Donald Harrison’s First Night Concert at Berklee to be broadcast live on NPR

This New Year’s Eve, Berklee College of Music will host the annual worldwide jazz broadcast, NPR’s Toast of the Nations, in collaboration with 89.7 WGBH and First Night Boston. The Donald Harrison Quintet will perform at 8:45PM at the Berklee Performance Center. NPR will broadcast the live performance nationwide and will re-air the show later that evening for those who missed the initial broadcast.

Hailing from New Orleans- the “hometown” of jazz- 1981 Berklee Alumnus Donald Harrison has made quite an impression as a complete musician and entertainer. With traditionalist roots, Harrison is a modern jazz trendsetter, former Jazz Messenger, teacher, Afro-New Orleans culture Big Chief, composer, bandleader and alto- saxophonist. Harrison has played various styles of music, including Nouveau Swing, traditional jazz, hip-hop, Mardi Gras and classical music.

It’s safe to say that Harrison is as diverse and experienced as they come in the music world. A film score (Rachel’s Getting Married, Jonathan Demme) finds itself on his list of accomplishments, along with appearances in and consultations on HBO’s Tremé, the experience of co-leading a group with Terence Blanchard, as well as a performance with a musical “who’s who” involving Art Blakely, Dr. John, Digable Planets, Roy Haynes, Lena Horne, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Miles Davis and Spike Lee, among others. 

Joining Harrison on New Year’s Eve will be his longtime band-mates Detroit Brooks on guitar, pianist Zaccai Curtis, 2010 Berklee graduate Max Moran on bass and 2011 Berklee grad Joe Dyson on drums. This year’s First Night Boston celebration is the tenth consecutive year that Berklee College of Music, 89.7 WGBH and NPR have collaborated in kicking off the live, jazz-based celebration Toast of the Nations.

The performance will be held in the Berklee Performance center at 136 Massachusetts Ave. Admission is $10 by purchase of a First Night Button. Please call 617-747-2261 for more info. For a full schedule of performances, and to find local participating NPR stations, please visit wbgo.org/toast.