Corey Harris
(born February 21, 1969, Denver, Colorado) is an American blues and reggae musician, currently residing in Virginia. Along with Keb' Mo' and Alvin Youngblood Hart, he raised the flag of acoustic guitar blues in the mid 1990s. [1] He was featured on the 2003 PBS television mini-series, The Blues
, in an episode directed by Martin Scorsese.
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COREY HARRIS TICKETS
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Biography
Harris grew up in Denver, and spent time in linguistic research in
North Africa in his early twenties, before coming home to a teaching post in
Louisiana.
On his debut
solo album Between Midnight and Day
(1995) he investigated the repertoire of
Charlie Patton,
Booker White,
Fred McDowell,
Muddy Waters and
Sleepy John Estes.
In 2002, Harris collaborated with
Ali Farka Toure on his
album,
Mississippi to Mali
, fusing blues and Toure's music from northern
Mali. Harris has also lived and traveled widely in
West Africa, an influence that has permeated much of his work. Harris has toured extensively throughout
Europe,
Canada, West Africa,
Japan and
Australia. He is known for his
solo acoustic work as well as his electric
band, formerly known as the '5 x 5'.
He helped
Billy Bragg and
Wilco to write the music for "Hoodoo Voodoo" on
Mermaid Avenue
, an album consisting entirely of
songs for which the
lyrics were written by the late
Woody Guthrie. He also appeared as a musician on the album and its sequel,
Mermaid Avenue Vol. II
. Harris received an honorary doctorate from
Bates College in 2007.
[2]
In September 2007 The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation announced that Harris is among 24 people named
MacArthur Fellows for 2007. The award comes with $500,000 to be given over five years.
Discography
Year of release
| Album title
| Record label
|
1995
| Between Midnight and Day
| Alligator
|
1997
| Fish Ain't Bitin'
| Alligator
|
1999
| Greens from the Garden
| Alligator
|
2000
| Vu-Du Menz
| Alligator
|
2001
| "Live at Starr Hill"
| Njumba Music
|
2002
| Downhome Sophisticate
| Rounder
|
2003
| Mississippi to Mali
| Rounder
|
2005
| Daily Bread
| Rounder
|
2007
| Zion Crossroads
| Telarc
|
References
- The Blues - From Robert Johnson (musician)
- Bates College website