In 2012, Harris released his first album as leader, THE GARDEN, on Shifting Paradigm Records. Renowned jazz critic Bill Milkowski wrote for JazzTimes Magazine, "Twin Cities modern jazz renegades shift nimbly from a punk-jazz aesthetic to ECM-ish sensitivity.startlingly original stuff."
Jazz Improv Magazine says, "Harris delivers a sound that is lucid, clear.providing rich-sounding accompaniment, and well-crafted solos" while Cadence Magazine calls some of Harris' work with Atlantis Quartet "worthy of John McLaughlin." MPR News states, "Harris makes his own mark on standards with enough new hooks to keep jazz alive."Īs co-leader of Atlantis Quartet, Harris has released five critically acclaimed albums since 2006, as well as a digital anthology of the band's first decade together. Harris has toured as leader and sideman throughout the US and UK, including a 2016 run with Zacc Harris Group at London's famed Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club. He performs in a host of creative projects including Atlantis Quartet, winner of the 2015 McKnight Fellowship and named 2011 Best Jazz Artist, as well as the Zacc Harris Group, American Reverie, and Zacc Harris Trio. Since moving to Minneapolis in 2005, Zacc Harris has gained a reputation as one of the area's top guitarists, being named 2017 Twin Cities Best Jazz Artist by the City Pages.
Dinner and cocktail seating and service begins 1 hour before showtimes. Personnel: Zacc Harris, guitar John Raymond, trumpet and flugelhorn Brandon Wozniak, tenor saxophone Bryan Nichols, piano Chris Bates, bass JT Bates, drums. Small Wonders: Ominous Skies Sundials Glass Houses Civil Dawn A Beautiful Life The Void Mixed Signal Apple Jacks Maya Song. The tender brushes ballad “Maya,” underscored by the simpatico rhythm tandem of the Bates brothers, provides a moment of crystalline reflection, while the second-line fueled “Apple Jacks” is an earthy departure from the program that incorporates lively call-and-response statements and collective improvisation between Wozniak and Raymond. The tender brushes ballad “Maya,” underscored by the simpatico rhythm tandem of the Bates brothers, provides a moment of crystalline reflection, while the second-line fueled “Apple Jacks” is an earthy departure from the program that incorporates lively call-and-response statements and collective improvisation between Wozniak and RaymondThis second album by the Twin-Cities-based Zacc Harris Group finds the original quintet (guitarist Harris, tenor saxophonist Brandon Wozniak, pianist Bryan Nichols, bassist Chris Bates, drummer JT Bates) augmented by Indiana-based trumpeter-educator John Raymond, whose commanding presence adds a decided edge here. Harris reveals a fondness for intricate heads and chops-busting unisons, as on the dynamic “Civil Dawn,” which opens up to a two-and-a-half-minute solo piano excursion by Nichols before Harris and Raymond offer some sparkling call-and-response over an entrancing ostinato, and also on the unrelenting swinger “The Void,” the latter featuring a succession of sizzling solos by Wozniak, Raymond and Harris before Nichols plays harmonic provocateur on his own outstanding solo. Raymond’s stellar high-note blowing brings some serious bite to the pleasing “Sundials,” while the jazz waltz “Glass Houses” is a showcase for the guitarist’s fluid, warm-toned style. On the angular opener, “Ominous Skies,” Raymond follows potent solos by Wozniak and Harris by instantly taking things up a notch with his own harmonic agenda a portend of things to come for this adventurous sextet. 
This second album by the Twin-Cities-based Zacc Harris Group finds the original quintet (guitarist Harris, tenor saxophonist Brandon Wozniak, pianist Bryan Nichols, bassist Chris Bates, drummer JT Bates) augmented by Indiana-based trumpeter-educator John Raymond, whose commanding presence adds a decided edge here. Zacc Harris Group Small Wonders (SHIFTING PARADIGM)
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