The Standing Shore

“I remember liking Harriss's 1989 new age synth release Abacus Moon. His first solo piano CD is a sparkler. The vaguely Chopinesque pieces are tuneful and easy to listen to, Harriss's keyboard touch is confident, and the production (recorded at Chick Corea's Mad Hatter studio) is flawless.”
 Jim Aiken, KEYBOARD Magazine - April 2001

"...he is light-years ahead of most adult contemporary synthesists in his sophisticated use of texture and sound."

 Linda Kohanov, ALL-MUSIC GUIDE


Composer and pianist Don Harriss soared to lofty popularity in 1988 when he became one of the hottest contemporary instrumentalists with the release of his debut album, Elevations, on Sonic Atmospheres. Harriss has continued climbing new peaks with each album release since. With his own music, he calls upon different elements of his diverse musical background that includes his early classical training, his rock and roll history (playing with Pat Travers and Ronnie Hawkins) and his many scores for corporate films. His music immediately captures you, leads you, and allows you to arrive at a place so beautifully fresh and rare you will revisit it again and again as if for the first time.

Harriss is one of the music industry’s most consummate and innovative musicians hitting the Top Ten Billboard charts for New Age and New Adult Contemporary with Abacus Moon, Shell Game, and Vanishing Point. The CDs went Top 5 on the national New Adult Contemporary (NAC) charts in key trade publications such Radio and Records, The R&B Report and Friday Morning Quarterback; and also hit the Top 10 in The MAC Report and Jazziz magazine. In addition, many of the CDs made numerous “Best of” Top 10 lists compiled by radio stations and journalists as well as heavy airplay on radio chains like The Wave and The Breeze, and on syndicated shows like Hearts of Space and Soundscapes. His latest CD, Hero’s Welcome, has been favorably reviewed in Keyboard Magazine and many industry trades

Don has arranged theater music for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and performs as a staff musician for the company. He has composed soundtracks for the Discovery Channel. He composes music cues for video with Bernard Hodes Advertising Agency, Palo Alto, CA. In addition to his seven Billboard charted CDs, Don has written seven volumes of original music for the Soper Sound Music Library, and, he has produced, engineered, and mastered numerous projects for various artists in a variety of genres in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and at his Ashland, Oregon studio Orbital Arts Multimedia.

This musical expertise had an early start. His father, a high school music teacher, had Don taking piano lessons at age six and playing in every school band, orchestra and choir (as the accompanist) from then on. At fourteen he was playing professionally and later formed his own band playing his original material. This group, Liberty Street, from San Francisco, performed shows in the Sixties with the Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, and The Charlatans.

In the early Seventies he headed to Canada where he joined famed rocker Ronnie Hawkins’ band (previous alumni includes The Band) which also included hard rock guitarist Pat Travers. Here Harriss jammed with countless superstars --- Bob Dylan, The Band, Gordon Lightfoot, Frank Zappa, and others. Back in the United States he met up with Pat Travers again, who had become a Platinum seller with hot chart albums like Crash and Burn. Harriss joined the Travers band as keyboardist, recorded the album Black Pearl with him, and played arenas and stadiums; touring for several years on the same bill with Aerosmith, Ted Nugent.

“Playing those kinds of shows had been a goal for me,” Harriss remembers, “so after a few years of rock and roll, I guess it had run its course. My interest returned to composing music with a wider variety of form”. By the Eighties, having met this major goal in the rock and roll industry, his interests returned to composition and his earlier classical training. During these years he wrote scores for corporate, films, videos and commercials. His clients included Apple Computers, The Discovery Channel, AT&T, Pacific Bell, National Semi-Conductor, and TRW.

Harriss found his voice in state-of-the-art electronics combined with acoustic piano, guitar and percussion. A computer programmer and general aviation pilot, Harriss uses a Macintosh control MIDI composing studio. For the final recordings he makes use of world-class studios in Los Angeles.

Don’s latest release, Hero’s Welcome, is a solo piano tour-de-force, garnering high praise from reviewers. Described as a master of contemporary classical invention, Don’s next recording project is currently underway at his studio in Ashland, Oregon.