as a part of the Hartford Jazz Society’s Monday Night Jazz series. Opening act Joshua Bruneau Quintet starts at 6 p.m. Harrell starts at 7:30 p.m. Hartfordmondaynightjazz.com.
