His formal studies complete, Harrison began a quick climb to wide renown when he teamed up with some of the leading proponents of hard bop in the early Eighties. Harrison also says he's receptive to world-music influences, including Middle Eastern sounds. Living in New York, you hear a lot of music from the Middle East. I like it. To me, it's the same spirit as music from New Orleans.
People get up and dance and have a good time.
It has the spirit I like. I know one day I'm going to deal with it. If I like something I know I'm eventually going to get around to dealing with it. Harrison says he's got quite an example to follow in studying and adapting music from different cultures. One of the unique traits of jazz is that it embraces the whole world of music.