Metro Musical Productions

Detroit jazz legend Wendell Harrison releases first new CD in 7 years

"Here's my thing," says Wendell Harrison, describing his personal manifesto. "People can help themselves. You can do it yourself rather than wait for somebody else to do it for you. That's been my whole way of life. I don't make a lot of money, but at least I'm in control of what I do."

Harrison, a Detroit-born tenor saxophonist, clarinetist, composer, entrepreneur and educator, is celebrating the release of "It's About Damn Time," his first CD in seven years. At 68, he's best known as a cofounder of Tribe, the legendary Detroit jazz collective that came together in the early '70s in a strong-willed act of African-American self-determination, connecting the dots between music, social justice and community building.

Tribe was a remarkable chapter in Detroit cultural history, and it still resonates. Ever the strategist, Harrison has cut roughly 18 licensing deals since the '90s on behalf of Tribe to reissue vintage recordings on small labels in England, Europe, Japan and America. Deals range from $500 per single to $2,500 per album. These records, along with recent collaborations led by Detroit techno pioneer Carl Craig, have raised Harrison's profile, lassoing fans smitten by the Midas touch of Detroit musicians and prompting adulatory retrospectives in the specialty press.

Yet Harrison's creative life transcends Tribe, sweeping through a career lasting more than 50 years, including the better part of the 1960s in New York and on the road. He has played bebop and post-bop, R&B and funk, dabbled in free jazz and led a unique clarinet choir. His résumé includes work with bluesy modernist guitar hero Grant Green, grits 'n' gravy saxophonist Hank Crawford and Sun Ra, an avant-garde icon.

Under the umbrella of Rebirth, the nonprofit organization dedicated to jazz that he founded after Tribe disbanded in 1977, Harrison has recorded more than a dozen albums as a leader, written method books, led in-school programs and produced countless concerts and live radio broadcasts featuring visiting stars. The recession has cut Rebirth's annual budget by half to about $40,000, but Harrison soldiers on.

"Wendell never rests," says trumpeter Marcus Belgrave, a key member of Tribe. "He's always on a quest. His energy is a gift."

It has been a bumpy ride at times, and one way to look at Harrison's life is as a morality play in two acts. A debilitating addiction to heroin nearly closed the show before intermission, but since overcoming drugs and returning to Detroit in 1970, his career blossomed in ways that no one, least of all Harrison, might have predicted.

Interview With Paul Lennar, Egostereo Remix Contest Winner | Find ...

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