TOM HARRELL
Genres: Post Bop, Classic Fusion, Third Stream, Progressive Big Band, Hard Bop • United States

Tom Harrell (born June 16, 1946) is a renowned American post bop jazz trumpeter and composer. However he has a disability which profoundly affects his life away from the stage. He suffers from paranoid schizophrenia. On stage he stands away from the microphone, off to the side, his head bowed and his hands clutching his trumpet. When called upon to play, he walks slowly to the microphone, head still lowered, raising it only to play. When finished, he bows his head and resumes his original place. He takes antipsychotic drugs for his condition, but has to deal with the side-effects such as weight gain and muscle spasms, depending on which drugs he is taking. Newer drugs appear to control his condition with fewer side effects. Tom Harrell was born in Urbana, IL and began playing the trumpet at age eight. He soon moved to the San Francisco Bay Area, and read more...