Zacc Harris brings his modern jazz quintet back to Berlin on Thanksgiving weekend.

Band Members:
Zacc Harris - Guitar
Bryan Murray - Saxophone
Bryan Nichols - Piano
Dan Carpel - Bass
Pete James Johnson - Drums

⊹

Zacc Harris has been an integral part of the Twin Cities jazz scene since 2005. Recognized for his articulate guitar work, inventive compositions, and dynamic live performances, he performs with and leads a range of projects, including the Atlantis Quartet, the Zacc Harris Group, and American Reverie. In 2017, he was named the Twin Cities’ Best Jazz Artist by City Pages.

Harris’s work has been consistently marked by deep melodicism, thoughtful improvisation, and a reverence for both jazz tradition and contemporary expression. His latest release, Chasing Shadows (2024), has been met with critical acclaim, with Jazzwise magazine praising Harris’s compositions for “exploring the kind of big-sky generous melodicism pioneered by artists like Metheny and Gary Burton.” Harris’s previous album, Small Wonders (2021), received a 4-star review from DownBeat magazine and landed on its Best Albums of the Year list.

In 2012, Harris debuted as a leader with The Garden (Shifting Paradigm Records), which City Pages lauded for its “enticing fluidity” and intelligent links between the past and future of jazz. He followed this with American Reverie in 2017, a trio project with bassist Matt Peterson and drummer Lars-Erik Larson that reimagines American folk classics—ranging from Stephen Foster to Bob Dylan—through a jazz lens. All About Jazz called the album “full of fresh twists, all played with understated warmth.”

As a sideman, Harris has performed with a long list of respected artists, including Debbie Duncan, Bruce Henry, Babatunde Lea, Eric Gravatt, Ben Wendel, Michael Janisch, Javier Santiago, and Nancy Harms. He is also a member of several other cutting-edge ensembles, such as JT Bates’s Grain Trio, Larson’s Mancrush, Cory Healey’s Beautiful Sunshine Band, Dean Granros’s Tall Tales, and the bass-less ambient/improvised trio Baldwin/Harris/Hennig, which released their debut album, Boundaries, in 2024.

A graduate of Southern Illinois University, Harris has become a dedicated educator as well as performer. He has taught privately for over two decades and currently serves on the faculty at Carleton College and Hamline University.

“World Apart” Official Video by Zacc Harris