 |
|
John Harkins |
American-born and raised, John Harkins, who moved to Sydney in 1994, is one of the
most sought after jazz pianists in Australia today. He performs regularly with
musicians such as Don Burrows, James Morrison, Dale Barlow and others. He has solid credentials. He majored in classical piano at the prestigious Manhattan School of Music in New York City and has worked with many well known American jazz musicians, including tenor saxophonist Scott Hamilton, singer Mark Murphy, and esteemed trumpeter Warren Vache (with whom he recorded "Easy Going" on the Concord Jazz label in 1987) to name a few. In recent years John has been the Musical Director and pianist for the annual Australian tours of US jazz/blues singer Barbara Morrison. He is featured on her biggest selling CD, Live Down Under. John was a soloist on Australian CD recordings of Blaine Whittaker's Hard Bop Cafe featuring James Morrison and The Andrew Speight Quartet, the 1999 ARIA Award for Best Jazz Album of the Year. He also played and arranged on singer Danielle Gaha's debut CD titled You Don't Know Me on Sony/BMG label (for clips on her web site click here). He has been praised by jazzandbeyond.com.au for his arrangements and playing on singer Karlie Bruce's recent CD release on the LaBrava label. In mid 2005, John was the pianist for the legendary Cleo Laine on her sold-out 3 week tour of Australia. The final concert was documented by the TV programme "60 Minutes". Also, John was the pianist for bassists Christian McBride and Robert Hurst's master classes held in Sydney in May and June, 2005. In 2005, John released his self-titled CD. It highlights his vocal and arranging talents in addition to his swinging piano playing. A collection of both well known and obscure standards from the great American song book, it is a milestone in his career, putting him at the top of the list of singer/pianists anywhere in the world. In 2008, John started off the year recording with Australian bebop trumpet player Warwick Alder. Also in the band were bassist Brendan Clarke and drummer Andrew Dickeson. Currently, John is working on a second independent release. It is to be produced by Australian singer-songwriter Billy Field. Billy has convinced John to record an album of solo piano and vocals. The album includes Love Letters, My Shining Hour, Angel Eyes, Stanley Turrentine's Sugar as well as Duke Ellington's Lucky So and So and the not so often heard Like A Lover written by Brazilian composer Dori Caymmi. The album is due for release October 2008. He is available for private and public functions (weddings, corporate events, etc.) and he offers private lessons in improvisational piano. |
|
site by BuildingHosting.Com |